Like so many areas of activity in the UK’s economic and scientific life, the dominance of London and the south is often taken for granted, even though it is often seen as unhealthy and unbalanced, especially elsewhere in the country.
However, the life sciences sector is growing significantly in various regions, with the Business Desk revealing that the north west has seen the strongest expansion in England outside the capital.
Drawing on an analysis of government statistics by software firm Ryan, it noted that employment in life sciences has risen by 61 per cent in the region over the past five years. It put the jobs figure at 7,675.
In addition, the study calculated that over the same period, the number of research and development sites in the region had risen by 28 per cent.
The leading local authority for life science sites is Cheshire East, which includes an AstraZeneca base, with 167. Manchester is second with 139.
Commenting on the findings, Ryan’s director for research and development Nigel Holmes said: “The UK has long been a trailblazer for life sciences, responsible for many groundbreaking discoveries, and so it is fantastic to see this growth continue across the country.”
He added it was “especially” good to see new employment being created in the north west, which is now the third largest hub for life sciences overall.
During the past five years, the increase in UK life sciences jobs was 117 per cent overall, with London leading the growth and Northern Ireland next.
Over recent years, the biggest regions for life sciences have been the south east and the East of England. The latter trend owes much to the Cambridge area being a major life sciences hub thanks to its famous university.
Indeed, in 2021 government figures showed that South Cambridgeshire and Cheshire East were the two local authorities with the highest levels of biopharmaceutical jobs in the UK.
