Midlands Innovation (MI) recently led a discussion in Westminster, highlighting the Midlands’ unique position to become a hub for UK growth — thanks to its geographical reach and trailblazing university-led innovations.
Adam Jogee MP, Member of Parliament for Newcastle-under-Lyme, Chaired a roundtable with Midlands Innovation to explore how the region’s universities are working together at scale to unlock economic potential across the region – something which the Government has highlighted in its recent Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper and which sets the region and its higher education institutions apart and ahead of other UK regions.
The event brought university research commercialisation representatives, business representatives whose products and services have been created from the region’s academic research excellence, alongside academic leaders driving collaborative innovation across the Midlands.
The roundtable discussion highlighted that the Midlands is home to world-leading research and a network of universities that are not only delivering impact locally, but also working collectively across the region — and at scale — on nationally significant pilots. These include:
- 17 universities collaborating to attract greater levels of foreign direct investment into Midlands R&D through the Invest in UK Universities R&D: Midlands Campaign.
- Boosting venture capital investment to retain and grow science and tech businesses through MI partners establishing Midlands Mindforge.
- 15 universities scaling up research commercialisation, working with banks and backers to drive entrepreneurship through the Forging Ahead initiative.
- Laying the foundations to establish a FinTech academic spinout ecosystem in the region, with universities leading the charge to support innovation and build on the established financial institutions already based in the region.
With 90% of the UK within four hours of the Midlands, the region is ideally placed to become the UK’s growth corridor — linking the South and South-East with the North and Scotland, and the East of England with Wales. The region’s universities are already delivering on the Government’s ambitions for growth, green innovation, and health tech transformation.
Professor Laura Bond, Professor of Practice at the University of Nottingham, shone a spotlight on the Inclusive Financial Technology Hub (INFINITY) Programme — a bold initiative supporting the development of a FinTech academic spinout ecosystem in the Midlands
Professor Laura Bond said: “With the Government underlining its desire to drive up the commercialisation of research, and to support regional specialisms through its publication of the Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper, the roundtable provided an opportunity to highlight INFINITY, which sees three MI partner institutions working together to support academics to explore how their research can be turned into FinTech businesses, products and services, and which can support the region’s notable financial sector to innovate.
“As well as highlighting a number of the exciting spinout prospects, including the application of AI in predicting credit default risk up to 12 months ahead of current models and the use of agentic AI to design trading platforms that have the potential to outperform the market, I was also able to discuss my own dual role in academia and industry and an investor in tech.”
Dr Dahlia Salman, Co-Founder & CEO of Bioxhale Ltd — a University of Leicester spinout — showcased how Midlands-based innovation is transforming clinical diagnostics. Bioxhale is pioneering non-invasive breath sampling technologies, driving growth through strategic partnerships and European research consortia.
Dr Salman, said: “It was inspiring to be a part of the discussion that demonstrates a collective passion and ambition to strengthen the Midlands innovation ecosystem. The conversations included access to talent, investment readiness, and translational research, these resonated deeply with what we are building at Bioxhale.
“I feel optimistic about the opportunities ahead and proud to see the Midlands continue to emerge as a vibrant hub for deep tech, life sciences, and advanced manufacturing.”
Dr Helen Turner, Director of Midlands Innovation, said: “We are very grateful to Adam Jogee for hosting the discussion The roundtable highlighted that universities in our region are stepping up — working collectively and at scale, and with local and combined authorities, and industry — to drive investment, skills, jobs, and growth.”
Adam Jogee, MP for Newcastle Under Lyme, said: “As I said at the start of the discussion, Keele University is the jewel in my constituency’s crown, its one of the biggest, if not the biggest employers and the university does a tremendous amount of outreach work within our local communities too.
“I was delighted to hear that the university is playing such an important role within the Midlands research ecosystem, and how universities are working collectively across the region to drive growth. The discussion was far-reaching, I was able to immediately highlight the truly trail-blazing work of Midlands universities to the Minister for Skills, the Rt Hon Baroness Smith of Malvern.
“I am also pleased to see that the Midlands Innovation partnership, which Keele plays such an integral role within, is highlighted in the Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper, as a leading collaboration within the higher education sector which the Government has highlighted that it wants to see more of.”
