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Sir Patrick Vallance hears from regional leaders at Cranfield University event

Posted 31 March 2025

Recently appointed Oxford-Cambridge Innovation Champion and Science Minister, Lord Vallance was at Cranfield University earlier this month for a special roundtable event with business leaders, university representatives and local authorities from the central area of the corridor around Cranfield, Milton Keynes and Bedford.

Image courtesy Cranfield University

Lord Vallance set out his vision and priorities for the Oxford-Cambridge corridor at the meeting and heard from local leaders and key regional voices about the coordinated actions required to drive investment and build growth. The discussion also covered the biggest areas of innovation potential, connectivity and infrastructure in the region.

Science Minister Lord Vallance said: “Joining the dots between hotbeds of innovation like Cranfield University and the wealth of academic, business and investment opportunities across the Oxford-Cambridge Corridor, will unleash this region’s potential to create jobs and deliver growth, supporting our Plan for Change.”

Chaired by Chief Executive and Vice-Chancellor of Cranfield University Professor Dame Karen Holford DBE FREng, the roundtable included representation from Nissan, Lockheed Martin, Airbus, Marshall Aerospace, Luton Airport, Red Bull Advanced Technologies, ARC Universities Group representatives and local authorities.

“The Oxford-Cambridge corridor has enormous potential to drive economic growth across the UK,” commented Professor Dame Karen Holford. “At the moment our region contributes over £40 billion to the UK economy, with the potential to add a further £78 billion by 2035. But we need to accelerate the translation of innovative research into commercial products, and the development of key skills; with universities having a key role to play.

“The clusters of knowledge that we have across the Oxford-Cambridge corridor have enormous potential and I’m really pleased the government is recognising this and engaging so directly to support our huge ambitions.”

Whilst at the Cranfield campus, Lord Vallance officially opened a new space robotics facility, the ASTRA lab, which simulates orbital conditions for space robotics, and toured Cranfield’s Aerospace Integration Research Centre, a collaborative space where industry and academia work closely to rapidly develop new technologies.