Industrial transformation
Sheffield is particularly appropriate (for the launch of the innovation strategy) given its history of engineering, manufacturing and high-level innovation; indeed, Made in Sheffield is a hallmark around the world of strength, quality and innovation.
The High Value Manufacturing Catapult and its centres provide the largest advanced manufacturing research capability in Europe and are the driving force behind a profound transformation of the UK industrial landscape.
Examples include HVM Catapult’s Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) and Nuclear AMRC, both part of the University of Sheffield, which have transformed the site of the former Orgreave colliery and coking works into an international hub of industrial collaboration, and the £600 million inward investment hotspot which has developed around the Manufacturing Technology Centre at Ansty Park, Coventry.
Both Centres have generated new high-quality jobs and company growth in local supply chains.
The Advanced Forming Research Centre (AFRC) is leading the creation of Scotland’s first major advanced manufacturing park and a £100 million investment in the new National Manufacturing Institute Scotland (NMIS).
The National Composites Centre in the South West is also enhancing UK capabilities in engineering and delivering world-class research and development of composites.
The CPI has had a major impact in North East England, advancing the national capability for advanced vaccine development and contributing significantly to healthcare resilience in the UK.
These are illustrations of exactly the sort of innovation-driven transformation the UK needs to level up and the High Value Manufacturing Catapult is determined to transform at least five more past industrial landscapes by 2030.
