The Henry Royce Institute – the national body promoting research and applications in advanced materials – has been identified as a key player in driving forward the economic growth of the Northern Powerhouse.
‘Powerhouse 2050: the North’s Routemap for Productivity’ report has been published by the Northern Powerhouse Partnership, a group of businesses, organisations and leaders – including Siemens, Drax and Manchester Airports Group and headed by George Osborne.
The report calls on the government to invest more than £3bn to create 850,000 jobs in the North – and a crucial part of this proposed strategy will be the region’s expertise in advanced materials. The report says the institute will have a pivotal role to play because:
“… [Royce] has the potential to integrate collective strengths across the North to create a genuine centre of excellence available for companies and researchers across the Northern Powerhouse to capitalise on.”
For example, this includes Royce’s help in delivering for the North an integrated UK Coatings Technology Centre, two thirds funded by UK businesses and the remainder from higher education funders.
Advanced materials will also help the region develop expertise in other area of manufacture, such as the development of ever lighter materials to create products with. This would give competitive advantage to a range of industrial sectors.
“We welcome the aim of this report in highlighting how this regional has huge potential to grow economically,” said Andrew Hosty, CEO of the Henry Royce Institute.
“And much of that potential will be around advanced materials which are set to transform the products we make – and how we make them.
“The Royce is a national leader in this field – and by working with our partners in the region and beyond we believe we are confident we can power UK innovation.”
The Henry Royce Institute is the national organisation based in Manchester that is leading on advanced materials research and applications.
To achieve this mission, the Royce brings together world-leading academics from across the UK, and works closely with industry to ensure commercialisation of fundamental research.
Founding partners include the universities of Manchester, Sheffield, Liverpool, Leeds, Imperial College London, Oxford and Cambridge, plus the UK Atomic Energy Agency and the National Nuclear Laboratory.
