West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) and the wider Silverstone Vision Board are
among partners driving forward a new wave of innovation across the region backed
by up to £20 million of government funding.
The investment announced today for the central area of the Oxford-Cambridge
Growth Corridor, which includes Northamptonshire, Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire
and Milton Keynes, comes from the £500 million Local Innovation Partnerships Fund
to enable organisations and businesses to turn cuttingedge ideas into realworld
impact.
Working with partners across this central stretch of the Corridor, the successful
“Innovation Circuit” bid will deliver programmes that strengthen capabilities in
autonomous systems, highperformance engineering and dual use space and
defence technologies, including through the Silverstone Vision 2035 and the
businesses at Silverstone Park and the wider Silverstone Cluster.
The programme will build on the thousands of highskilled jobs already supported by
the motorsport, engineering and space sectors, building pipelines for further growth,
and reinforcing this part of the Corridor as a key hub for applied innovation within the
wider Oxford–Cambridge area.
West Northamptonshire Council is working with other partners in the central area of
the Oxford-Cambridge Growth Corridor, including the Open University which is
leading the consortium, the Silverstone Vision Board, Silverstone Technology
Cluster, neighbouring authorities, Cranfield University and the University of
Northampton.
All partners across the region will now work with UKRI to shape the projects that will
receive support, focusing on collaborative R&D, talent development, integrated
testbeds and clear routes to investment and new markets.
Councillor Mark Arnull, Leader of West Northamptonshire Council said: “Our Council
is delighted to be working as part of this consortium to drive forward innovation and
cutting-edge technology across our region and are encouraged by the government’s
recent funding announcement.
“West Northamptonshire is already rich in talent, creativity and technical excellence
as the home of high-performance, engineering and motorsport industries, and by
accelerating our commercial readiness along with our partners in the central spine of
the Oxford–Cambridge Growth Corridor, we can unlock an estimated £4.5bn in
annual GVA (gross value added) by 2035.