Jacob Midwinter, Operations Director and Philippa Clark, Sector Head of Discovery Science, are back, and this time joined by Andrew Shortt, Senior Growth and Innovation Specialist at Innovate UK EDGE. In the first episode of our new mini-series, exploring the UK Life Sciences landscape, they discuss topics such as the evolution of the life science sector in the West Midlands, the importance of collaboration in driving innovation, and the potential for growth in the region. It will also look at the current trends in life science, and what the sector can do to stay ahead of the competition.
[00:00:04] Welcome to SRG's podcast, The Think Bigger Series.
[00:00:07] A business podcast aimed at tackling key issues around the workplace
[00:00:11] and inspiring positive change.
[00:00:14] This podcast is hosted by me, Jacob Midwinter,
[00:00:17] Sales and Client Solutions Director at SRG.
[00:00:20] And me, Philippa Clark, Operations Manager for SRG's Southern Hub.
[00:00:28] Hi, and welcome to another episode of The Think Bigger Series.
[00:00:31] As usual, I am joined by the lovely Philippa.
[00:00:35] And we're joined today by a colleague of ours, which I'm really excited about.
[00:00:40] Hi, Andrew, how are you doing?
[00:00:41] Yeah, hey, Jacob. Hey, Philippa. How are you guys doing?
[00:00:44] Good. Philippa, really good to hear his voice again.
[00:00:47] It is so nice to talk and engage with Andrew again.
[00:00:50] Obviously, I miss working with you, Andrew, so it's great to get your insight today.
[00:00:54] Thanks, guys. That's so nice. Same.
[00:00:56] Yeah, me too. Me too. No, it is really good. Really good to get your insight.
[00:00:59] So I'll give you a very quick intro, Andrew.
[00:01:02] And then I'll start talking and throw some questions at you.
[00:01:07] Just so our listeners are aware, Andrew Shaw, ex-colleague of Philippa and mine at SRG,
[00:01:15] who's moved on to some further more great things.
[00:01:19] I was about to say, I was about to say has moved on to great things,
[00:01:22] but SRG is also great. Absolutely.
[00:01:26] And is like really active in the West Midlands life science space.
[00:01:30] And there's a number of different things in that area.
[00:01:32] But ultimately, correct and if I'm wrong, Andrew,
[00:01:36] but they're all linked together due to your passion of the West Midlands
[00:01:39] and the life science landscape and what's going on at the moment there, right?
[00:01:43] Absolutely. I do several different things, as you said,
[00:01:46] and it is all with the end goal of growing the sector.
[00:01:49] Okay, brilliant.
[00:01:50] So that's what we're going to talk about today.
[00:01:52] This is a first in a series that Philippa and I are going to do
[00:01:55] about the UK life sciences landscape.
[00:01:59] And there are some amazing things going on in the Golden Triangle.
[00:02:02] We love working with our clients in that space.
[00:02:05] Candidates were attracted to it, absolutely.
[00:02:08] But I'm excited to see what's beyond it.
[00:02:10] Our podcast is called Think Bigger.
[00:02:12] So let's think beyond that.
[00:02:14] Not the detriment of the Golden Triangle,
[00:02:16] but to really look about what other opportunities there is across the UK
[00:02:19] to share that success.
[00:02:21] So some stats to kick us off.
[00:02:24] Golden Triangle, I think like I was reading a Cushman and Wakefield paper
[00:02:29] the other day, the 2022 report and Leithing take up for 2022
[00:02:35] reached 630,000 square feet, which is just monstrous.
[00:02:41] London accounted for just shy of 40% of that.
[00:02:44] And they're looking at getting up to circa
[00:02:48] things like 4 million of square foot supply in 2025-2026.
[00:02:52] But there was a lack of purpose built life science space in 2022,
[00:02:58] which limited leasing volumes.
[00:02:59] So companies are starting to look outside the Golden Triangle.
[00:03:04] I'm really excited to see what they're going to find.
[00:03:07] So Andrew introduced us to the West Midlands.
[00:03:11] What are these companies?
[00:03:12] What are these people going to find if they open up the door to the
[00:03:16] West Midlands life science space?
[00:03:18] Excellent.
[00:03:18] Thanks, Jacob.
[00:03:19] I mean, if I can sort of start off with a couple of statistics myself,
[00:03:23] if that's okay.
[00:03:24] So in the West Midlands, just to rattle these off, we've got a diverse
[00:03:28] population of 4.7 million that offers a major opportunity to harness
[00:03:32] clinical and genomic data.
[00:03:34] We've got 61% of the region's healthcare sector is in med tech.
[00:03:38] 8% of the UK's overall turnover in the field just in the West Midlands.
[00:03:42] We've got eight local hospitals and 35 regional centres of clinical
[00:03:46] research excellence.
[00:03:47] We're top leading UK location for clinical trials.
[00:03:50] We've got serious clinical trial capability in Birmingham and
[00:03:53] two of the UK's health data research hubs, Pioneer and Insight are
[00:03:57] located here.
[00:03:58] Those are just the sort of headline stats, if you like.
[00:04:02] But then if we go into other things such as like the cost of living,
[00:04:05] right?
[00:04:06] So it's a third cheaper to live in Birmingham in the West
[00:04:09] Midlands than it is in the Golden Triangle.
[00:04:10] You know, we've got acres of green space and we've got the
[00:04:14] new life science part being opened, Birmingham Health Innovation
[00:04:17] Campus, which we can talk more about, which is quite a unique
[00:04:21] facility in the sense that it will be a triangle of so we'll
[00:04:24] have our own for handling Birmingham.
[00:04:26] Although the triangle is only about a half a mile and it
[00:04:30] will be the hospital, the trust University Hospital, Birmingham
[00:04:34] Health Innovation Campus, 120,000 square feet in phase one
[00:04:38] and the University of Birmingham and the research part there.
[00:04:41] So that provides a real nice triangle of activity and cluster.
[00:04:46] It does, isn't it?
[00:04:46] That's exciting.
[00:04:48] Philip, you've been in life sciences, what for?
[00:04:51] Well, in SIG recruitment life sciences for 20 years, right?
[00:04:55] Almost 20 years, yeah.
[00:05:00] Sounds exciting, right?
[00:05:01] What's going on in the West Midlands at the moment?
[00:05:03] What are your thoughts to sort of bring you into the
[00:05:06] picture?
[00:05:08] Yeah, I think it's really exciting as you said earlier,
[00:05:10] you know, the Golden Triangle is a great place for science
[00:05:14] and we've created three great UK hubs.
[00:05:17] But I think it's learning about all the great stuff that has
[00:05:21] been achieved in the Golden Triangle, you know, labs, networking
[00:05:25] opportunities and it's about replicating those elsewhere.
[00:05:28] And as Andrews so well put already, you know, it's just
[00:05:32] opening your eyes to the fact there's other areas in the
[00:05:35] UK that have great facilities, great access.
[00:05:38] I love the sort of access to a very diverse population and for
[00:05:42] me it's about creating opportunities for people to get
[00:05:45] into STEM all across the UK.
[00:05:47] Let's replicate all the great stuff, the Golden Triangle and
[00:05:50] create some other hubs that we can all get really excited
[00:05:52] about because I think it's essential that we keep these
[00:05:56] skills and this knowledge, you know, in the UK keep,
[00:06:00] you know, thrusting the sort of biotech UK market forward.
[00:06:04] Yeah, I agree.
[00:06:06] Completely agree with that.
[00:06:07] I was looking on one nucleus, I think it was that published
[00:06:13] another report we've talked about beyond London and the
[00:06:18] Southeast regions with the strongest growth in startups
[00:06:21] and the West Midlands had sort of a hundred percent growth
[00:06:25] last year in startups.
[00:06:26] And one of the things that I just wanted to talk about
[00:06:29] first and to Philip's point, we talked about network,
[00:06:31] infrastructure, lab space and also then talent.
[00:06:34] If we start with network, companies probably are drawn
[00:06:38] initially to the Golden Triangle because there's some established
[00:06:41] companies there.
[00:06:41] There's great networking events you can get involved in.
[00:06:44] So what's the networking structure like currently in the
[00:06:48] West Midlands for these companies that are starting up
[00:06:50] there or established companies that are looking to move
[00:06:52] there?
[00:06:53] Yeah, you make a good point, Joe, about the network.
[00:06:56] So and we have links into Oxford as well and I just
[00:07:00] started to forge those links to be bigger and better
[00:07:03] and we actually had an event hosted by the OBN,
[00:07:07] open Birmingham, like what two weeks ago alongside MediLink
[00:07:12] Midlands and the West Midlands Health Technology cluster.
[00:07:15] So in terms of networks in the region, we have the two
[00:07:18] I've just mentioned there.
[00:07:19] So MediLink is a national organization.
[00:07:20] I'm sure you guys are aware of almost like a trade
[00:07:22] association in some ways for Medtech.
[00:07:24] We have MediLink Midlands and they host a number of events
[00:07:27] yearly, a number of different awards and also offer
[00:07:31] sort of business support on a membership basis.
[00:07:33] We have the West Midlands Health Technology cluster again,
[00:07:36] similar organization, members, clubs, similar to OBN.
[00:07:40] And then we also have something that I and a few
[00:07:43] others we conceived and we've been running it for the
[00:07:45] last two and a half years now and we call it the House
[00:07:48] SecOdol.
[00:07:48] So it's health and life sciences enterprise community
[00:07:52] and we meet every eight to 10 weeks in person.
[00:07:55] We have dinner.
[00:07:56] We have an interesting speaker and it's a way to
[00:07:59] disseminate news to the companies, the business
[00:08:02] leaders there, the entrepreneurs, the founders and some
[00:08:04] key public stakeholders as well.
[00:08:06] And it's a way for us to gain intel from them to see
[00:08:09] what their challenges are and how we can help unblock
[00:08:12] those barriers for them to help them grow as companies
[00:08:15] as well.
[00:08:16] So we do have other obviously networking events and
[00:08:19] networking organizations.
[00:08:21] We have the West Midlands Academic Health Science
[00:08:23] Networker linked into all of that as well.
[00:08:25] So we have quite a strong support landscape in place
[00:08:30] of funded support often for companies.
[00:08:33] One of the things that I do, for example, is innovate
[00:08:35] UK Edge and that is funded support for Medtech and
[00:08:38] life science businesses across the West Midlands.
[00:08:41] So we do have the basis of some really good networks
[00:08:44] and the ones I've mentioned have been going quite
[00:08:46] strongly for the last sort of two or three years as
[00:08:48] Birmingham and the West Midlands with our high
[00:08:50] potential opportunity in life sciences from DIT
[00:08:53] to really start to kind of grow our region and
[00:08:56] really sort of to put our stamp down and say, you
[00:08:58] know what?
[00:08:59] If you are looking for somewhere outside of the
[00:09:01] established sort of golden triangle, then yeah,
[00:09:03] Birmingham and the West Midlands are great place.
[00:09:07] Awesome.
[00:09:08] And there's other I'm interested in kind of I
[00:09:11] didn't realize I'll be honest.
[00:09:12] I put my hands up.
[00:09:13] I didn't realize quite how much was going on
[00:09:17] in the West Midlands until you've just spoken
[00:09:18] about it then with all these networks.
[00:09:20] But
[00:09:22] maybe you can shed some light on this.
[00:09:24] I'm sure it wasn't
[00:09:27] you know, as easy as what you've just said, you
[00:09:29] know, we started this up and I'm sure there's
[00:09:30] probably some challenges.
[00:09:31] What would have been your learns over the last
[00:09:33] recent few years or some of the obstacles you
[00:09:36] had to overcome if you can think of any because
[00:09:38] there are other areas that are also growing.
[00:09:40] You know, we've got Southwest Northern Island,
[00:09:43] for example, they're their areas that are
[00:09:45] growing.
[00:09:47] What sort of challenges have you overcome that
[00:09:49] they may go through?
[00:09:50] Because they're not they're not necessarily along
[00:09:52] the same sort of journey.
[00:09:54] I think you're probably further on down that journey
[00:09:56] than the moment.
[00:09:58] So I think an interesting case, I mean, we've
[00:10:01] spoke about Kath McCarre before MD, MD of
[00:10:04] Bruntwood who are partners on the Birmingham
[00:10:07] Health Innovation Campus and we've looked to
[00:10:09] Manchester and we sort of think Manchester is
[00:10:12] sort of a few years ahead of us in some ways.
[00:10:14] So we look to Manchester and sort of what
[00:10:16] they've done and how they overcome some of
[00:10:18] their challenges and obviously Oxford as well
[00:10:21] and Cambridge and London also.
[00:10:23] I think one of the main challenges is always
[00:10:25] lab space, right?
[00:10:27] So we had a plan put into action to build
[00:10:30] this new 120,000 square feet in phase one.
[00:10:34] It is with phase two to come in about three
[00:10:36] years, I think.
[00:10:37] So we have challenges around lab space.
[00:10:40] That was a big issue and we had an issue
[00:10:42] sort of what about three years ago where we
[00:10:45] had several high potential spin out
[00:10:47] companies from the universities in region
[00:10:50] who when they get spun out of a university
[00:10:53] the umbilical cord is essentially caught,
[00:10:55] right?
[00:10:56] So they were having to move out of the
[00:10:58] university labs they were using and find
[00:11:00] alternative space in the simply wasn't
[00:11:01] any because we have just to put some
[00:11:05] context on it for you guys.
[00:11:06] So we have Birmingham Research Park in
[00:11:09] Edge Baston on UOB campus that comprises
[00:11:13] the Biohob which is a purpose built
[00:11:14] lab facility for biological work and
[00:11:17] that's for sort of early stage and
[00:11:18] growing companies.
[00:11:20] Then we've got Wolverhampton Science Park
[00:11:21] as well and then we've got Staffordshire
[00:11:23] Science Park and then we have Warwick
[00:11:25] Innovation Campus which is made up of
[00:11:27] four different locations and that's
[00:11:29] an R&D driven science parks.
[00:11:32] But we simply didn't have any kind of
[00:11:34] early stage almost spit and saw
[00:11:37] dust is the description we used.
[00:11:40] Okay, almost a spit and saw dust type
[00:11:42] laboratory space for med tech, med
[00:11:44] device type companies that wasn't
[00:11:47] that didn't need biological space or
[00:11:48] clean rooms right of which we've got
[00:11:50] a number of those different companies
[00:11:52] in the region.
[00:11:53] So we acted really quickly actually to
[00:11:56] secure funding with secured 60,000
[00:11:57] pound and we sequestered a small room
[00:12:01] in Birmingham Research Park.
[00:12:03] The head of Research Park Angie Reynolds
[00:12:05] big shout out to Hershey made the
[00:12:06] whole thing happen and we converted
[00:12:08] it into an incubator space and we've
[00:12:10] got five med tech companies in there
[00:12:13] for med tech companies and an
[00:12:14] agri tech company actually and it's
[00:12:16] a model never tried before nationally
[00:12:18] and what we did was to say it's
[00:12:20] 150 pound a month in year one,
[00:12:24] 300 pound a month in year two and 750
[00:12:26] pound a month in year three with the
[00:12:28] intention that you won't be there in
[00:12:30] year three and it's almost a kind of
[00:12:32] you either fail quickly and then
[00:12:34] the support landscape is set up for
[00:12:35] these innovators to come back and
[00:12:37] try again or you accelerate
[00:12:40] quickly and then you're out of the
[00:12:41] space going into commercial rent
[00:12:44] creating jobs, putting money into the
[00:12:46] local economy and freeze up another
[00:12:48] space for another early stage company
[00:12:50] to go in there.
[00:12:51] As part of that they get shared lab
[00:12:53] all the insurance is taking care of
[00:12:54] all the waste everything he's done
[00:12:56] for them so they can concentrate
[00:12:58] on building their prototype or getting
[00:13:00] the data they need getting the raise
[00:13:02] and we've got wraparound business
[00:13:03] support around that as well and
[00:13:05] and a mentoring scheme.
[00:13:07] So we acted really really quickly
[00:13:09] and we proved that it was possible
[00:13:11] to get this almost like pop-up lab
[00:13:13] space active and running and
[00:13:16] with the intention of almost when
[00:13:18] Birmingham Health Innovation Campus
[00:13:20] opens phase one in September
[00:13:23] we then have almost like a conveyer
[00:13:25] about right between unit 9
[00:13:27] MedTech Incubator moving into
[00:13:29] Birmingham Research Park and
[00:13:30] paying commercial rent and then
[00:13:32] or moving into Birmingham Health
[00:13:34] Innovation Campus.
[00:13:35] Pretty entrepreneurial then.
[00:13:38] I've never you know these pop-up
[00:13:41] pop-up labs not heard of that before
[00:13:44] I don't know if you have Philippa
[00:13:45] or like I think of these pop-up
[00:13:46] restaurants that I go to on the
[00:13:48] I mean no just to add to Andrew's
[00:13:50] point I think it's great.
[00:13:52] I think one of the solutions for
[00:13:54] sort of lack of space lack of lab
[00:13:56] space or expensive lab space is
[00:13:58] the creation of these incubators
[00:14:00] it allows the companies you know
[00:14:02] to I guess spin out of an academic
[00:14:04] lab where often there's not any
[00:14:06] room or often it can cause issues
[00:14:08] with I guess IP ownership.
[00:14:10] It allows them to focus on the
[00:14:11] innovation do that in a cost
[00:14:13] effective environment and then
[00:14:15] hopefully they then grow and go
[00:14:17] elsewhere beyond that and I think
[00:14:19] it's a great model and that's
[00:14:22] what we should be doing more of
[00:14:23] to support the UK biotech
[00:14:25] market.
[00:14:26] Yeah 100% agree with you Philippa
[00:14:29] so we are set this space up to
[00:14:32] encourage innovators to innovate
[00:14:34] right and they either fail quickly
[00:14:36] in which case if it's set up for
[00:14:38] them correctly the support system
[00:14:40] they will come back again because
[00:14:41] these guys are natural entrepreneurs
[00:14:42] or they accelerate quickly and
[00:14:44] they're at the space and then
[00:14:45] they are paying commercial rents
[00:14:48] and creating jobs and putting
[00:14:49] money back into the economy.
[00:14:50] Now we need these commercial
[00:14:53] developers to create these
[00:14:54] laboratory spaces because we do
[00:14:56] have an acute shortage across Europe
[00:14:58] as well not just the UK
[00:15:00] but there's no bottom line for
[00:15:02] them in these incubator type
[00:15:03] spaces so we push really strongly
[00:15:06] for it to be a subsidised model
[00:15:08] which enables us to charge such
[00:15:10] a small amount of it's not even a
[00:15:12] rent we call it like a license fee.
[00:15:14] So it has to be in my opinion
[00:15:17] and the way that we've done it in
[00:15:18] in Birmingham is it's a subsidised
[00:15:20] model that the university and
[00:15:22] the stakeholders like the local
[00:15:23] authority how are invested in
[00:15:25] because we understand that if we
[00:15:27] can get these early stage
[00:15:28] companies to grow and say we put
[00:15:30] 10 through in in two years
[00:15:32] if two of those guys make it
[00:15:34] and then go on to create big raises
[00:15:36] then it's been a success
[00:15:38] but that's why you have to get the
[00:15:39] local stakeholders on side
[00:15:41] to create these type of incubator
[00:15:43] spaces because the for all the
[00:15:45] wheel in the world with the
[00:15:46] property developers there's no
[00:15:47] bottom line for these guys
[00:15:48] so we talk it out of their hands.
[00:15:52] So effectively that's solving one
[00:15:54] problem there but also you're
[00:15:56] reducing the barriers to entry
[00:15:57] for these startups as well right
[00:15:59] exactly yeah exactly that's
[00:16:01] exactly it Jacob which enables
[00:16:04] you to have more opportunity
[00:16:06] of success within the region
[00:16:08] more opportunity of success
[00:16:09] within the life sciences space
[00:16:11] by reducing those barriers to entry
[00:16:13] which is really you know I'm
[00:16:14] all for that I think that's
[00:16:15] fantastic. Talk to me about
[00:16:16] talent because you know I'm
[00:16:18] sat here Phillip and sat here
[00:16:20] we're both you've been there
[00:16:21] you know you were a recruitment
[00:16:23] consultant in the Birmingham
[00:16:26] in the Birmingham space
[00:16:28] at West Midland Space and you
[00:16:30] know it was always I guess
[00:16:32] historically if a company came
[00:16:34] to us and said are we located in
[00:16:35] Cambridge would be like yes
[00:16:37] fantastic an abundance of talent
[00:16:39] what's going on with with with
[00:16:41] talent in Philippa I'll ask the
[00:16:42] same question to you what's
[00:16:43] going on with with talent in the
[00:16:46] West Midlands within life
[00:16:47] sciences Andrew.
[00:16:49] Yeah so we're experiencing
[00:16:52] challenges with talent the same
[00:16:54] as other regions outside of the
[00:16:56] Golden Triangle and I know
[00:16:57] that even inside the Golden
[00:16:59] Triangle there are still
[00:17:00] challenges for companies to
[00:17:03] recruit with a lack of candidates
[00:17:04] anyway so I still do a little bit
[00:17:06] of recruitment on the side
[00:17:08] I call it on the side.
[00:17:09] Yeah I'll serve as a handful of
[00:17:11] clients in a consultive capacity
[00:17:13] which I learned to do at SIG
[00:17:15] so I've still got my foot in
[00:17:17] the water so to speak
[00:17:18] we have a challenge in the West
[00:17:20] Midlands and Birmingham in
[00:17:23] attracting mid to senior level
[00:17:25] scientists and the kind of
[00:17:28] that you guys will understand
[00:17:30] these PhD you know three
[00:17:33] four years postdoc this sort of
[00:17:35] senior scientist and then going
[00:17:36] up to the sort of 60k plus
[00:17:39] bracket and one of the main
[00:17:40] reasons for that that we've
[00:17:42] discovered is that because
[00:17:44] we don't have this huge
[00:17:46] critical cluster of companies
[00:17:49] like an Oxford or like a
[00:17:50] Cambridge there isn't as much
[00:17:52] opportunity for candidates
[00:17:53] to go from one company to
[00:17:56] then move into the next
[00:17:57] company and then to the next
[00:17:58] company and almost plot their
[00:18:00] career out.
[00:18:01] Does that make sense?
[00:18:01] Philippa?
[00:18:03] Yeah yeah definitely I mean just
[00:18:04] a sort of add to that you know
[00:18:06] people look at the Golden
[00:18:08] Triangle and obviously there's
[00:18:09] a lot of success there
[00:18:10] there's a lot of high profile
[00:18:11] companies but attracting
[00:18:13] talent to the Golden Triangle
[00:18:14] also comes with its challenges
[00:18:16] if you look at London
[00:18:17] Cambridge and Oxford
[00:18:18] typically there are sort of
[00:18:19] higher costs of living so
[00:18:21] I think for me from a
[00:18:23] recruiters perspective as
[00:18:24] cliches it sounds you know
[00:18:26] it's working with a customer
[00:18:28] it's understanding their story
[00:18:30] you know even down to
[00:18:31] understanding why they base
[00:18:32] themselves where they're based
[00:18:34] what links do they have to
[00:18:35] academia what links do they
[00:18:36] have to hospitals and healthcare
[00:18:38] and then it's going to the
[00:18:39] talent and sharing that story
[00:18:42] which I think really helps to
[00:18:43] attract and engage people but
[00:18:44] then also making people aware
[00:18:46] of the location
[00:18:47] you know cost of living
[00:18:48] facilities.
[00:18:50] I think it's just got to be
[00:18:51] the whole package and there's
[00:18:53] always going to be areas of
[00:18:54] the UK that are trickier
[00:18:55] to recruit for but I think if
[00:18:57] you've got the knowledge you
[00:18:58] understand the story behind
[00:19:00] the company the drivers
[00:19:02] I think it can make it a lot
[00:19:04] easier and I think it's just
[00:19:04] about being really consultative
[00:19:06] with talent.
[00:19:08] I think you're absolutely right
[00:19:09] there and it essentially
[00:19:11] with the way Birmingham
[00:19:13] and the West Midlands
[00:19:13] is positioning ourselves
[00:19:15] and I mentioned the high
[00:19:15] potential opportunity earlier
[00:19:17] we did the report about two
[00:19:19] years ago with the science
[00:19:20] industry partnership SIP
[00:19:22] and we predicted that we
[00:19:24] would have 10,000 new jobs
[00:19:27] by 2030 in the life
[00:19:28] science sector within the West
[00:19:30] Midlands.
[00:19:31] Now where are those 10,000
[00:19:32] candidates going to come from?
[00:19:33] Sure we're going to grow some
[00:19:34] of our own and the University
[00:19:36] of Birmingham and Aston
[00:19:37] University and Warwick
[00:19:38] University in particular
[00:19:40] those three guys and Birmingham
[00:19:42] City University now my mind
[00:19:43] comes to it are very proactive
[00:19:46] in terms of trying to
[00:19:48] foster entrepreneurship within
[00:19:50] their students right
[00:19:51] and trying to
[00:19:54] convince almost or trying to
[00:19:56] show students that Birmingham
[00:19:57] it is a great place to grow
[00:20:00] and to start your career.
[00:20:01] Now house prices are cheaper
[00:20:03] I mentioned we've got a lot
[00:20:05] more green spaces so
[00:20:06] it's nice for the Golden
[00:20:08] Triangle to have that issue
[00:20:10] if we could call it
[00:20:11] where they can attract talent
[00:20:12] but then there's also the
[00:20:13] consideration around wages
[00:20:15] and how wages are rising
[00:20:17] and the consideration around
[00:20:18] how candidates and talent
[00:20:20] are going to live whereas
[00:20:21] their houses are they close
[00:20:23] to the science parks
[00:20:24] etc etc and within region
[00:20:26] and Birmingham in particular
[00:20:28] we've really sort of taken
[00:20:29] that into account around
[00:20:31] the positioning of that
[00:20:32] Birmingham Health Innovation
[00:20:33] Campus it's got fantastic
[00:20:34] links with Birmingham
[00:20:35] Research Park and we're
[00:20:37] trying to keep our graduates
[00:20:40] here and the numbers are
[00:20:41] starting to creep up.
[00:20:43] Great cheers for that Andrew
[00:20:44] I think you may have
[00:20:46] answered this question
[00:20:47] already somewhat but it'd be
[00:20:48] nice for you to just
[00:20:49] summarise it.
[00:20:50] So you got one minute
[00:20:54] to preach to the talent
[00:20:57] if you're there you've got
[00:20:58] an opportunity you've got
[00:20:59] your foot in the water
[00:21:00] so it speaks to you
[00:21:00] with recruitment anyway
[00:21:02] but what are you saying
[00:21:03] to this talent then
[00:21:04] to attract them to the
[00:21:06] West Midlands?
[00:21:07] Okay so essentially
[00:21:10] I've mentioned some
[00:21:10] of the things already
[00:21:11] but I will summarise
[00:21:12] as you said there
[00:21:13] we've got some fast growing
[00:21:15] companies in region
[00:21:16] and I'll mention
[00:21:17] Nonakos as an example
[00:21:19] they just want a bunch
[00:21:19] of awards they're in lists
[00:21:21] with companies like
[00:21:22] Tesla and Intel
[00:21:23] as a fast growing
[00:21:24] tech company.
[00:21:25] We've just had one of our
[00:21:26] UAB Spinats bought out
[00:21:28] by Thermo Fisher for
[00:21:29] 1.2 billion
[00:21:30] so that was a really
[00:21:31] nice move to have
[00:21:33] Thermo Fisher come in there
[00:21:34] I've mentioned the
[00:21:35] support landscape
[00:21:36] I've mentioned
[00:21:37] the cost of living
[00:21:39] but essentially
[00:21:40] there's an opportunity
[00:21:41] here in a wide variety
[00:21:43] of different ways
[00:21:44] and particularly
[00:21:45] for candidates
[00:21:46] to come to a region
[00:21:47] that's got a buzz
[00:21:47] we're growing
[00:21:48] we've been recognised
[00:21:49] by DITF
[00:21:50] as having this high potential
[00:21:51] opportunity
[00:21:52] we're putting a lot of
[00:21:53] collateral
[00:21:54] and effort
[00:21:55] and marketing
[00:21:57] into selling
[00:21:58] the West Midlands
[00:21:59] as a region
[00:22:00] for companies to come
[00:22:01] and join
[00:22:02] and take advantage
[00:22:03] of all the good things
[00:22:04] that I've just
[00:22:04] spoke about there
[00:22:05] so I think
[00:22:06] if you're
[00:22:07] a scientist
[00:22:08] at the early stage
[00:22:09] or career scientist
[00:22:10] and you're looking
[00:22:11] for that move
[00:22:12] and you're looking
[00:22:12] for a city
[00:22:14] with a vibe
[00:22:14] you're looking for a city
[00:22:15] that supports
[00:22:16] life science
[00:22:17] and supports
[00:22:18] life science companies
[00:22:19] and we put our money
[00:22:20] where our mouth is
[00:22:21] in doing that as well
[00:22:22] you've only got to come
[00:22:23] to Birmingham city centre
[00:22:25] and you guys
[00:22:25] should come up
[00:22:26] and I'll get you lunch
[00:22:28] it's a fast
[00:22:29] change in city
[00:22:30] there's a huge amount
[00:22:31] of investment
[00:22:32] capital investment
[00:22:33] that's gone into our city
[00:22:35] and the wider West Midlands
[00:22:36] as a whole
[00:22:37] so I think it's just
[00:22:38] and I'm probably biased
[00:22:39] but it is
[00:22:40] it is a really
[00:22:41] nice place to live
[00:22:42] and we're starting
[00:22:43] to see this acceleration now
[00:22:44] of
[00:22:45] early stage companies
[00:22:46] where you could get experience
[00:22:47] in a really fast moving
[00:22:49] innovative type
[00:22:50] startup
[00:22:51] or
[00:22:52] the companies
[00:22:53] that are growing
[00:22:54] and accelerating quickly
[00:22:56] to get in
[00:22:57] and build a career there
[00:22:58] and as I said
[00:22:59] the cluster starting
[00:23:00] to emerge now
[00:23:00] we're starting to get
[00:23:01] some some critical density
[00:23:04] that's great
[00:23:04] now thanks for summarising
[00:23:05] that because it is exciting
[00:23:06] it does come across
[00:23:07] exciting
[00:23:07] you can tell your passion
[00:23:08] as well
[00:23:09] I think
[00:23:10] for me
[00:23:11] if I speak really
[00:23:11] honestly
[00:23:13] living in the South
[00:23:13] I haven't always
[00:23:14] lived in the South East
[00:23:15] but I live in the South East
[00:23:15] now
[00:23:16] and
[00:23:17] there is that kind of
[00:23:19] oh anything
[00:23:20] outside of the South East
[00:23:21] is sleepy
[00:23:22] it's slow
[00:23:23] and like I said
[00:23:25] there's probably some legacy
[00:23:26] there right
[00:23:27] of West Midlands
[00:23:27] you know
[00:23:28] blah blah blah
[00:23:28] but I think
[00:23:30] you know
[00:23:31] the narratives
[00:23:31] that you're painting
[00:23:32] there
[00:23:32] the evidence
[00:23:33] that you're showing
[00:23:33] the exciting language
[00:23:35] that's getting talked
[00:23:35] about
[00:23:36] you're starting to see
[00:23:36] on publication
[00:23:37] such as
[00:23:38] Forbes
[00:23:39] such as the economy
[00:23:39] where they're talking
[00:23:40] about these other areas
[00:23:42] that are
[00:23:42] that are growing
[00:23:43] that are having investment
[00:23:44] they're exciting times
[00:23:45] to be part of
[00:23:45] if we look
[00:23:46] life sciences industry
[00:23:47] specific
[00:23:48] and it does go beyond that
[00:23:49] as you talk about
[00:23:50] as well
[00:23:51] then
[00:23:52] I think
[00:23:52] I think it will be a tie
[00:23:53] that will turn quite quickly
[00:23:56] for the West Midlands
[00:23:57] and
[00:23:57] no
[00:23:57] it's really really interesting
[00:23:58] hearing you
[00:23:59] hearing you talk
[00:23:59] about it
[00:24:01] certainly
[00:24:02] yeah thanks Jacob
[00:24:03] and just to make one more point
[00:24:04] on that just to sort of drive it home
[00:24:05] I guess
[00:24:06] yeah
[00:24:07] Birmingham
[00:24:07] industrial
[00:24:08] you know
[00:24:08] we started the Industrial Revolution
[00:24:10] I guess in the UK
[00:24:11] manufacturing
[00:24:12] etc etc
[00:24:13] I think it'd be
[00:24:14] I think
[00:24:15] the Commonwealth
[00:24:15] Gahanes
[00:24:16] was quite a surprise
[00:24:17] for a lot of people
[00:24:18] and I went
[00:24:19] I took my son to the boxing
[00:24:20] and we had a great day
[00:24:20] at the NEC
[00:24:22] and just talking to some people
[00:24:24] you know that type of atmosphere
[00:24:25] it was like a festival
[00:24:26] and just talking to people
[00:24:27] from outside of the region
[00:24:29] and they was quite surprised
[00:24:31] by Birmingham City Centre
[00:24:32] has
[00:24:32] how cosmopolitan it looks
[00:24:34] and we've had like big moves here
[00:24:35] like HSBC
[00:24:36] have got the headquarters here
[00:24:37] for example
[00:24:38] we've got a knowledge tech quarter
[00:24:40] but the whole HS2 thing
[00:24:41] being built as well
[00:24:42] which is going to be fantastic
[00:24:44] investors
[00:24:45] VCs
[00:24:46] just starting to look here now
[00:24:47] we had a big VC event in September
[00:24:49] that we organised
[00:24:49] we had 15 funds in the room
[00:24:51] totally over one billion
[00:24:53] and conversations
[00:24:53] have come out of that as well
[00:24:56] and you know
[00:24:56] London
[00:24:57] to Birmingham
[00:24:58] in like 50 minutes
[00:24:59] or whatever it's going to be on HS2
[00:25:01] so even investors now
[00:25:02] that we speak to
[00:25:02] VC funds
[00:25:03] that we speak to
[00:25:04] are starting to say
[00:25:05] yeah
[00:25:05] we're being tasked
[00:25:06] with looking outside
[00:25:07] of the Golden Triangle
[00:25:08] sure
[00:25:09] we're still going to be
[00:25:10] investing there
[00:25:11] we're still going to be
[00:25:11] looking and have our portfolios there
[00:25:13] but like you guys
[00:25:14] like what's outside of the
[00:25:16] Golden Triangle
[00:25:16] and where can we invest
[00:25:18] in some more innovation?
[00:25:20] Brilliant
[00:25:21] so
[00:25:21] we
[00:25:22] summarise
[00:25:23] these podcasts
[00:25:24] with kind of three takeaways
[00:25:26] and
[00:25:28] Andrew
[00:25:28] I'm going to give you the really hard job
[00:25:29] of going last
[00:25:30] because otherwise
[00:25:31] Philippa and I
[00:25:32] are just going to be like parrots
[00:25:35] to you
[00:25:35] but Philippa
[00:25:36] I will be really kind this time
[00:25:37] and let you go first
[00:25:39] so
[00:25:40] listening to Andrew
[00:25:42] you know
[00:25:42] doing obviously
[00:25:43] your own sort of research
[00:25:44] around this area
[00:25:45] hearing the passion
[00:25:46] what
[00:25:47] what are your kind of three takeaways
[00:25:48] from
[00:25:49] from today's conversation
[00:25:50] about
[00:25:50] the life science industry
[00:25:52] in the West Midlands
[00:25:53] I think first and foremost
[00:25:55] I'm just really excited
[00:25:56] and encouraged to hear
[00:25:57] all the exciting
[00:25:58] steps
[00:25:59] steps that being taken
[00:26:00] in the West Midlands
[00:26:00] you know
[00:26:01] it sounds very creative
[00:26:03] very innovative
[00:26:04] very bold
[00:26:05] and
[00:26:05] you know
[00:26:06] by the very title
[00:26:07] of our podcast
[00:26:07] you have to think big
[00:26:08] and we have to look beyond
[00:26:10] some of the hugs
[00:26:11] that we have already
[00:26:12] I think we all need to play
[00:26:13] a part in creating
[00:26:14] biotech hubs across the UK
[00:26:17] and for me
[00:26:17] West Midlands
[00:26:19] sounds like a great example
[00:26:21] I think by creating
[00:26:22] these different hugs as well
[00:26:23] we're naturally going to create
[00:26:24] more diversity in our market
[00:26:27] I'm really excited
[00:26:28] about giving greater accessibility
[00:26:29] to people that want to work
[00:26:31] in STEM
[00:26:31] that may have discounted it
[00:26:32] before
[00:26:33] because they've always
[00:26:34] just looked at traditional hubs
[00:26:36] and I absolutely support
[00:26:38] the rise of these incubators
[00:26:39] to support that innovation
[00:26:41] keep those ideas coming into science
[00:26:43] you know
[00:26:44] give them that space and freedom
[00:26:45] to focus on the science
[00:26:47] and the innovation
[00:26:48] and hopefully
[00:26:49] lead to lots of success
[00:26:52] Brilliant
[00:26:53] that's great
[00:26:54] I've
[00:26:56] I've really enjoyed
[00:26:57] listening to you speak
[00:26:58] Andrew and
[00:27:00] I
[00:27:00] I think for me
[00:27:01] it comes down to
[00:27:04] we need competition
[00:27:05] we need healthy competition
[00:27:06] across the UK
[00:27:07] with regards to driving our business forward
[00:27:09] if companies get too comfortable
[00:27:11] having a
[00:27:13] it's a bit of a strong word
[00:27:14] but a monopoly
[00:27:15] then it gets
[00:27:16] it gets lethargic
[00:27:17] and I think having
[00:27:20] some doing
[00:27:20] doing some of the things
[00:27:21] that you've explained today
[00:27:23] get other areas of
[00:27:24] the life sciences
[00:27:25] community in the UK thinking
[00:27:26] and I'm going to use a metaphor here
[00:27:29] in golf
[00:27:30] so
[00:27:32] last year
[00:27:33] you know
[00:27:34] the
[00:27:34] live golf like
[00:27:36] was sweeping across the media
[00:27:38] PJ tour
[00:27:39] you know little bit like the Golden Triangle
[00:27:41] fantastic
[00:27:43] great
[00:27:44] everyone
[00:27:44] everyone loves it
[00:27:45] and it's brilliant
[00:27:45] and it
[00:27:46] always will be
[00:27:47] like the Golden Triangle
[00:27:49] but
[00:27:50] live golf came along
[00:27:51] and everyone was like
[00:27:52] whoa
[00:27:53] this is different
[00:27:54] okay
[00:27:55] and they
[00:27:55] you know
[00:27:55] fighting for talent
[00:27:56] and all of that sort of stuff
[00:27:58] and
[00:27:59] people have got their own views on live golf
[00:28:01] and that's fine
[00:28:02] but
[00:28:02] what did it do for the PJ tour
[00:28:04] well what it did
[00:28:04] was it made them go back
[00:28:05] and talk to the
[00:28:07] talk to the players
[00:28:07] and look at what they're actually doing
[00:28:09] and it's actually improved the PJ tour
[00:28:10] they've now got commitments of
[00:28:12] golfers
[00:28:12] top
[00:28:13] top golfers
[00:28:13] that are going to go to more events
[00:28:15] so it's actually improved that
[00:28:16] and I think talking about some of the stuff
[00:28:17] that you're doing with infrastructure at the moment
[00:28:19] in the West Midlands
[00:28:20] can really help
[00:28:22] other
[00:28:23] kind of
[00:28:24] hotspots of talent
[00:28:25] such as the Golden Triangle
[00:28:26] really look at
[00:28:27] okay what are we doing with infrastructure
[00:28:29] how can we improve that
[00:28:30] how can we do things better
[00:28:31] so
[00:28:32] I'm all for the healthy competition
[00:28:33] and I love that we've got these different hotspots
[00:28:35] popping up all across the UK
[00:28:38] we know some of the obvious ones
[00:28:39] but there are some others that aren't as obvious
[00:28:41] like the West Midlands
[00:28:41] so I've loved that
[00:28:43] I think it's been really great hearing about
[00:28:45] what's going on in the West Midlands as well
[00:28:47] with regards to talent
[00:28:48] and the wider opportunity of
[00:28:50] of talent going to the West Midlands
[00:28:53] and it just sounds really exciting
[00:28:55] like that's my third takeaway
[00:28:56] it's a really exciting time for
[00:28:58] for business
[00:28:59] to invest in
[00:29:00] for VCs to look at investing in
[00:29:02] and for talent to go and add value to that
[00:29:04] to the life sciences industry in the UK
[00:29:06] so yeah really enjoyed it
[00:29:08] but over to you Andrew to summarize for us
[00:29:11] yeah thanks for having me guys
[00:29:12] it's been really
[00:29:13] really enjoyable actually
[00:29:14] and it's been great to talk to you guys
[00:29:16] and catch up and stuff
[00:29:17] and an opportunity to sell our region as well
[00:29:20] I think there's
[00:29:21] there's exciting times ahead for healthcare
[00:29:23] and you've touched on it as well Philip
[00:29:24] over the next five to ten years
[00:29:26] and I think it's terrible as COVID in a pandemic was
[00:29:29] it really put the spotlight in the public mind
[00:29:31] and the policy makers mind as well
[00:29:33] that healthcare you know
[00:29:34] rightly so is top of the agenda
[00:29:35] and the government has committed a lot of money
[00:29:38] going forward into R&D spend
[00:29:40] and through innovate UK and stuff like that
[00:29:42] so there's really exciting times ahead
[00:29:44] and particularly in the West Midlands
[00:29:45] we have the innovation accelerator as well
[00:29:47] over the next two years
[00:29:48] and that's
[00:29:49] 33 million pound from the government Glasgow
[00:29:51] and I believe Manchester as well
[00:29:53] I've got the other innovation accelerator
[00:29:55] and we've chosen in region to focus on clean tech
[00:29:57] and med tech
[00:29:58] so
[00:29:59] they're going to touch on why companies should come here
[00:30:01] so we've got that support put in place as well
[00:30:03] to accelerate
[00:30:05] companies and to accelerate their growth
[00:30:07] so I think
[00:30:08] I completely agree with you Philip
[00:30:10] in terms of these hubs
[00:30:11] for me it's about the UK
[00:30:13] competing
[00:30:14] on a global market
[00:30:15] and
[00:30:16] if we can have
[00:30:17] the already established Golden Triangle
[00:30:19] and then we can also have
[00:30:20] you know more biotech hubs like the West Midlands
[00:30:23] like Manchester and Northern Powerhouse
[00:30:25] and like Glasgow
[00:30:27] and Edinburgh
[00:30:28] and Bristol they're doing some good things as well
[00:30:30] then it's
[00:30:30] it's going to benefit the UK economy
[00:30:32] it's going to benefit the regional economy
[00:30:34] and that can only be a good thing for us
[00:30:42] make sure you click subscribe to listen to future think bigger podcasts
[00:30:46] and to listen to our previous podcast
[00:30:48] visit srgtalent.com
[00:30:51] click on insights and podcast
[00:30:53] and make sure to follow srg on LinkedIn
[00:30:56] to keep up to date on the latest insights
[00:30:59] and articles to inspire yourself
[00:31:01] and also your workplace