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The new plans have been welcomed by the area’s start-up community, while all eyes settle on whether actions speak louder than words.
UK chancellor of the exchequer Rachel Reeves today (29 January) unveiled a set of objectives to encourage economic growth in the country, including plans to develop the Oxford-Cambridge area into “Europe’s Silicon Valley”.
Reeves detailed a set of measures to deliver the Oxford-Cambridge Growth Corridor, linking the two universities into an expansive science and technology hub that is predicted to add up to £78bn to the UK economy by 2035.
These measures include a number of infrastructure developments to curb “supply-side constraints on economic growth” in the area, including improvements to transport links, new housing and improved water facilities.
Also included are plans to develop a new Cambridge cancer research hospital, a new large-scale innovation hub in Cambridge city centre, and a new growth commission for Oxford, designed to review how to unlock significant growth for the city and surrounding area.
The UK’s minister of state for science in the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, Patrick Vallance, has been appointed as champion of the growth corridor, who will be tasked with ensuring the government’s ambitions are delivered.
“Only 66 miles apart, these cities are home to two of the best universities in the world and the area is a hub for globally renowned science and technology firms,” said Reeves in her speech this morning.
“This area has the potential to be Europe’s Silicon Valley. To make that a reality we need a systematic approach to attract businesses to come here and to grow here.”
This is not the first time the UK government has attempted to grow the Oxford-Cambridge area into an innovation and entrepreneurial hub.
In 2003, the Oxford-Cambridge Arc initiative was launched with the aim of developing the area’s research and business assets, but the project ran into issues in 2021 during the premiership of Boris Johnson, after a project to develop an expressway between the two areas was cancelled.
Now, with the Oxford-Cambridge Growth Corridor, it seems the current UK government wants to revive efforts to innovate in the area.
Money where the mouth is
The Oxford-Cambridge area – and its respective universities – has produced a number of successful start-ups, including former Start-up of the Week Nu Quantum.
News of the development plans have been welcomed by members of this entrepreneurial community. Steve Roest, CEO and co-founder of Cambridge-based digital diagnostics start-up PocDoc, said: “The UK has long been a place for innovation, much of it based in Oxford and Cambridge.
“Cambridge’s thriving start-up ecosystem, in particular, was a key reason why we chose to set up PocDoc there and it has been instrumental in our rapid growth over the past four years.”
However, Roest also iterated that the plans must be met with equal amounts of action to be successful.
“The chancellor’s vision is a step in the right direction, but ambition alone won’t build the next wave of global technology giants,” he said. “To truly compete on the global stage, these words must matched with bold investment, to renew VC confidence in UK start-ups which is essential to our growth.”
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