Press release: Bio-tech gets boost with new Local Industrial Strategy for Greater Manchester

A new facility to transform manufacturing processes and make them more environmentally friendly, has opened today (13 June 2019), as part of a new Local Industrial Strategy for Greater Manchester.

Based at the Manchester Institute of Biotechnology, the new Future Biomanufacturing Research Hub is backed by £10 million in government investment to develop new technologies to transform the manufacturing processes of chemicals, using plants, algae, fungi, marine life and micro-organisms – both driving clean growth and making it more commercially viable. The institute will also work alongside universities including Imperial College London, the University of Nottingham and the University College London.

This Manchester facility will be 1 of 3 – with the Universities of Swansea and Sheffield also set to host similar hubs, each also benefiting from £10 million government investment.

The strategy will build on Manchester’s worldwide reputation and unique strengths to ensure it is at the centre of the industries and jobs of the future. Ensuring local and national government works together to deliver high-quality and skilled jobs for the city region. The Greater Manchester Local Industrial Strategy puts clean growth at its heart with plans for the city-region to cut its carbon emissions, take advantage of the global shift to clean growth and the UK’s transition to net-zero.

The strategy unveils plans for Greater Manchester to become the UK’s first city-region to achieve carbon neutral living by 2038 as well as plans to further develop the region’s leading position in the manufacturing of advanced materials such as graphene, health innovation, and digital and creative sectors that have fuelled growth in the region.

Greater Manchester is a trailblazer and one of the first to agree a Local Industrial Strategy, a key part of the government’s modern Industrial Strategy for the UK, driving growth, productivity and boosting earning power across the region.

Business Secretary Greg Clark said:

Greater Manchester has a strong and proud manufacturing heritage and this new Local Industrial Strategy, developed in partnership between government and local leaders across the city-region, will ensure its world leading position in this field is secured and built on for the next generation.

At the heart of this strategy is clean growth and Manchester’s determination reap the rewards of the UK’s transition to a net-zero economy reinforced by the city region’s ambition to be the first carbon neutral city in the UK by 2038.

That’s why I’m also pleased that the University of Manchester will be home to the new biomanufacturing hub, backed by £10 million government investment, putting the city at the forefront of exciting new developments to drive clean growth – a prime example of our modern Industrial Strategy in action.

Northern Powerhouse Minister Jake Berry MP said:

We are determined to create an economy that works for everyone and the Northern Powerhouse’s first ambitious Local Industrial Strategy will build on the strengths of people across Greater Manchester so their communities can prosper for years to come.

It demonstrates the power of local people and the government working together to create good jobs, boost productivity and increase people’s earning power.

Our refreshed Northern Powerhouse strategy will complement this approach, and other Local Industrial Strategies across the north, so people have the opportunities to reach their full potential no matter where they live.

Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham said:

This bold and innovative joint plan between Greater Manchester and the government puts Greater Manchester back as an industrial and social pioneer. This is a plan focussed on people and ensuring we have the good quality jobs to ensure people can succeed now and in to the future. In Greater Manchester, we led the first industrial revolution and are now in a position to lead the fourth.

We want to be the UK’s leading green city-region, which is why our ambition to achieve carbon neutral living in by 2038 is right at the heart of these plans. We will show that these plans are not just the right thing for people and the environment but also right for our economy.

We’re also setting out how advanced manufacturing along with the digital and creative sectors will now help to grow our economy and help us become a wholly digitally-enabled city-region. The Local Industrial Strategy will enable us to drive our productivity and prosperity as we create the good, green jobs and skilled workforce that will power this thriving city-region’s economy into the future.

This comprehensive strategy is yet another step on our devolution journey and will help Greater Manchester to become one of the best places in the world to live, work and invest in.

And we are putting together the pieces of the jigsaw to reveal the big picture – a Greater Manchester where prosperity, opportunity, health, hope and happiness are widely and fairly shared across all our people and places.

This new strategy – designed in partnership with the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, Greater Manchester Local Enterprise Partnership and developed in collaboration with hundreds of businesses, public partners and civil society – sets out how the city region will work with government to:

• launch the first city-region mission to achieve carbon neutral living, government welcomes this locally led mission, which will support the delivery of the government’s Clean Growth Grand Challenge
• set Greater Manchester up to be a global leader on health and care innovation – creating new industries and jobs, improving population health and extending healthy life expectancy
• position Greater Manchester to be a world-leading region for innovative firms to experiment with, develop and adopt advanced materials and Made Smarter technologies in manufacturing, facilitating the design of new products and processes; it will support other national centres to build the UK’s leadership in tomorrow’s technologies
• build on Greater Manchester’s position as a leading European digital city-region, with the infrastructure, skills, and networks needed to digitalise all sectors, and internationally significant clusters in broadcasting, content creation and media, and cyber security
• enable the digitalisation of all sectors; and capitalise on the links between digital and creative industries that feed internationally significant clusters in broadcasting, content creation and media
• ensure that the education, skills and employment system allow everyone to reach their potential and employers have access to the skills required to deliver the Greater Manchester Local Industrial Strategy

Greater Manchester and government are further supporting economic growth and boosting local businesses through investments including:

• state-of-the-art facilities for advanced materials development, including £38 million for the National Graphene Institute, £25 million for the Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre, and £235 million of funding for the Sir Henry Royce Institute BP
• providing £23.8 million in digital infrastructure investment, bringing forward private investment of up to £200 million
• devolving £6 billion for health and social care and £92 million per year for adult education through the Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Partnership
• providing £663 million of Local Growth Funding and £312.5 million through the Industrial Strategy’s Transforming Cities Fund to fund local priorities, including Metrolink and the Bee Network – a cycling and walking network

Work across the UK to illustrate the modern Industrial Strategy in action can be viewed in an interactive map, developed by the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

The Future Biomanufacturing Research Hub is part of the £30 million government investment into the UK’s research and manufacturing sector. It will be 1 of 3 manufacturing hubs that, in total, bring together 67 partners from industry, the public sector and seven universities from across the country.