UK pushes to become Europe’s new Silicon valley: boost for health and climate startups

Britain is on a mission to create “Europe’s Silicon Valley” by investing in the region between two of the UK’s top universities, Oxford and Cambridge.

In a speech on Wednesday, the country’s finance minister Rachel Reeves said that the British government would invest heavily in the so-called Oxford-Cambridge Growth Corridor. This would include improving public transport links and housing, designed to attract more tech talent to the area and put it “at the forefront of science and technological advances”.

"The demand is there, but there are far too many supply-side constraints on economic growth here, we are going to fix that," she said in her speech.

"The home of British innovation"

Reeves argued that the two university cities—just 106 kilometres (66 miles) apart—are already surrounded by “the most intensive innovation clusters in the world”, with the area already known for “globally renowned” science and technology firms in life sciences, manufacturing, and AI. This she said, would give it the "potential to be Europe’s Silicon Valley. The home of British innovation".

The British economy has experienced sluggish growth since the Labour government took over from Rishi Sunak’s Conservative administration last year.

Reeves said she hoped economic growth in the UK could get a £78 billion (€90 billion) boost by 2035 thanks to the new push to develop the Oxford-Cambridge Growth Corridor.

A growing impact hub

The region is already home to several global tech and healthcare giants, including pharmaceuticals and biotech company AstraZeneca, which has its headquarters in Cambridge. In Oxford, Oxford Nanopore Technologies  specialises in advanced DNA sequencing technology, providing portable and scalable sequencing solutions used worldwide.

Additionally, the area hosts prominent companies such as ARM Holdings in Cambridge, a major player in semiconductor and software design, and Sophos Group in Abingdon, near Oxford, recognised for its cybersecurity products.

Growing numbers of impact startups focusing on social and environmental sustainability have also set up shop in the region in recent years.

The area has an active green tech community; powered by initiatives such as Oxfordshire Green Tech, a business network supporting companies striving for a low-carbon future, and Cambridge Clean Tech which supports startups, investors and public sector businesses.

A climate "collision course"?

However, there has so far been a mixed reaction to Reeve’s announcement from the sustainability sector.

The plans include improving low-carbon travel in the region, with upgraded rail services and a new station in Tempsford (a town between the two cities), which has been welcomed by some environmental campaigners.

But Reeves also announced plans to expand Heathrow Airport—the largest airport in southern England—which sparked criticism among some sustainability groups.

Green Alliance, an environmental think tank, told The Guardian it would put the government on “collision course” with its own climate targets. The alliance argues that the government’s strategy for cleaner flying relies heavily on technologies that haven’t yet been proven to work on a large-scale, such as zero-emission flights powered by electricity or hydrogen, and sustainable aviation fuels.

However Reeves insisted that the airport expansion would not go ahead unless climate objectives were met:

“We will then take forward a full assessment through the airport national policy statement. This will ensure that the project is value for money, and our clear expectation is that any associated surface transport costs will be financed through private funding, and it will ensure that a third runway is delivered in line with our legal, environmental and climate objectives.”

There was also criticism that the UK should be investing in developing businesses and technologies in towns and cities outside of the south of England.

The chair of the UK Mayors group, Tracy Brabin, who represents West Yorkshire, in northern England told The Guardian: “We know that you can’t get economic growth nationally without doing it in the regions. Mayors stand ready to deliver on the growth mission but we need the right powers and financial freedoms to do that.”