Liverpool Science Park News & Press

1. In your role as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Liverpool (UoL), where do you see the future economy of the Northwest of England coming from?

I see it coming principally from the knowledge economy. While we do clearly have other important areas of growth, not least Liverpool as a tourist destination, the knowledge economy has tremendous potential for the future. I chair an informal body called the Knowledge Economy Group. We recently released a report, the Knowledge Economy Plan, which audited the knowledge assets of the City Region, with a particular focus on biomedical, creative and digital and advanced manufacturing. It identified life sciences, digital and creative and advanced manufacturing as growth sectors.

2. Could you tell us more about these growth sectors?

Starting with life sciences, the City is a major international centre of excellence in biomedicine, with key strengths in the Universities, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, the teaching hospitals and the cluster of pharmaceutical companies in south Liverpool and elsewhere in the region. Within the digital and creative sector, there is potential to develop something quite exciting, particularly with the advent of Salford Quays and the migration of the BBC. And in terms of advanced manufacturing, this area still has a major base in sectors such as car manufacturing and aerospace. While we need to remain competitive in a very globalised economy, the City has exceptional promise in terms of further exploiting its knowledge assets.

3. As incoming chair of the LSP board, what are your aspirations for LSP in its fifth year of operations?

My aspiration is that it should become one of the key hubs of knowledge exploitation through the support and growth of high performance companies who can contribute directly to the growth of the City Region. There has been some evidence recently that when companies have grown to a certain level they have had to move elsewhere because of a lack of infrastructure and facilities, particularly laboratories - but the forthcoming laboratories at LSP will help to minimise that risk. I also look forward to the much needed third phase of LSP; it is important that we build on the considerable success to date and keep the momentum going. We need to continue to identify and support present and future high-performance companies which will become, not just SMEs, but themajor sources of jobs and growth over the next two or three decades.

4. We are seeing a number of new very small companies coming into LSP. Do you have any advice for young companies starting out in business?

They need to have a very clear focus on what they can bring to the marketplace and they need to work incredibly hard in order to achieve it. There are still difficult barriers for young companies to overcome when moving from proof of concept to something that can be demonstrated to a group of potential investors. It is only with sound business advice to help them take an idea and translate it into a commercial product, together with the appropriate support, that these fledgling companies will succeed.

5. Do you think even more could or needs to be done to retain and attract the brightest and best graduates in the Liverpool City region?

Yes, we do need to do more. I find that this City inspires huge amounts of affection among our graduates, in a way in which no other city I've worked in does. Our graduates genuinely regret leaving Liverpool, and the reason they do is often because there are not the opportunities for them here. It is important therefore that we address issues around innovation and enterprise. However, just as important is the regeneration of the City. The City needs to be a pleasant and stimulating place for people and their families to live. The key is to give people the economic and enabling support to base their work here but also to continue to regenerate Liverpool as an attractive and vibrant city where people want to come and live and work.