UK Innovation Map
Compare placesDifferent, not ranked.
Two or three clusters, read side by side across sectors, research, companies, capital, infrastructure, government designations and UKIZ relevance. There is no score and no ranking: British clusters are different from one another, not better or worse than one another.
Choose up to three clusters
- London
- Cambridge
- Oxford
- Manchester
- Birmingham & the West Midlands
- Bristol & Bath
- Sheffield & Rotherham
- Leeds & West Yorkshire
- Liverpool City Region
- Newcastle & the North East
- Teesside & the Humber
- Edinburgh
- Glasgow & the Central Belt
- Belfast
- Cardiff & South Wales
- Southampton & Portsmouth
- Cornwall & Plymouth
- Nottingham & Derby
- Norwich & the East
Side by side
| Dimension | Norwich & the EastEast of England | Bristol & BathSouth West | Southampton & PortsmouthSouth East |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sectors | AgriTech & FoodTech, Engineering Biology, Clean Energy Supporting: Life Sciences, Digital Technologies | Semiconductors, Robotics & Autonomous Systems, Quantum Technologies, Defence & Security Supporting: Creative Industries, Advanced Manufacturing, Artificial Intelligence, Clean Energy | Defence & Security, Robotics & Autonomous Systems, Advanced Manufacturing Supporting: Clean Energy, Digital Technologies, Advanced Materials |
| Research |
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| Companies | Not recorded on the map. |
| Not recorded on the map. |
| Infrastructure | Not recorded on the map. Plant and food research institutes, genomics facilities and offshore energy operations bases. |
Quantum and robotics laboratories, national composites facilities and aerospace test capability. | Not recorded on the map. Naval and maritime engineering facilities, photonics research centres and port infrastructure. |
| Capital | Research council and charitable funding dominate; venture capital is scarce. | An established angel and seed base with strong deep tech interest; growth rounds usually come from London or the US. | Prime contractor supply chain finance and public programmes rather than venture capital. |
| Government programmes |
| No place-based designation recorded. |
|
| What exists | Plant, food and genomics research of international standing, offshore energy operations and maintenance, and a significant agricultural production base on the doorstep. | Semiconductor and processor design, quantum engineering, robotics and autonomous systems, aerospace and composites, and a creative and screen economy of national significance. | Maritime, naval and defence engineering, marine autonomy, photonics research and a major port and logistics complex. |
| What's missing · UKIZ interpretation | Commercial translation of agri-food science, and connection between offshore energy operations and the research base inland. | Fabrication and volume production capacity to match the design strength, and hardware-friendly capital. Companies scale by moving production abroad. | Routes for smaller innovators into defence and maritime procurement, and a civil market for capability developed for defence customers. |
| What could connect · UKIZ interpretation | Agri-food and genomics research connected to national food manufacturing and to engineering biology capacity, and offshore operations connected to the Humber and North East energy supply chain. | Bristol design capability connected to South Wales compound semiconductor fabrication and to composites and aerospace manufacturing, a western technology corridor with a complete chain. | Marine autonomy and photonics connected to Plymouth marine capability, Bristol robotics and offshore energy operations: the same technologies serving defence, energy and shipping. |
| UKIZ relevance | Food security and biotechnology intersect here more clearly than anywhere else in Britain, and connect to the proposed Oxford-Cambridge mission. | Bristol's design and robotics capability has historically been acquired rather than scaled. The relevant missions concentrate on the capital and customer connections that let companies stay independent. | Marine autonomy is where defence, robotics and clean energy meet. The proposed Cornwall & Devon marine mission connects to this capability directly. |
| Last verified | 15 August 2026 | 15 August 2026 | 15 August 2026 |
Proposed by UKIZ · independent · not a government designation