Programmes supported by the Cambridge Norwich Tech Corridor
Our programmes help the thousands of brilliant businesses, educational institutions and research organisations that make the Cambridge Norwich Tech Corridor a great place to live and work.
We welcome the input of ambitious organisations propelled by a sense of purpose and a desire to be at the forefront of the tech-driven economy of the future.
Your firm is welcome to get involved in some of the projects detailed below. Got an idea for a programme that the Tech Corridor should be providing for businesses? Get in touch!
Cluster Development Roadmap
The Cluster Development Roadmap is a significant data-driven study, commissioned by the Cambridge Norwich Tech Corridor, led by leading design practice, Perkins and Will. The study uses a range of different data sets to map locations with ‘high-growth potential’ in the Tech Corridor region.
The study aims to:
- Define the role that each location currently plays within the Tech Corridor economy
- Identify future opportunities and help set growth aspirations for each location
- Identify the opportunities arising from connecting the locations and building the Tech Corridor into an ‘ecosystem of connected, complementing clusters’.
- Identify a shared narrative and shared challenges and opportunities that could be best addressed on a ‘Corridor-level’ rather than by individual locations or businesses such as digital connectivity.
The goal of this work is to create a holistic view of the Tech Corridor region and bring forward ideas on how the Tech Corridor could grow and develop over the coming decades. This will help strengthen the inward investment ‘offer’ of the region by enhancing the business environment in key, high-growth locations.
For more insight into the work to date on the Cambridge Norwich Tech Corridor Cluster Development roadmap, please view the guide below:
Funding Fit
The Funding Fit programme was set up with an ambition to increase the number of applications to Innovate UK grants (and other government funding pots) from businesses across Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire.
We aim to do this by helping to demystify grants and the grant application process via small, jargon-free events which focus on live/open grants. The events are run collaboratively by the New Anglia LEP and the Tech Corridor, with support from 3rd parties when specialist knowledge/insight is needed.
The events are largely invite-only and are a great opportunity for businesses to meet in region peers, who could potentially be partners on funding bids.
During the one-hour session participants will get:
- A jargon-free overview of the funding call
- A ‘been there, done it’ view from a local business that has successfully applied to a similar funding call
- An interactive session where businesses can put forward and share ideas about projects that fit the call and where there are opportunities for other businesses and organisations to come in as collaboration partners
- Access to support post-session to put together a bid.
To learn more about Funding Fit and to hear about the next scheduled event: email info@techcorridor.co.uk
Engineering Success
This programme is helping ensure a bright future for Norfolk and Suffolk’s burgeoning engineering and manufacturing clusters.
Engineering Success is managed by the New Anglia Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering (NAAME) group and the Tech Corridor following the award of the grant from the New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership’s Innovative Projects Fund, which provides support for initiatives that aid economic growth in the region.
The programme maps and accelerates the development of the engineering and manufacturing cluster across Norfolk and Suffolk.
Part of this work will involved setting up an online talent-sharing platform, which will enable employees at companies where work patterns are seasonal to move to another business during quieter periods, thus ensuring all-year-round employment for staff and broadening the talent pool available to firms.
Click here for full details and to find out how you can be a part of the NAAME network
East of England Investment Catalyst
The East of England Investment Catalyst was launched in 2019 to help the region’s hottest tech companies secure investment, by connecting businesses to investors for both short term investments and long term relationships.
Participants in the first cohort in 2019, who were selected from a long-list of applications, received coaching and advice to hone their business propositions, before presenting their pitches to a panel of expert judges. Five finalists were then selected to pitch at the grand final, held at Barclays Rise London venue. You can read more about the 2019 final here.
Tech Corridor Ambassador Network
We are inviting businesses and thought leaders in the Cambridge Norwich Tech Corridor to become ambassadors of our pioneering initiative.
The role of our ambassadors is to help promote our collective strengths and guiding mission in the Tech Corridor and beyond, as well as helping to embed some of the initiatives on our delivery roadmap. Becoming an ambassador will in turn enable companies to use the growth of the Cambridge Norwich Tech Corridor to put their own businesses in a positive, holistic spotlight and connect with a like-minded, motivated ecosystem of local firms.
Our goals for the ambassador network are to:
- Encourage more collaboration and knowledge sharing across the Tech Corridor.
- Enable businesses to use the umbrella Tech Corridor brand to help promote the great work taking place in this region (e.g., by using Tech Corridor branding on websites to show the wider landscape in which they thrive).
- To be spokespeople for the Tech Corridor and to be up to date and aware of what is going on across the region.
- To help delivery of specific projects or programmes, input and support in the development of strategies and key Asks to Government.
