A delegation of His Majesty’s Trade Commissioners and Investment Directors from the Department for Business and Trade visited Cranfield University this week [Wednesday 22 October] to explore investment and growth opportunities in the region.
With the Oxford to Cambridge Growth Corridor a priority in the Government’s UK Modern Industrial Strategy, and identified as having the potential to boost the UK economy by £78 billion, the group is exploring investment opportunities and innovations in science and technology in the area.
The visit comes as the Rt Hon Rachel Reeves, Chancellor of the Exchequer, launches a new Oxford to Cambridge Growth Corridor Prospectus, which outlines growth locations and investor ready opportunities and in which she calls the region “Europe’s answer to Silicon Valley”.
The delegation of diplomatic investment officials included senior representatives for Europe, the Middle East and Pakistan, North America, Asia and Africa as well as Directors from the Office for Investment, Department for Business and Trade and the Oxford to Cambridge Growth Corridor.
At Cranfield University the group learnt about specialist areas of expertise in applied science and engineering including advanced manufacturing, aerospace, energy security, defence and agrifood. Representatives from local councils, the East West Railway Company, Luton Rising, the Oxford-Cambridge Supercluster Board and the British Business Bank took part in presentations and a Q&A session.
The delegation found out about some of Cranfield’s most advanced facilities including the University’s new Power & Propulsion Labs and clean hydrogen production plant, HyPER; Cranfield Airport’s Digital Air Traffic Control Tower, the first operational digital air traffic control tower in the UK; the aerospace research hangar and Human–Machine Collaboration Lab centred on hybrid autonomous vehicles and transportation systems; and Cranfield’s Drone Arena, an experimental lab for developing drone platforms, AI algorithms, and conducting analysis of flight dynamics and navigation capabilities.
They were able to go airside to tour Cranfield Airport – a unique facility for research and innovation in the UK – and see land identified for development.
Sarah Mooney, HM Trade Commissioner for the Middle East and Pakistan and British Consul General to Dubai said: “Cranfield University offers world-class expertise, impressive facilities and excellent networks in a strategic location at the heart of the Growth Corridor. It’s been insightful to hear from industry and local government partners about the exciting projects already underway in this area. The Oxford to Cambridge Growth Corridor presents significant opportunities for investment that will drive economic growth across the UK.”
Professor Dame Helen Atkinson DBE FREng, Deputy Vice-Chancellor – Faculty of Engineering and Applied Sciences said: “Cranfield’s location at the very centre of the Oxford to Cambridge Growth Corridor, our academic expertise and history of working closely with industry to drive innovation make for an attractive investment proposition. There are huge opportunities for future growth in our region and Cranfield has a key role in making that happen.”
