£11m Lancaster facility to boost innovation and investment

MORE than £11m is to be invested in an new academic centre which will seek to help manufacturers boost innovation and also woo more inward investment to the region.

Lancaster University’s Collaborative Technology Access Programme will include a purpose-built facility that will offer businesses access to high-tech instrumentation and facilities worth almost £7m.

The university says it is investing in response to market demand from advanced manufacturing companies in the North West and beyond. Before confirming the project it consulted with more than 100 businesses. The new facility will be built over the next 12 months and is set to open in autumn 2015.

Part-funded by £9.1m from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the cTAP facility will support advanced manufacturing SMEs and larger companies operating in, and inwardly investing into, the North West to develop new products and services by providing equipment and facilities that are not currently available.

The three-floor building will provide more than 10,000sq ft of space to house facilities, including laboratory and write-up space.

Instrumentation available for use by businesses through collaborative research programmes will include: nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, worth £1.7m; chromatography and mass spectrometry instruments, worth £1.5m, and many other analytical and diagnostic instruments which are used for obtaining physical, chemical, electronic and structural information about molecules and materials; a molecular beam epitaxy machine, worth £1m which is used to manufacture semiconductor devices; and a next generation 3D microprinting system with a range of applications including bio-engineering.

Professor Andrew Atherton, deputy vice-chancellor of Lancaster University, said: “A real barrier to innovation in the UK is the inability of fast-growing entrepreneurial businesses to access high-end specialist equipment.

“Access to the best manufacturing equipment is especially important for businesses in the North West, one of Britain’s manufacturing and engineering hubs. Without specialist equipment, businesses can suffer delays in product development and improvements, leading to lost opportunities for business growth and job creation.

“Lancaster University is creating cTAP to support high-value manufacturing using specialist imaging and analytical techniques that improve, product design and performance. This facility will help local businesses to grow and will attract new companies to Lancashire to tap into the highest quality equipment and facilities.”

The university said independent assessment had estimated that through collaboration with business, the facility would be able to generate £90m to £150m in additional value to the economy over the next 15 years. It will also see the creation of more than 100 high-value jobs.

The North West hosts the largest manufacturing sector in the UK generating £21bn. There are 16,500 high value manufacturing companies in the North West, employing 400,000 people.