Mayor Bristow launches landmark Local Growth Plan to supercharge Cambridgeshire & Peterborough
- Eastern Powerhouse
- 2 hours ago
- 3 min read
A bold new strategy to transform Cambridgeshire and Peterborough into the fastest-growing region in the UK — and one of the world’s leading innovation powerhouses — was unveiled this week as the Mayor, Paul Bristow, launched the Local Growth Plan in Cambridge and London.
Described as a “game-changer” for the region, the plan sets out an unprecedented ambition: to triple the size of the economy by 2050, growing from today’s £31.4bn to £97.1bn. The Mayor said the plan would “get Cambridgeshire and Peterborough moving” and unlock the area’s full potential as the beating heart of the UK’s science and technology economy.
A national mission with global stakes
The Growth Plan positions the sub-region — home to the world’s most intensive science and technology cluster — as central to the UK’s ambition to become a global science superpower. Cambridge already outperforms Silicon Valley and Boston on several innovation measures, and the plan argues that the UK must now scale this advantage through major investment, improved infrastructure, and fiscal flexibility.
The Mayor emphasised that this was “an offer of partnership, not a begging bowl,” calling on central government to match the region’s ambition with new tools, funding, and freedoms to drive growth.
Six high-growth sectors at the core
The plan identifies six priority sectors that will underpin future expansion: Life Sciences; Advanced Manufacturing & Materials; Digital Technologies; Defence; Agri-Food & Tech; and Energy & Clean-Tech.
Together they already represent around 28% of Cambridgeshire’s GVA, but under the Growth Plan will expand to approximately 40% by 2050. These sectors include frontier industries — semiconductors, battery technologies, quantum computing, robotics and AI — that will define global competitiveness over the coming decades.
Modelling in the plan forecasts sectoral growth of:
Digital technologies: up 243%
Life sciences and clean-tech R&D: up 164%
Advanced manufacturing: up 178%.
The plan argues that success here will not only create thousands of high-quality local jobs but will drive national prosperity.
Four “Opportunity Zones” to spread growth across the region
To ensure growth reaches communities beyond Cambridge, the LGP introduces four new Opportunity Zones:
Global City Cambridge
Peterborough Fast Growth City
North Hunts Growth Cluster
Fens Growth Triangle.
Each zone will receive tailored support on skills, transport, housing, business space and investment, designed to drive inclusive growth and close the long-standing north–south divide. The plan highlights that areas such as Fenland and parts of Peterborough face significantly higher deprivation and require targeted intervention.
Unblocking infrastructure barriers
A central warning in the plan is that economic potential is already being constrained by shortages in water supply, energy capacity, transport connectivity, and housing. Without government intervention, the region risks “choking off” future growth.
The Local Growth Plan therefore calls for:
major water and energy upgrades
accelerated delivery of transport improvements
large-scale housing development
strengthened skills pathways into high-tech industries
The Mayor confirmed that the plan would now act as the “guiding star” for all future transport, skills and spatial strategies across the Combined Authority.
A once-in-a-generation opportunity
With Cambridge ranked the world’s number one science and technology cluster, and Peterborough listed among the UK’s fastest-growing cities, the plan argues that the region is uniquely positioned to lead national innovation-led growth — but only if acting at scale and speed.
“If we get this right, the benefits — jobs, homes, health, wealth and happiness — will be felt across every community,” the Mayor said at the launch. “Growth is good. And now we have the plan to deliver it.”
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