The £100 million Innovation Accelerators programme is accelerating the growth of three high-potential innovation clusters in Glasgow, Greater Manchester and the West Midlands.

26 R&D projects will attract private R&D investment, create new jobs, boost regional economic growth, and develop the technologies of tomorrow.

Innovation Accelerators are a pilot approach to supporting three city regions to become major, globally competitive centres for research and innovation.

The programme is pioneering a new model of R&D decision-making that empowers local leaders to harness innovation in support of regional economic growth. Partnerships of local government, business and R&D institutions in the three city regions have led on selecting the 26 projects, working closely with Innovate UK.

Three city regions

Three city regions in Glasgow, Greater Manchester and West Midlands were chosen to pilot this programme in recognition of their R&D strengths, robust private and public innovation governance and strong local leadership.

The £100m funding is being shared across those three regions and has been allocated using a pioneering ‘locally-led’ approach.

The projects will address local, national and global societal and environmental challenges. They range from developing health innovations to quantum technologies, and green technologies to secure a safe and resilient transition to net zero.


Boosting local economies

Greater Manchester will lead the way in sustainable advanced materials and manufacturing, digital and tech, health innovation, and technology to become carbon neutral by 2038.

Local business leaders are central to the Innovation Accelerator partnerships. Industry are partners in many projects, and each city region’s portfolio will leverage private investment.

Innovate UK leadership

Innovate UK has led UKRI’s support in delivery of the programme, working in collaboration with the three local partnerships.

The whole of government is backing the Innovation Accelerators, with access to dedicated support from the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC). This will help the partnerships to attract private R&D investment and overcome barriers to cluster growth.

As a pilot programme, the Innovation Accelerators will also deepen our understanding of the right conditions and interventions to grow successful innovation clusters throughout the country and to cement the UK’s position as a Science and Technology Superpower.

Indro Mukerjee, Chief Executive at Innovate UK said:

“As the UK's innovation agency, Innovate UK is dedicated to building strong regional partnerships to boost local innovation and commercialisation. Our Innovation Accelerators will attract further private sector investment in city regions, driving economic and societal growth and benefiting local communities. Together, we can unleash the full innovation potential of every community in the UK.

Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, said:

“Greater Manchester’s selection as one of three Innovation Accelerator regions reflects the high level of confidence in our innovation ecosystem. The projects being backed are undertaking world-leading research to address some of the biggest challenges we face.

“They also align with the sectors where Greater Manchester has emerging or established strengths, like advanced materials, artificial intelligence and diagnostics. We look forward to working with partners to ensure this funding supports the growth of our future industries and delivers greater prosperity for our people.”

Project List

26 locally led, high impact projects selected across the 3 regions, with each region receiving an equal share of the funding allocation: