East of England

The innovation landscape in East of England

As the UK’s innovation system, we work across the country. We also know that each part of the country is unique with its own strengths and challenges. We are committed to working closely with partners and regional initiatives to ensure you get what you need to innovate and succeed.

The region stretches from the borders of London to the East Coast of England, and has the highest business spend on R&D per capita in the UK. The East of England is a world leader of innovation in clean energy, biotech, digital connectivity, with further clusters in advanced manufacturing and space. Cambridge is internationally renowned, and other places in the East, such as Norwich Research Park, Adastral Park (in Ipswich) and Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst, which includes the Cell & Gene Therapy Catapult Manufacturing Centre, are leading the creation of new technologies and driving innovation in a region with a GVA of 153bn.

Felixstowe is within the world’s top 50 largest container ports and connects major shipping lanes linking over 190 countries worldwide. It serves EU markets through regular services and with the biggest intermodal rail freight facility in the UK connecting innovation to worldwide markets.

We have partnered with the Norfolk & Suffolk Innovation Board to develop a Local Action Plan that will cultivate strategic partnerships and boost innovation clusters in the two counties.