AZ joins call for new UK PM to back Oxford-Cambridge hub
In a letter to the new UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, leading figures in industry and academia have called for a plan to turn the Oxford-Cambridge region into the 'crown jewel' of the nation's economy.
The signatories, who include AstraZeneca's head of discovery sciences Steve Rees and the vice-chancellors of the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, claim that investment in the area could add £50 billion to the UK economy by the end of the decade.
It is a revival of a plan to boost the so-called Oxford-Cambridge arc – spanning Oxfordshire, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Northamptonshire, and Cambridgeshire – that was proposed by the previous Conservative government but abandoned by former PM Boris Johnson in favour of his nationwide 'levelling up' strategy.
With Labour now in government, the signatories – all members of the Oxford-Cambridge Supercluster set up to promote an industrial strategy for the region – are hoping to get the plan back on the agenda, tying it to the new administration's drive for economic growth.
They are calling for the area to be supported by additional investment in transport links, financial incentives for startups, and measures to make it easier to set up new laboratory space by setting up a new "innovation" use class for property.
At the heart is a plea to join Oxford, Cambridge, and the places in between with the ongoing East West Rail (EWR) project, which aims to make it easier, faster and more affordable to get around the region. According to the letter, that is "the only way to create the critical mass necessary for the region, and the UK, to compete globally."
The region boasts "an unmatched density of research, scientific talent and global enterprise, [and] currently contributes approximately 7% of UK GDP," say the signatories. "However, the constrained scale of the cluster presents a significant hurdle to greater productivity gains."
Other measures recommended in an accompanying report include permanent top-up tax relief for new-to-market R&D and efforts to broaden training in R&D-intensive industries via Labour's Growth and Skills Levy, a plan to extend the apprenticeship subsidies available to businesses. They would also like the government to work with universities to support spinout companies.
Pointing out that the supercluster has the "highest share of citations in scientific publications" than any other hub in the world, the report notes that "with the right reforms, the UK can cultivate the champions of advanced industry and capitalise on its scientific expertise on the world stage [with] extensive, direct, and spillover effects across the whole country."
Cambridge is the home to AZ's Discovery Centre (DISC), which opened in 2021 and is the company's flagship R&D location worldwide. Earlier this year, AZ said it was planning a £650 million investment package in the UK, with £200 million of that earmarked for expansion of its Cambridge facilities.
