Roz Bird, CEO of Anglia Innovation Partnership, the campus management company for Norwich Research Park, has been appointed as Interim Chair of the UK Science Park Association (UKSPA).
This appointment comes at an important point for UKSPA, as it follows the recent launch of its new strategy that aims to strengthen the UK’s science parks and innovation clusters, build the sector’s collective voice and support innovation-led economic growth. Roz will work closely with CEO Ruth Hall and the UKSPA Board to support the delivery of the strategy and its priorities.
Roz has had a long been association with UKSPA, having worked for it as Business Development Manager in the early 2000s.
She went on to hold senior leadership positions at Granta Park and Silverstone Park, where she helped to establish the Silverstone Technology Cluster and pioneered the Ox Cam supercluster concept.
Roz joined Norwich Research Park in 2022, bringing her practitioner experience to one of Europe’s largest science-based research clusters. Her marketing and surveying expertise has supported the campus’s continued growth, partnering with real estate investment partners Vengrove to attract and retain innovative companies in the agri-food and health sectors which is underpinned by the unique breadth and depth of scientific activity across the campus plus the important construction of the first privately-funded speculative 63,000 sq. ft. lab and office Hawkmoth Building.
After stepping down as Chair of Silverstone Technology Cluster, Roz joined the UKSPA Board in 2023 and she became the Women in IASP Coordinator (International Association of Science Parks) in 2024. She also serves as a member of the Local Innovation Partnership Fund (LIPF) national panel for UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).
Roz said: “UKSPA represents science parks and cluster organisations, areas of innovation and innovation districts. It’s where I learnt how to operate effectively and maximise the economic and social impact in what was then called the ‘knowledge economy’. I have seen first-hand, many times, how jobs are created by working positively in a local area to support high growth companies with networking, access to finance and the provision of specialist facilities to meet a company’s needs both now and in the future.
“I am excited about UKSPA’s future as the wealth of knowledge and good practice within the association can be used to support existing activity and inspire the next generation of knowledge economy practitioners. The Government wants and needs to grow the economy. UKSPA and its members know how to deliver this at a local, regional and national level.
“I am very much looking forward to working closely with CEO, Ruth Hall, as she leads the delivery of UKSPA’s new strategy that was launched at the UKSPA Summer Conference earlier this month.”
