High Technology Corridors

Advantage West Midlands has identified three geographical areas where the mix of business activity, academic expertise, research capability, infrastructure and development opportunities exist to encourage the growth of high technology businesses.

These are:

• The Central Technology Belt

• The Coventry, Solihull and Warwickshire Technology Corridor

• The Wolverhampton to Telford Technology Corridor

Each corridor is managed a partnership team consisting of local organisations who can help with development, such as local authorities, universities, training providers and financial specialists.

The role of the High Technology Corridors is to:

• develop and improve the infrastructure of the corridors, so that they offer a complete range of high quality accommodation that satisifies the demands of technology-led businesses

• promote and enable collaboration between businesses, academic and research institutions, to ensure businesses have access to, and benefit from, the local knowledge base

• provide integrated business support services and investment funds to support design, research and development and the commercialisation of research to create new products and services

• improve workshop and leadership skills so that existing and incoming businesses can recruit the high quality, highly skilled workforce they need

• market the corridors as prime locations for technology-related, design, manufacturing and professional service businesses.

To date, these types of activity have led to:

• 100 businesses created

• 700 businesses assisted

• 3,100 jobs created and safeguarded

• 250 people assisted with their skills.

This Corridor runs from central Birmingham to north Worcestershire and follows the line of the A38, drawing on the strengths of existing businesses, the universities of Birmingham and Aston and the former Defence Evaluation and Research Agency, QinetiQ, in Malvern.

Identified areas of expertise include medical sciences, materials engineering and environmental technologies.

Among the key projects funded through the Central Technology Belt are Longbridge Technology Park, Malvern Hill Science Park and the National Nanotechnology Centre.

This is an area of strong, established high-technology transport, Information and Communications Technology and building technology businesses.

These are supported by significant intellectual resources at the Universities of Coventry and Warwick and Warwick Manufacturing Group. These assets are being built upon to strengthen ICT and design cluster opportunities and provide benefits for all linked industries and technologies.

Key projects in the Coventry, Solihull, Warwickshire Technology Corridor include the Serious Games Institute in Coventry and the ACT-UK National Centre for Advanced Construction.

The third corridor extends from Wolverhampton to Telford along the line of the M54 motorway. 

The University of Wolverhampton, which has an excellent reputation for working effectively with businesses, is a key asset to the corridor. 

Industry strengths include aerospace, advanced engineering and polymers which, along with growth areas like information technology, building technologies and creative industries, are a key focus for the development of the corridor.