sector

Helping place leaders achieve sustainable, innovation-led levelling up.

The plans, policies, strategies and cultures which enable or inhibit innovation in a given location are shaped by place leaders. We seek to empower place leaders to be confident customers of innovation and effective stewards of the UK’s innovation economy.

Sam Markey

Ecosystem Director – Place Leadership

Innovation Places

Find out more

Innovation places are engines of economic growth and renewal. Visit our Innovation Places hub to learn what works in sparking inclusive regional innovation economies and to connect with our networks of pioneers and practitioners.

Aerial view of a cityscape featuring multiple bridges over a river, numerous buildings, and distant hills under a clear blue sky.

Project / Case Study: Seeding an innovation ecosystem in the Belfast City Region

Connected Places Catapult supported place leaders in Belfast leading to a successful bid for a Belfast City Region Deal that…

Cover of the report titled "Hubs of Innovation: A Playbook for Place Leaders," featuring logos of Catapult, The Business of Cities, and UK Innovation Districts Group, and showing a blurred person walking.

Document / Hubs of Innovation – A Playbook for Place Leaders

A red-brick building labeled "Rare & Strange William Vaughan's Goods Warehouse" and a few people on a street are surrounded by sketched outlines of tall modern buildings.

Podcast / Innovation Places Summit

Cover of a report titled "Hubs of Innovation: The role of Districts, Corridors and Quarters as hubs of the Covid-adjusted innovation economy." Dated March 2021 by Catapult Connected Places.

Document / Hubs of Innovation

Smarter Spending

Find out more

An innovation-friendly approach to public sector buying has the power to deliver better user experiences and spark economic growth. Discover insights, advice and practical support in the Smarter Spending hub.

Podcast / Innovation Places Summit

A small green plant growing from a glass container filled with a mix of coins against a textured background.

Podcast / What next for innovation-friendly procurement?

The art of place leadership

Report

Mobilising Investment for Local Net Zero: Insights from developing Net Zero Neighbourhood Investment Memorandums

This report demonstrates that place-based Net Zero Neighbourhoods, supported by targeted government funding and robust investment models, can unlock private capital and accelerate large-scale retrofit across the UK.

Article

Meet the academic helping cities spend smarter

Rebecca Riley picked up top tips from a comedy legend at school, and is now helping cities make better spending choices alongside the Innovation Procurement Empowerment Centre.

Article

City leaders call for innovation push

Cities are important drivers of local growth, but unlocking their innovation potential is crucial if we are to create thriving conurbations that spread prosperity far and wide, delegates to a keynote session at the Connected Places Summit heard.