The Northern Health Science Alliance welcomes the ambition to make the UK the world’s leading research and innovation-driven nation, including the recognition of the vital contribution made by universities and innovation clusters. In the health and life sciences sector this will also require recognising the extremely valuable contributions our NHS research and innovation colleagues bring to the table.  

The UK is well placed to achieve this goal, and the North of England is ready to play its part. We have exemplary assets and huge growth potential: recent figures show the northern life sciences sector has grown by 8% to £14.1bn in 2024-2025 and employs 56,000 people.  Our supercluster report showed that this has the potential to grow to £16.52bn and employ 118,700 people by 2040.  

This is despite a longstanding regional funding imbalance that has seen £26 per person spent on clinical research in the North vs £69 per person in the South. Redressing this imbalance to boost cluster growth through investment in skills and talent, research and innovation, entrepreneurship and access to capital is vital. 

We look forward to a new approach that actively encourages cross-regional collaboration, enabling organisations with the strongest capabilities across the North and beyond to work together. This should build on established partnerships between universities, NHS trusts and the wider innovation ecosystem, which already bring together complementary strengths across the North and translate them into economic and societal impact. 

There is a huge opportunity for the health and life sciences sector to work closely with the mayors and other regional leaders while maintaining a clear vision for the North as a connected innovation region.