Oxfordshire Local Industrial Strategy A Partner in the Oxford-Cambridge Arc July 2019 2 Contents Foreword 05 Executive summary 06 Introduction 12 Oxford-Cambridge Arc economic context 15 Oxfordshire in 2019 20 Building a global innovation ecosystem: 29 Oxfordshire in 2040 The five foundations of productivity Ideas 38 People 50 Infrastructure 57 Business environment 64 Places 72 Priorities across the Oxford-Cambridge Arc 84 Delivering for communities, business and the UK 92 Implementation and evaluation 96 3 Industrial Strategy Oxfordshire Local Industrial Strategy Foreword When Howard Florey came to Oxford in 1935 as the newly appointed Professor of Pathology, he arrived to state of the art but largely empty labs in the new Sir William Dunn School. He soon set about recruiting a Oxfordshire’s success, therefore, is research team and – by the early critical to the success of the UK. war years – Florey, Ernst, Chain This Oxfordshire Local Industrial and others had turned over the Strategy sets out an ambitious plan department to making penicillin to build on Oxfordshire’s strong and demonstrating how effective it foundations and world-leading assets. could be against bacterial infections. It will deliver transformative growth Penicillin then seemed nothing and prosperity for all communities short of miraculous, banishing many across the county, supporting the infectious diseases that were some of objectives of the national Industrial the leading killers of the time. Indeed, Strategy. This Strategy looks to build the work of the Oxford team ushered on these strengths and assets to in the modern age of antibiotics. drive R&D and innovation across the Nearly 85 years on, Oxfordshire is region as a pioneering contributor today a global centre of research and to the Industrial Strategy’s target for innovation. It is home to a number of national R&D spending to reach 2.4 world-leading science and technology per cent of GDP by 2027 and three companies which are located across per cent in the longer term. In doing leading business clusters and hubs that so, it will drive Oxfordshire’s ambition form a hive of knowledge intensive to become one of the top three global economic activity and anchor the area’s innovation ecosystems by 2040. strengths in breakthrough sectors. Achieving this bold and ambitious Oxfordshire is the UK’s engine for target will require collaborative innovation: ground breaking R&D is working between all partners across driving the creation of new, dynamic Oxfordshire and Government. We will businesses hungry to grow and scale need to develop the physical, digital, up; cutting edge products and services financial and knowledge infrastructure are solving the challenges in healthcare, of Oxfordshire to foster a successful mobility, energy and communications; innovation ecosystem that is focused and commercialisation of these new on competing at a global level against ideas is delivering manufacturing and our rival international hubs. supply chain opportunities across the length and breadth of our country. 4 This will be supplemented by a opportunities for all; Infrastructure thriving business environment which will enable greater connectivity makes Oxfordshire the playground especially across key growth locations; for innovators and entrepreneurs to the Business Environment will translate big ideas into commercially enable Oxfordshire to become a successful products and services. powerhouse for commercialising Oxfordshire wants to be a pioneer transformative technologies; and for clean and sustainable growth, finally, we will develop Oxfordshire as known as the location which harnesses a living laboratory to help solve the the dynamic potential of its science UK’s Grand Challenges for all Places. and technological innovation for the Everyone has a role to play in benefit of local residents, business making Oxfordshire’s Local Industrial and improved public services which is Strategy successful, real and relevant an exemplar for contemporary living – communities, investors, educators, and design, and delivers sustainable entrepreneurs, innovators and more. and flourishing communities. We invite you to join us in this Most critical of all, Oxfordshire will exciting journey and seize the be relentless in maximising the full opportunities which lie ahead of us. potential of each and every person who lives and works in the county, ensuring that they are equipped with the very best skills which can provide them with the capability to secure the new employment opportunities generated across the innovation ecosystem. The Oxfordshire Social Contract will be central to the ambition Rt Hon Greg Clark MP to drive social mobility and ensure Secretary of State for Business, local residents benefit from the Energy and Industrial Strategy dynamic location which is their home. This Local Industrial Strategy, therefore, presents a long-term framework against which private and public sector investment decisions can be assessed, grouped around the five foundations of productivity. We will use Ideas to establish a globally connected and competitive Jeremy Long innovation economy; our People Chair of the Oxfordshire Local will benefit from a more responsive Enterprise Partnership skills ecosystem creating better 5 Industrial Strategy Oxfordshire Local Industrial Strategy Executive summary Oxfordshire has been at the centre of innovation in the UK for centuries. National and local investments have built up a network of science parks and innovative firms across the county, and now wider investments in the region offer the opportunity to cement the area’s reputation as one of the best locations in the world to innovate. This Local Industrial Strategy sets Building a global innovation out an ambitious plan to build on ecosystem: Oxfordshire in 2040 Oxfordshire’s strong foundations This Local Industrial Strategy and world-leading assets, to deliver is framed by Oxfordshire’s transformative growth which is clean ambition to be a top three global and sustainable and delivers prosperity innovation ecosystem by 2040. for all communities across the county. It will deliver the aims of the national Oxfordshire will achieve this through Industrial Strategy, government’s long developing the five foundations term plan to boost productivity, by of productivity, as set out in the backing businesses and investing in national Industrial Strategy, and by skills, industries and infrastructure. building on the county’s world-leading science and technology clusters. This growth will be driven by innovation and higher productivity - both in those This will knit together the existing emerging sectors which will harness strengths of the county – in the historic transformative technologies, and in academic assets in the City of Oxford, sectors that have historically driven within dynamic and creative residential the economy. It will be inclusive, place- communities, and across its science sensitive and sustainable, responding and technology parks throughout to increasing concerns around Oxfordshire – into a coherent network, climate change, and will enhance the able to exploit the latest technologies. natural environment and the quality As well as supporting ‘breakthrough’ of life for everyone in Oxfordshire. firms, this will enable growth in the ‘cornerstone’ local businesses that form the backbone of the Oxfordshire economy, providing jobs, essential services and supply chains across the innovation ecosystem and delivering growth in the UK as a whole. 6 Oxfordshire in 2019 This also places it at an increasing disadvantage to its international Oxfordshire has one of the strongest competitor locations in attracting economies in the UK, contributing foreign investors, talent and £23bn Gross Value Added (GVA) to the business investment. UK exchequer in 2017. It is also rapidly growing at an average of 3.9 per cent This Local Industrial Strategy growth year-on-year since 2006. recognises these challenges to the Oxfordshire economy and sets out The county has significant assets in the opportunity to ensure that this research and development (‘R&D’) growth is coordinated county-wide. being home to the top performing It sits alongside the Oxfordshire university in the world, the University Housing and Growth Deal, agreed with of Oxford, as well as Oxford Brookes, a government in 2017, which sets out the leading university in the UK for teaching commitment to deliver 100,000 new and research. These anchor institutions homes across the county before 2031 support an international brand that as well as improvements in necessary draws talent and investment to both the accompanying infrastructure. This City of Oxford and across Oxfordshire strategy looks to integrate the county’s in the number of science, innovation, leading R&D and innovation assets technology and business parks into future housing and infrastructure. located in the county. The Oxfordshire This will provide pioneering solutions knowledge-led economy generates the to deliver transformative and highest number of university spin-out sustainable neighbourhoods that companies in the UK, underlining its prepare communities for the future importance to the national economy. and make Oxfordshire a clean and However, despite Oxfordshire’s many prosperous place to live and work. strengths, it has low productivity relative to many peers. Whilst the Ideas region’s productivity per hour worked Oxfordshire is a global centre is above average for England, in recent of research and innovation. The years it has fallen