Midlands Investment success stories – Health & Life Sciences

The Midlands has become a leader in the UK’s Health and Life Sciences sector, thanks to its broad leading research universities, wide talent pool, major Clinical Trials Units and rapidly expanding private incubator space. The Midlands boasts the highest number of health-tech companies of any UK region, the National Rehabilitation Centre as well as two major Life Sciences Opportunity Zones out of only six total across the UK. The region is a prime location for innovative and growing businesses in the sector.  

Life Sciences Opportunity Zones: Birmingham and Charnwood Campus

Birmingham Health Innovation Campus (BHIC) is due to open its first phase this year, becoming a leading healthcare technologies hub. With the first phase offering 133,000 sq ft of lab and office space for innovative businesses and spinouts, the £210m campus will become a key part of the regional health and life sciences ecosystem, offering collaboration between clinical and academic experts in partnership with the University of Birmingham and Birmingham Health Partners. By 2031, the site masterplan will provide up to 657,000 sq ft of quality space for the region’s leading innovators in areas including biopharma, precision medicine and genomics. 

Charnwood Campus Science, Innovation and Technology Park is the region’s other Life Sciences Opportunity Zone and a successful Enterprise Zone in Loughborough, focusing on the biopharmaceutical sector. Formed in 2014 on a vacant derelict site, Charnwood Campus is now a thriving hotbed of innovation, with 800+ scientists on site and cutting-edge facilities including the £54m Charnwood Molecular site. Last year, further investment of £4.6m was announced in order to create a world-class biochemistry building and redevelop 9,417 sq m further laboratory space, allowing the site to offer further research, development and small batch manufacturing capacity.

Embedding expertise: University of Warwick Healthtech Campus

Earlier in 2024, the University of Warwick announced the delivery of a HealthTech Campus at Arden Cross, forming part of a wider Innovation District within the £3.2bn regeneration opportunity of the HS2 Interchange station in Solihull. The University will act as an anchor while bringing together industry, the NHS, clinicians, researchers and policy makers to accelerate the development of new market solutions. It will include a Digital Health Innovation Hub, supporting SMEs and start-ups with early-stage research, as well as a Medical Technology Evaluation Centre to facilitate the introduction of new technologies and devices into medical practice. 

“The University of Warwick is already recognised for driving innovation in life sciences. The new Campus will strengthen our world-leading education and research work. It will also help us leverage investment from the public and private sectors and build academic partnerships.” – Stuart Croft, Vice-Chancellor, University of Warwick 

Photo: University of Warwick

Major Medtech Investment in Derby: Getinge

Getinge, a Swedish healthcare and science firm with £2.5bn turnover, opened its new UK headquarters and training centre earlier this year in Derby, creating 30 new jobs. The site also features Getinge’s new Global Centre of Excellence for Chemistry, co-locating the company’s chemistry and instrument decontamination business, its R&D team, and its UK logistics operations and sales team within a state-of-the-art, sustainable 78,000 sq ft building at Derby’s St. Modwen Park.  

Photo: Getinge 

A growing biotech startup hub in Nottingham: Biocity and Medicity

Owned by Pioneer Group, BioCity and MediCity in Nottingham are incubators for the life sciences and MedTech sectors designed to support startups. Companies at BioCity Nottingham benefit from ready access to state-of-the-art lab equipment and a city-centre location at the heart of Nottingham’s R&D network. Meanwhile, at MediCity, companies enjoy being based within the Enterprise Zone, with exemptions on business rates. With these pioneering facilities, local centres of excellence such as the NIHR Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre and NIHR Nottingham Clinical Research Facility, and leading universities, it’s no wonder that the East Midlands accounts for almost 10% of UK HealthTech employment.  

For more information on opportunities in the Midlands’ health and life sciences sector, visit the Midlands Investment Portfolio, read our Health & Life Sciences Cluster Snapshot, or check out the R&D Investment Prospectus.