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York and North Yorkshire is home to a diverse and innovative cluster of health and life sciences companies leading globally relevant work ranging from diagnostics to medical technologies and biotech.  Despite this strength, the sector does not yet benefit from the growth, visibility and connectivity it deserves. Many businesses report difficulties collaborating and accessing the support and advice they need.

Understanding the Region’s Unique Challenges

These challenges are not due to a lack of ambition or innovation. Instead,  they likely stem from structural factors – particularly from the large geographical spread and the absence of anchor innovation programmes that bring people together. This lack of visibility means the region is likely missing out on investment, partnerships, and attention from major commercial and public-sector players.  Similarly, where businesses fail to access the support they need they are less likely to reach their full potential. This has consequences not only for individual businesses and their workforce, but also the wider economic growth of the region.

This situation presents is both a challenge and an opportunity. In partnership with York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority (YNYCA) and supported by the mayor’s Business Innovation Fund, we’re delivering two projects designed to strengthen the region’s  health and life sciences ecosystem – enhancing visibility, increasing collaboration and improving access to specialist support.

Why Clusters Matter

The UK’s health and life sciences sector offers compelling evidence of what well-supported clusters can achieve. The “Golden Triangle” of London, Oxford and Cambridge remains the most prominent example, but strong cluster models have also brought success to other regions across the country such as the Midlands, and we want to replicate these successes in York and North Yorkshire.

What these places share is not simply co-location, but intentional structured convening—offering structured ways for businesses, academia, the NHS, investors and public bodies to connect, collaborate and build a shared identity. York and North Yorkshire has all the raw ingredients to do the same.

The Regional Opportunity

Research into the York and North Yorkshire health and life sciences sector shows there are over 100 businesses focussed on the health and life sciences sector, alongside many more operating in related or supporting roles. This, combined with the wealth of public sector organisations, academic institutions, and support organisations based in the region represents a real concentration of assets.

Over 30% of these organisations are based in York, with additional concentrations in Skipton and Harrogate. The most prominent subsectors are medical devices, biotech, and diagnostics: reflecting the region’s strengths in health and life sciences. Academic assets—most notably the University of York and its research centres—play a central role in the region’s research excellence and translational potential.

However, the data also reveals opportunities for growth. Many pipeline businesses sit outside traditional “high-growth” categories, suggesting significant potential for cross-sector collaboration that are not yet being realised.  Insights from business leaders across the region cite challenges accessing the specialist support and advice they need, which in many cases is constraining their ability to scale-up.  This includes challenges finding and accessing funding and support identifying and seizing market opportunities.  This is not only holding back growth of these businesses, it means the region isn’t realising its true potential for economic growth.

Importantly, these are not problems that require large capital investment or new physical infrastructure to begin addressing. They are, first and foremost, coordination challenges.

 Helping the Sector to Grow Through Convening, Collaboration, Support, and Visibility

Health Innovation Yorkshire and Humber has a strong track record of convening networks, stimulating cross-sector partnerships and increasing the visibility of health and life sciences across the region.  Through our Propel Healthtech programme we’ve developed a proven model for delivering accelerator programmes within the health and life sciences sector.  Over the past six years, our Propel Healthtech accelerator programme delivered in partnership with West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) has supported over 125 businesses to leverage over £41M additional investment, gain access to 84 new NHS market opportunities, and create 129 new jobs.

We’re excited to bring this expertise into the York and North Yorkshire region and deliver two projects designed specifically to address the region’s challenges and importantly, opportunities.

Cluster development project

Our Cluster development work will focus on growing the region’s existing health and life sciences cluster, aiming specifically to:

• Identify, convene, and mobilise the cluster through targeted work to understand the breadth of the region’s health and life sciences sector, identify existing clusters, and build a clearer, shared picture of the sector and its strengths.
• Increase collaboration and activity in a sustainable manner through a programme of structured networking events, creating opportunities and the providing right spaces for businesses to connect, share insight, and explore collaboration across traditional boundaries. These events will provide a focal point for  engagement, enabling knowledge-sharing and new partnerships.
• Increase regional, national and international visibility by developing a more coherent and compelling narrative for the sector, its strengths, and potential: telling this story across boundaries to help shine a light on the region’s potential.

Propel pilot project

Our pilot Propel project will deliver a series of taster accelerator support sessions, designed to up-skill health and life sciences businesses in topics of greatest need. These sessions will be informed through 1:1 interviews with business leaders from across the region and will be delivered through a hybrid online/in-person model, designed to address some of the regions geographical challenges.  The pilot project will be evaluated throughout, with the intention of securing follow-on funding to establish the programme on a more permanent basis.

Working Together to Unlock the Region’s Potential

Clusters and sectors don’t grow just because of one organisation, intervention, or programme.  They succeed when businesses see value in coming together, when support on offer is aligned to the needs of businesses, and when collaboration and a shared purpose begin to develop.

Sustainability is at the heart of this work. We don’t want to just create a short-lived network or intervention, instead, it’s about putting in place the foundations for ongoing collaboration, visibility, support, and growth of the region’s sector. York and North Yorkshire has the innovation, talent and ambition to stand alongside the UK’s most successful health and life sciences clusters: we just need to collectively unlock that potential.

Get involved

If you’re a business already working in York and North Yorkshire or are interested in working in the region please help share this message, engage in the pilot accelerator programme and networking events, and share these opportunities with other like-minded businesses.

Below you’ll find details of our three pilot Propel accelerator sessions. We’ll also shortly be launching registration for our three face-face cluster networking events and encourage you to follow us on LinkedIn for updates.

I’m looking forward to working with businesses, partners and stakeholders across the region as we take this forward.  If you’d like to discuss the above in more detail or hear more please feel free to reach out via email: sean.clarkson@healthinnovationyh.com

Propel pilot accelerator session 1

Propel pilot accelerator session 2

Propel pilot accelerator session 3