The UK's innovation accelerator for cities, transport & place leadership.
IPLA brings place leaders together to address common challenges and co-develop solutions; and offers tailored support, access to national expertise, and opportunities for collaboration with peers to unlock the full potential of their cities and regions.
"Places like Newcastle and the wider North East have huge potential for innovation-led local growth. We have designed IPLA to equip leaders across these high-potential regions with the tools they need to become more aligned around economic and investment strategies and the confidence to implement them effectively. It's been fantastic to partner with this inspiring cohort during 2024 and we look forward to seeing their regions lay hold of the opportunities inherent in devolution."Sam Markey, Director of Place Leadership at Connected Places Catapult
Here, we speak to two leaders from our latest cohort about their city’s ambitions.
“Anyone who visits the city will appreciate the warmth of the welcome, and that has played out in a number of big investments,” remarks Jen Hartley MBE, assistant director of capital investment and growth at Newcastle City Council.
“Warner Music recently announced they will be building a studio in Newcastle and when I hosted them, they told me just how at home they felt.
“We all joke there's two degrees of separation in Newcastle and everybody knows everybody; but local people are also pleased to champion newcomers to the region, which means it's easy to do business.”
Jen points out that Newcastle is architecturally revered, has a large concentration of listed buildings, and its traditional industries of coalmining and shipbuilding helped to “power the first industrial revolution”.
But the city also has a vibrant digital economy and continues to think ahead, she adds. “We've been quite resilient over the years; as one industry declines, we look to the next industries of the future.” Examples include oil and gas making way for renewable green energy such as the large offshore windfarm at Dogger Bank.
“We have a burgeoning creative industry, and always had a strong video games sector. Now we're looking at film and TV, supported by the BBC who are building a large tech hub in the city.”Jen Hartley MBE, assistant director of capital investment and growth at Newcastle City Council
Expertise in space, national security and defence in the city, alongside medicine and bio-tech at Newcastle University, have created several exciting new start-ups in the city, she adds.
Newcastle features an inner-city innovation district called Helix – built on a 24-acre site once occupied by a brewery – to support emerging companies specialising in data and life sciences, and those developing innovations to tackle urban issues.
“Helix brings together businesses and researchers, residents and students that maybe wouldn't otherwise be in the same space, to develop ideas and tackle challenges, and learn from different industries.”
Participating in the Innovation Places Leadership Academy programme – which involves three further cities and regions – has, she adds, provided a valuable means of sharing, and learning from the experience of others.
“I hope that we not only learn from other cities, but they can learn from us too – especially in terms of our innovation district and some of our accelerated development zone sites.”
Helix is also a member of the UK Innovation Districts Group, supported by Connected Places Catapult, which unites civic leaders, businesses, universities and communities to tackle society’s biggest challenges, from net-zero interventions to AI applications.
Last year saw the formation of a new North East Combined Authority, to accelerate regional growth. “It definitely feels that now is a moment in our innovation journey; we are starting to see the fruition of work put in many moons ago,” says Jen.
Creating better places is, she adds, key to making areas vibrant, accessible and safe for all. “My priority is definitely growth, through investment that is inclusive. At the top of our agenda is how these investments can benefit the residents of Newcastle: are they creating good quality jobs, and nice spaces for people to live, study and work?”
Key to those ambitions, she adds, is making sure businesses have the right environment in which they can grow, in terms of infrastructure and access to skills.
“We need to make sure that work done by the health and life science sectors reaches into our communities, and addresses health inequalities. We have a city centre programme to revitalise the urban core, but also place-based regeneration projects in communities such as in Byker.”
Also closely involved in developing the city’s innovation and growth ambitions is Estelle Blanks, director of business development and enterprise at Newcastle University. She is focused on leveraging the university's expertise in research for the benefit of society through commercial opportunities offered by spin-out companies, and initiatives such as the Northern Accelerator – a collaboration involving six regional universities.
“We spin out about five companies a year, but the biggest challenges are to incentivise our academics and colleagues to do this, and get access to people who understand business and growth and can get access to money to optimise their innovation,” she says.
Estelle helped to set up the Helix innovation district 20 years ago – then called Newcastle Science City – and it continues to have a clear mandate to deliver economic growth in the region. “What we can do with Helix is massive, and the vision was always about collaboration and connecting our excellent research community, businesses and local government for inclusive growth.”
She points towards the Biosphere building on site with laboratories to help spin-outs involved in life sciences to commercialise their work, and a project called Arrow that helps businesses involved in innovation to access expertise from specialists at the university.
The next step for the innovation district is to ensure that more local people benefit from its outputs. “Better linking the work of Helix to the community is the element that needs to be amplified; ensuring all of Newcastle benefits,” she says.
Estelle welcomes the convening role of the Innovation Places Leadership Academy to get cities and regions to talk to each other about place leadership, and the insights offered by Connected Places Catapult.
“They offer great value in helping us to listen to people in other cities who are facing similar challenges. Having a peer-to-peer exchange is incredibly valuable.”
Estelle adds the UK can't achieve its growth potential without realising the important role of the regions; who are stronger when they come together. “Cross regional collaboration is absolutely essential. We need to join forces, and are definitely stronger together.
“Innovation has always been at the core of the North East story,” she continues. “We are a human-size region that has a multitude of very well-connected assets. Our partnership between research and business has led to some big successes around marine and offshore research, electrification, digital and AI.”Estelle Blanks, director of business development and enterprise at Newcastle University
The city benefits from being “connected to a really good ecosystem of talent”, she adds. However, there are challenges. “Transport connectivity is a major issue, and there is a high equity gap: the difference between the need for investment in businesses and the availability of investment.”
Estelle says a great place leader is somebody who is not afraid of collaboration. “This is not about empire building; it is about utilising all the assets and expertise you have, embracing innovative thinking, and looking at new ways of doing things without being afraid – and being inclusive in how you do that.”
When it comes to placemaking, Estelle says the Innovation Places Leadership Academy “adds credibility to the agenda” by giving cities and regions in the cohort “tools to think about things differently – which is what innovation is all about”.
The alternative of “measuring the same things and using the same metrics” will only drive the same behaviours, she says. “If we continue to do that, we won't thrive.”
Read more about the work of the Innovation Places Leadership Academy and the work of the UK Innovation Districts Group which aims to revitalise under-performing downtown neighbourhoods into vibrant hubs for innovative and creative companies. Join us in creating a prosperous, inclusive future for the UK.
