On 11th July, our Executive Director, Steven Lynch MBE, wrote to the new Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology Peter Kyle MP, urging for the Government's commitment to have a regional approach to industrial development, across existing clusters and specialisms, to help scale up the ambition for growth in sectors such as Life Sciences, Agritech, Biotech, and more.
You can read the full letter below:
Dear Secretary of State,
RE: Science, Innovation and Technology in the East of England
Many congratulations on your recent election victory in Hove and Portslade and your appointment as Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology. We would like to welcome you to the region on behalf of the Eastern Powerhouse, a business-led membership body, that represents the East of England. Our aim is to maximise the region's assets and unlock economic growth for local and national benefit.
We are excited about your core mission to grow the economy. As you will be aware, the East of England is a powerhouse for science and technology firms in the Agritech, Biotech, Cleantech, Digital and Energy sectors. Many of these firms are highly concentrated in and around Cambridge. However, there is clear evidence of a clustering effect in and around the science park locations in Norwich and Stevenage, as well as Peterborough, Ipswich, Colchester and Chelmsford.
Your manifesto has made commitments to invest in life sciences and other leading sectors with the potential to transform the UK economy. We welcome this and look forward to a regional industrial strategy that can realise the opportunities across inter-related science and technology industries for wider industrial development. Our paper on life sciences in the East, co-authored by leading industry voices, calls for a regional approach to industrial development, across existing clusters and specialisms, to help scale up the ambition for growth in these sectors.
Previous governments have overlooked the potential in the East. We hope that your government, and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, will give the East of England the attention needed to help it grow and further contribute to the UK’s economy.
We have long maintained that investment in the East will gain significant returns, not readily achievable elsewhere. The East is among the most productive areas of the UK, one of only three regions and nations that make a net contribution to the national economy.
We would welcome an opportunity to meet with you and your team to explain our work to date, and the ideas that we have developed to improve the science and technology firms in the region.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Yours sincerely,
Steven Lynch MBE Executive Director Eastern Powerhouse