Report reveals Yorkshire’s innovation hotspots

The study, published today, brings together 11 discrete data sources under four over-arching pillars – Innovative People, R&D and Technology, Innovative Outputs, and Ideas & Inventions – to give the broadest possible perspective on innovation across the UK, and to illustrate the extent to which towns and cities outside London are shaping the thriving “innovation economy”. Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire rank first in the UK Local Innovation Index, coming top in three of the four pillars, followed by East Anglia and Surrey, East and West Sussex.

Separately, the study identifies the strongest emerging ‘innovation ecosystems’ based on 7 key innovation ingredients: Connectivity, talent density, living costs, culture& community, universities, government investmentand transport mobility. It reveals that some areas currently registering a mid-score on the innovation index score highly on the facilitating factors, highlighting these areas as emerging innovation hotspots and potential powerhouses of the future.

Among its findings:

• Leeds is best city in Yorkshire for start-up firms, boasting close links to Manchester and Sheffield, the ports of Hull and Humber and home to the Leeds Bradford International Airport.

• East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire best for R&D personnel employment in Yorkshire.

• West Yorkshire best in region for knowledge-intensive employment.

• Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham is the top location for start-ups in South Yorkshire.

After London, Greater Manchester tops the UK with the best combination of ingredients for a thriving innovation ecosystem, followed by Merseyside and the West Midlands (Greater Birmingham). The findings also point to West Yorkshire and Northumberland and Tyne & Wear, currently mid-table on the Innovation Index, which have enormous potential as innovation hubs of tomorrow.

“At Johnston Press, we speak to businesses of all sizes every day across the UK, and we know that local media is phenomenally important to them; not only does it offer the opportunity to speak to other businesses, but also to consumers,” said Ashley Highfield, CEO of Johnston Press. “For that reason, we were keen to spearhead this research to address the misconception that ‘digital Britain’ is confined to a square half-mile of east London.”

“This landmark research by Cebr reveals an infinitely more fascinating picture. It identifies thousands of amazing, ground-breaking businesses – from start-ups through to major corporations – in every corner of the UK.”

“Too often, innovation is defined in very narrow terms. What the inaugural UK Local Innovation Index shows is how companies are harnessing the power of technology in new and ever-more productive ways. And their dynamism is setting the tone for our national economic recovery, making a huge contribution to the future prosperity of the UK.”

Colm Sheehy, Senior Economist, Cebr, said: “This is the first time that a study of local innovation has been undertaken in the UK. Our aim has been to capture innovative activity across the UK in a more holistic way than has been the case for national level indices of innovation.

“Our UK Local Innovation Index encompasses the marketing, networking and organisational innovations that occur across all industries. The research has revealed innovation that’s not limited by geography.”