Council and partners in funding bid success to support local growth and innovation
Buckinghamshire Council is among partners on the newly formed Silverstone Vision Board that is driving forward a new wave of innovation across the region backed by up to £20 million of government funding.
It’s been announced today that funding from the ‘Local Innovation Partnerships Fund’ has been granted for the central area of the Oxford-Cambridge Growth Corridor, which includes Buckinghamshire, along with Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire and Milton Keynes. This money will allow local organisations and businesses to turn cutting edge ideas into real world impact.
Buckinghamshire is home to three Enterprise Zones, at Silverstone, Westcott, and Aylesbury Woodlands. These are nationally significant centres for high performance engineering, space technology, and innovation. They attract international investment, create skilled jobs for local people and strengthen the local economy.
This is demonstrated by today’s investment announcement which will see the formation of a new ‘Innovation Circuit’ at the heart of the Oxford to Cambridge Growth Corridor, with Buckinghamshire sitting within this zone.
The “Innovation Circuit” bid will deliver programmes that strengthen capabilities in autonomous systems, high performance engineering and dual use space and defence technologies, including through the Silverstone Vision 2035 and the businesses at Silverstone Park and the wider Silverstone Cluster.
The programme will build on the thousands of high skilled local jobs already supported by the motorsport, engineering and space sectors, building pipelines for further growth, and reinforcing this region as a key hub for applied innovation within the wider Oxford–Cambridge area.
Buckinghamshire Council is working with other partners in the central area of the Oxford-Cambridge Growth Corridor, including the Open University which is leading the consortium, the Silverstone 2035 Vision Board, Silverstone Technology Cluster, a number of neighbouring authorities Westcott Space Cluster and Cranfield University.
All partners across the region will now work with UKRI to shape the projects that will receive support.
Steven Broadbent, Leader of Buckinghamshire Council said:
“Buckinghamshire Council has a strong focus on our economic growth and I am pleased that our efforts in working closely with partners and consortium members to drive forward innovation and cutting-edge technologies has paid off. I am delighted that our collaborative bid has been selected by UKRI to move forward to the next stage of this process.
"Buckinghamshire is already rich in talent, creativity and technical excellence as the home of high-performance, engineering and motorsport industries at our Enterprise Zone sites at Silverstone and Westcott. By accelerating our commercial readiness along with our partners in the Oxford–Cambridge Growth Corridor, we can unlock an estimated £4.5bn from this investment by 2035.
"This Innovation Circuit positions our region as the nation’s ‘engine room’ for applied innovation, where breakthroughs move rapidly from lab to street, driving UK competitiveness and global market leadership.”
Stuart Pringle, Chair of the Silverstone Vision Board and CEO of Silverstone Circuits Ltd said:
“We are delighted that the Innovation Circuit proposal has been selected as one of the successful applicants to move to next stage of this programme. Together we will build upon some excellent collaborative working already underway at the heart of the Oxford to Cambridge Growth Corridor and will help link existing world-class innovation clusters in the fields of advanced engineering, autonomous connectivity and space to create high quality new business growth opportunities.”