“Opportunities slipping through our hands,” says EEDA chief executive

Cambridge needs to do more to ensure that high levels of research pay dividends

This is according to David Marlow, chief executive of the East of England development Agency, who told a conference of European knowledge economy experts in the city recently that Cambridge could do more to capitalise on the opportunities it creates for itself.

“The East of England is the UK’s ideas region, we have world-leading research facilities and 23 percent of all UK R&D spend is here. But we cannot be content just to generate ideas. This city’s record of producing groundbreaking research is staggering. But there is always room to improve our record of exploiting these opportunities.”

Recent comparisons between Cambridgeshire and Santa Clara County in California (the silicon fen and silicon valley) have shown that although they are the same geographic size, economic output in silicon fen is six times smaller and average earnings less than a third of its US counterparts.

“The phenomenon of high-tech firms in Cambridge is also more limited than many people might expect,” said Mr Marlow.

“While has rightly gained international acclaim for cutting-edge research and scientific innovation, its high-tech firms remain predominantly small. Those Cambridge firms that do experience large growth – and some have the potential to become major FTSE 100 companies – tend to sell to bigger players outside the region rather than lock their profits into the area.”

International competition was mounting, warned Mr Marlow, referring to the fact that China and India each produce over two million university graduates each year compared to around 250,000 in the UK.

Mr Marlow recommended a number of measures that can help the region and the UK compete on a global stage including calling for fresh thinking to encourage more young students to take science qualifications.

He also called on the government to “urgently reform its procurement processes to help foster small business innovation.” He said: “a recent study found the public sector purchases some 55 percent of all IT products and services in the UK, but nationally we’re not smart about the way we can use this opportunity. In America schemes like the SBIR (Small Business Innovation Research) make government the customer and creates valuable contracts for smaller innovative companies. The programme has helped thousands of US academics become entrepreneurs, and converted billions of taxpayer dollars into highly valuable goods and services. A similar scheme could really benefit some of the high-tech companies based in our region.”

A good IDEA
IDEA talks and events masterminded by the east of England Development agency (EEDA) have spurred companies throughout the region to win new business and increase profit levels.

The past three years have seen IDEA talks with PY Gerbeau, Edward de Bono and Sir John Harvey-Jones, and the massively successful Destination growth. Now the ideas exchange will show entrepreneurs how to lead and market their businesses.

In a survey following Destination growth, 85 percent believed the event would have an impact over time on their business and 75 percent had a positive experience at the business conference. this, combined with individual stories of new business won, means attending an EEDA event can change your business for the better.

The ideas exchange aims to have similar impact on entrepreneurs with a series of world class speakers including: Barbara Cassani, the first leader of London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics games and the former chief executive of GO Airlines; John Barnes and Richard Richardson – the two men behind the growth of the Harry Ramsden and La Tasca restaurants; Doug Richard, who appeared in BBC 2’s Dragons’ Den, and Sahar Hashemi, co-founder of Coffee Republic.