‘Beyond the golden triangle’: Biotechnology incubation in the East Midlands region of the UK

Abstract

Policy changes by the UK Government in the 1990s led to the setting up of a large number of technology incubators specializing in biotechnology. A feature of these biotechnology incubators is that they were not confined to established life science intensive regions like the South East and East Anglia (Sainsbury, 1999), but spread across the UK. This study presents an in-depth case study of one of these biotechnology incubators. It provides insights into the contribution of incubators to the development of the biotechnology sector in the regions outside the 'golden triangle' (Mueller et al., 2012;Mullins, 2005) of Cambridge-London-Oxford. It identifies servicebased business models as an attractive entry-mode for start-up firms in these regions and shows services to be the main contributor to job creation. The study contributes to closing some of the gaps in research into the relationship between technology incubation and economic development. In particular it identifies local factors conditioning the performance of local economies, business models, and incubation, particularly in the context of policies designed to promote the growth of technology-based start-up and spin-off companies as avenues for economic development and transformation.

The entrepreneurial marketing management and commercialization arrangements of born-global bio-enterprises: the case of UK companies

“…Technology-based companies face significant financial challenges such as marketing and R&D costs involved in developing advanced technology and this is even made harder in saturated markets. Statistically, the East Midlands biotechnology sector has a high concentration of biotechnology companies (Smith and Ehret, 2013) and this requires born global bio-enterprises, operating in such an environment to structure their businesses in a way that permits them to leapfrog into the international arena more rapidly. Additionally, there are a number of factors that may push for this -it may be that there are less market pressures in niche markets due to low levels of protectionism giving born global bio-enterprises the impetus to exploit such market structures.…”

Institutions, place leadership and public entrepreneurship: Reinterpreting the economic development of Nottingham

“…Evidence is drawn from a number of previous studies and associated fieldwork exploring aspects of Nottingham's economy (e.g. McDonald-Junor, 2015;Rossiter, 2016;Smith and Ehret, 2013;Totterdill, 2000), and historical development (EMEPC, 1966;Wells, 1966). Documentary sources relating to the economy and development of the city and its institutions are also utilised (EMDA, 2006;Nottingham City Council, 2012), as are insights drawn from the authors' direct experience as participants in the institutions and (more recent) developments under review.…”

Adaptive capability and path creation in the post-industrial city: the case of Nottingham’s biotechnology sector

“…In the last couple of decades a new development path, has emerged in Nottingham. Although modest in scale by the standards of bioscience concentrations in the traditional heartlands of London and the South East (Smith and Ehret, 2013), the emergence of bioscience in Nottingham is significant for a non-core region. This momentum has been sustained over a 15 year timeframe and shows no signs of slowing.…”

“…The first phase of the development was opened by the science minister, Lord Sainsbury in September 2003 (Connon, 2003). By 2009 two further phases had been opened (Smith and Ehret, 2013). In 2014 plans were announced for the construction of an entirely new building.…”