Three years into her role as CEO of Anglia Innovation Partnership LLP, the campus management company for Norwich Research Park, Roz Bird says she is happy with the progress that has been made to grow the campus and is very optimistic that the right foundations are now in place to create economic growth for the region in the years to come.
Roz said, “Anglia Innovation Partnership’s objective is to maximise the impact of the publicly-funded research that is being carried out at Norwich Research Park for the benefit of the region, nation and rest of the world. This will be achieved by creating a thriving ecosystem of science, research, enterprise and business activity across our campus.
That public funding comes primarily from the BBSRC (Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council) which directly funds three of the Park’s research institutes – the Earlham Institute, the John Innes Centre and the Quadram Institute.
Since starting in post in May 2022, Roz has been clear that, based on her previous experiences working at other UK science and research parks, it would take up to three years to get to the point where her team would be talking to some of the right companies about Norwich Research Park and five years to get to the point where all the right people know about the campus.
Roz reports that they are on target to deliver the original vision of a thriving ecosystem of science, research, enterprise and business activity. The vision was agreed by the Anglia Innovation Partnership Board, which is made up of the directors of the three BBSRC-funded institutes, The Sainsbury Laboratory, University of East Anglia, Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, John Innes Foundation and the BBSRC itself.
To achieve the vision, Anglia Innovation Partnership is attracting companies to start and grow their businesses on the campus, helping them to access the research community including the specialists and their technology platforms and, in so doing, helping to create new high-value jobs in the four core sector specialisms – Agri-biotech, Food biotech, Medtech and Industrial biotech – which will benefit the local economy.
To build a thriving ecosystem, Roz and her team organise multiple community events to help companies and the research community to get to know each other and, ultimately, collaborate on new projects. They also lead on initiatives to create new industry links, putting the expertise of the research community at the service of industry and agriculture to help find solutions to some of the challenges they face.
The campus-wide enterprise strategy has been implemented to support researchers who are considering commercialising their ideas, establishing new companies from their research, growing them and creating new jobs on campus. This has been a great success with 20 plus start-ups now being supported.
Also, new start-up businesses have been attracted from other research communities across the UK and the rest of the world. For example, Colorifix, a spin-out from Cambridge University, Tropic, which originated in Israel, and Alora, a spin-out from San Francisco’s Indie Bio accelerator, have all made Norwich Research Park their home.
Roz explained, “To be a successful science park campus, you must ensure that all the people in your region know about you so that they can be advocates and collaborate with you. To help achieve this we have a programme of Enterprise Tuesday events to showcase the great science and business ideas emerging from the campus. We also work with local schools to highlight the wide range of career opportunities on our research and innovation campus , beyond being a scientist, in areas such as construction, event management, catering and professional services including accountants, lawyers and patent attorneys.”
To promote Norwich Research Park overseas, Roz has recently attended two international conferences in the US, in St Louis and San Francisco. She was able to raise awareness of the opportunities offered by Norwich Research Park with target companies. As a result, it’s now ‘on the list’ as a potential location for more than 30 start-ups currently based in the US, Canada and South America.
In order to grow the campus, new laboratory and office accommodation is needed. Last year, a significant new partnership was agreed with real estate investors Vengrove to invest in new buildings on the campus enabling hi-tech companies to grow.
Roz continued, “Over the next two years we will introduce a new accelerator programme and continue to develop relationships with industry. By May 2027, I hope that everyone who should know about us does. This means working closely with relevant Government departments and local MPs and engaging with large corporates, spin-outs and growing businesses in the four global markets we serve – Agri-biotech, Food biotech, Industrial biotech and Medtech.
“We will continue to collaborate with international research organisations and make sure young people and local companies understand the ways they can engage with us to benefit their career aspirations and their businesses, respectively. Ultimately, this will help to grow both Norwich Research Park and the Norfolk economy.”
