Last month, Charlotte Thompson was appointed Project Director of the Sheffield Innovation Spine. Over the next two years, Charlotte will be focused on bringing the Sheffield Innovation Spine to life. We caught up with her to find out what this means and why every person and business based in Sheffield city centre will feel the impact of this important development.
The focus of your role is to deliver “a tangible strategy” for the Sheffield Innovation Spine. Can you share some detail on what this will involve?
The Sheffield Innovation Spine aims to increase capacity in the city centre for knowledge-led businesses, particularly in deep-tech and life sciences, to grow. The partners in this project have identified a core route between the University of Sheffield and Sheffield Hallam University campuses where buildings and spaces could be developed and linked to create an “innovation cluster.”
My role is to determine exactly how this can be delivered. I’m looking at things such as the types of buildings we need and how we can build a community around them to create the right conditions for economic growth. This strategy needs to complement the increased amount of housing in the city centre, the needs of businesses that already operate along the route, and how the public can engage with and move through the area.
I’ll be having many conversations with a range of people to create a plan that is collaboratively designed and widely informed.
Why is “clustering” so important to a city?
There are so many reasons! We’ve seen in other UK cities, such as Cambridge and Manchester, that clustering interconnected businesses, universities, research institutions, and related organisations delivers economic and social benefits. Knowledge spillover is one of the main advantages of clustered environments, where ideas and innovations spread rapidly through formal and informal networks, accelerating innovation, collaboration and productivity.
Clusters are also great for attracting and retaining talent in cities – skilled people working in high-value jobs who will contribute to our economy. For start-ups and scale-ups, being part of a clustered ecosystem means greater access to crucial resources, such as networks, mentoring, and funding. This boosts growth and business success.
By bringing together start-ups, established companies, and researchers in fields like deep-tech and life sciences, Sheffield can become a specialist in these fields, attracting companies from across the UK and the world to set up here.
How will the Sheffield Innovation Spine deliver a broad impact to the city?
By setting up a robust clustered ecosystem, we will attract innovative companies to Sheffield. This boosts our economy through business rates and job creation, and it increases the number of people living and spending time in the city centre, injecting money into local companies.
With any place-based initiative, the impact will be felt by many people beyond the direct stakeholders. For example, as the Sheffield Innovation Spine weaves through the city centre, everyone will pass through it at some point. So how do we make that a pleasant experience? How do we ensure that members of the public feel involved and interested, as opposed to seeing sleek, shiny buildings that seem closed off? We don’t know the answers yet, but these are important factors that will inform the strategy.
The city centre is already undergoing a lot of change. What is so significant about the Sheffield Innovation Spine?
The Innovation Spine is one exciting element within the wider regeneration of Sheffield City Centre. Significantly, the Innovation Spine has the commitment and backing of five key partners: Sheffield City Council, Sheffield Technology Parks, the University of Sheffield, Sheffield Hallam University, and the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority. The cross-organisational support behind this project shows the far-reaching impact it could have. Their commitment demonstrates the urgency of creating a clustered environment to meet the demand for collaborative spaces, labs, and testing facilities.
The rate of change among the city’s innovators is exciting, and the Innovation Spine is fundamental to realising this potential.
Do you have a message for Sheffield’s business community?
The first stage of the team’s work is mapping demand from businesses to ensure the Innovation Spine truly meets the needs of our innovators. And I want to stress that “innovation” should be able to come from anywhere, including existing businesses and organisations – it isn’t just about start-ups. I want to collaborate with you to bring this vision to life and shape a future where innovation can flourish in Sheffield.
For more information, contact Charlotte and the team at participate@sheffieldinnovationspine.co.uk.
