Exploring the potential for a health and life sciences cluster in the South West

In a modern industrial facility, scientists and technicians work together on pharmaceutical and medical research

Currently the South West is the only region in the UK that hasn’t created a formal life sciences cluster.

In other parts of the country, successful clusters are bringing together industry, investors, universities and research institutions, NHS organisations and health innovation networks.

Clusters aim to drive growth and productivity by facilitating:

Networking and collaboration
Research and innovation
Skills development and training
Internationalisation of cluster assets
The ability to do ‘high risk’ work in a low risk environment.

While discussions are at an early stage, there is evident energy and enthusiasm from partners for more formalised regional partnership relationships, with a view to either creating a single health and life sciences cluster model or a network of localised clusters or hubs across the South West.

We will look to build on the excellent South West Life Sciences website, developed last year by the University of Bristol’s Translational Research Hub. This has been an important first step towards establishing an advocacy organisation for the South West region to help increase the visibility of our region’s life sciences ecosystem.

In the coming months, we will continue to work with partners, including the GW4 alliance and Health Innovation South West to coproduce structured proposals that build on collective ambitions, support more strategic collaborations, and showcase our regional talent and assets.

If you’d like to find out about future events and keep up-to-date with developments, sign up to our mailing list here.

Posted on May 6, 2025

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