Building the Oxfordshire brand to attract investment for science and manufacturing

Image: opening panel discussion at Jesus College Oxford - Cav Elithorn speaking

The second part of Future Cities Forum's opening panel discussion at Jesus College, Oxford, tackled the subjects of developing not just science parks along the OxCam Growth Corridor, but also spaces for manufacturing, the need for a Mayoral Authority, building housing on the Green Belt versus creating density in the city of Oxford, supercharging the wider Oxfordshire brand to attract investment, creating sustainable science parks in and outside Oxford and developing a tourist tax.

The panel was comprised of Cllr Liz Leffman, Leader of Oxfordshire County Council, Cllr Ian Courts, Board Member of the West Midlands Combined Authority and Deputy Leader of Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council, Cavendish Elithorn, Director for the Oxford Cambridge Growth Corridor at HM Treasury, Victoria Collett, Director, Oxford North, Clive Tritton, Chief Officer - Local Government and Regeneration at Oxford City Council, and Matt Humphreys, Project Director at Scott Brownrigg,

Liz Leffman spoke about how to develop manufacturing along the OxCam Growth Corridor:

'It's not necessarily concentrated in the science parks. So, for example, we've got Siemens in places like Eynsham. We've got advanced manufacturing in places like Witney. Those are areas that we want to grow. They are small but we've got a huge opportunity with things like life sciences in the county, and that connection with the university is really important. But we're also seeing things like quantum computing in places like Bicester, and in Banbury, we're seeing things developing as well, including Kidlington, all of those areas, they're not science parks, but they are areas that we need to be able to develop. And hopefully, not just develop fledgling businesses, but actually provide the infrastructure that's needed and the housing that is needed in order to make sure those businesses actually stay here, rather than migrating to another part of the county, as, for example, you've suggested might happen.'

Liz was asked where the skills development was in place? She said:

'Well that's the other aspect of it and that's where a mayoral authority can also come in because that's where we can work with government to get the investment that we need to develop those skills in the areas that are in need of them. So I think, you know, it's like putting a piece of a jigsaw together at the moment. Right now in Oxfordshire we've got six different authorities. Somehow we've got to meld that into something bigger but something that's actually going to take account of the development opportunities across the whole of the county. And then within that, on top of that, we build a mayoral authority with our partners in Reading in Berkshire and we have actually written to government to say that we want to set up a mayoral authority... it's about putting aside political differences, it's about looking at what the price is going to be for us as politicians.

Liz was then asked whether she had a clear vision of the kind of leadership that might make this happen?

'Well, it's in a very fledgling state at the moment. We've got to the point where we agree that we want to set up a Thames Valley mayoral authority. That will obviously depend on government's willingness to allow us to do that. What kind of behaviour is this? That's something that we're going to have to work on, obviously, and we haven't even got so far as to set up a leaders' committee yet, but we are on the track for doing that. And the fact that we've actually got to the point of saying, and there are a number of different political groups involved, there are a number of different authorities involved, all of the districts in the city are involved, but we have actually got to the point of saying, this is what we want, we need our eye on the prize, we're going to go for it.'

Ian Courts commented:

'A couple of points on that, which, I mean, it's an interesting journey you've got, Liz, and I encourage you to pursue it, because we did it. We had a lot of shadow meetings on before we got there, but there are things that, I mean, I think the prize was continuity. You mentioned skills. I mean, the fact that in the West Midlands we managed to get an integrated settlement, Manchester and us were the first to do it, which is more than a single year, because the short-termism of funding is chronic, and we need that longer-term thinking. But one of the things that, you know, collaboration is good.

'There is great suspicion about they're coming to take us over, and one of the interesting tensions you have is to say, well, just exactly what are we going to do as a council, and what is the combined authority doing? Because what we're finding now is there's a unanimity around the table saying, well, we want devolution from government to combined authority, but in many cases we want double devolution, because what you'll find is some of the local authorities have things that they do very, very well, and other councils don't, so there's an element of sharing of expertise, and then there are other things where the economies of scale of a combined authority make it better to do those things. And so this is all, I wouldn't say it's horse trading, because it's evaluating what the evidence tells you about what you've each got that is good, and the prize is definitely there for having, but it's back to the getting on with collaboration.'

Image: business parks and housing in east Oxford to the west of the BMW Mini Plant at Cowley - courtesy ARC

Clive Tritton was then asked whether getting agreement over the Green Belt was going to be easy? He said:

'No, no, it's not going to be easy. I mean, I think first of all, if you look back at the last year, I think there's an awful lot more bringing us together than dividing us on these things. I mean, when I first came into Oxford, which was about a year ago, one of my first meetings was sitting down with about 60 developers and landowners, because you couldn't move anything forward in terms of growth in Oxford, because you didn't have a sewage works, and you had an environmental agency that was going to block everything.

'If you look at all of the conversations that have taken place over the last year, through Neal Coleman's Growth Commission, in terms of unlocking flooding, in terms of places like Osney Mead, which are unlocking sites that are so close to the station, which should be absolutely vital to Oxford going forward, if you look at the conversations with Homes England, if you look at the Cowley branch line, hopefully looking at some kind of business rate retention model around the city centre to transform the city centre. There's an awful lot going on that is really good that's coming out of that work.

'I think the issue around the Green Belt is that we asked Volterra to do some work around the Leavener Growth, who might be able to sustain one city in order to achieve agglomeration, to keep Oxford as a world-class city, to take that brand that there are some countries for whom it is Oxford that they want to be. In some ways, surely that's why government and UK PLC is putting this effort into Oxford, because that brand is being sold around the world.

'Just on the point of the Green Belt. We have Volterra talking and looking at growth around about 1.5% per year in employment returns. Now, I know Neal Coleman will say, can we not go higher than that? Well, we can, because there's that appetite. If you don't align that growth to housing growth, then you get even less affordability across the city, you get even greater pressure on commuting. We've been talking about infrastructure. If you grow jobs but you don't grow housing, then you've got more and more people coming into the city, and that puts pressure on that infrastructure network. So, I think if you're looking at that Green Belt discussion around how do you align that growth with housing growth to make a sustainable city and actually create a better place in terms of the commuting networks and so on, then that's an absolutely valid concept. Is it going to be a straightforward one? No, I suspect it's not.'

Clive was asked whether all this was going to lead to a splurge around the city centre, or is it density within the city? And what about the height of buildings and ruining the skyline and these kind of heritage concerns? Clive responded:

'So, I think the planning authority working with Homes England, looking at the work that's being done around council, around the council, and also working with the West End Landowners Group around housing. There is absolutely an openness to that conversation, and it is that balance, isn't it? There are people more skilled than I am in the planning authority to have those conversations. But I think the challenge that is being put around density is a welcoming challenge, and it's one that we want to tackle. We were tackling it, as I say, through the Covey branch line, working with the town that was done through the Cowley branch line area around heights. So, it's doing it in that sustainable way, and I think that's a conversation that we really want to be able to drive forward. So, the work that Homes England is doing, our SPS and so on, linking it with the LPAs is really important.'

Heather asked: So, supercharging that city brand, and so much of it is based on science, isn't it? I mean, we don't have the investment that America has. We find it difficult to get the investment in these economic times. Is Oxford sort of hampered by the UK brand of looking like we're sort of a benefit society, and we haven't really got our sort of science thinking cap on for investment?

Clive explained:

'Is that damaging the Oxford brand? I mean, there are probably others in the room more qualified to respond to that than me, because they're working with investors who are investing here. But that's not what I'm hearing now. I think the far more important part for us to play is to be facilitative to enable that investment. I also wanted to touch a little bit on the skills side, listening to the skills conversation, because I've done a lot of work with skills over the years, and I get really frustrated with some of the conversations around skills, because skills is this single word label, and I think it's going to be really important that we get the skills right at the region level through the NSA. That's a vital part of it, but it's one part of the equation.

'The other part of the equation is the supply side, and the idea that we say what we need is to have inclusive growth is better local skills to some degree completely misunderstands I think the challenges that those who are most excluded face, because quite often it's not just around giving skills, it's around aspiration, and particularly in polarised areas. Oxford is a very polarised city. I worked for many years in Shoreditch in the City of London with communities. The City of London is a million miles away, but I suspect for some people in Loughborough, Leeds or Liverpool, walking out and seeing the Oxford Science Park and seeing the Ellison Institute, that world's a million miles away. So it's not about saying, oh, you must have the skills. If you don't start by saying you must give people the aspiration, there is a world here that you can be part of. It doesn't mean you need to be a scientist, but this is how you fit into our skills ecosystem. That is really vital.

'I do think over the last period of time, let's say, the skills agenda that's gone through the LEPs and so on has completely missed those bespoke interventions that you need at a very local level to understand why people have additional barriers and what you need to do to change those aspirations. Sorry, that was slightly different to the question. I found it was responding to something'

Image: landscaping and pedestrian approach to the central commercial science buildings at Oxford North in January 2026

The conversation turned to Victoria Collett of Oxford North, where she was asked about the level of support for companies coming into a development like Oxford North, are you concerned about that? Is it good enough that the City Council says it's not really to do with us? Because you're all meant to be joined up, aren't you? She stated:

'Perhaps I've raised this a few of it because I came in four years ago when the high-level planning application at Oxford North had been free, but when I look back at the planning process and what I hear about the planning process, it's always been hand-in-hand with the City Council. Ian mentioned that release of greenbelt needs to be for something special, something that will add value. And Oxford North wasn't greenbelt, but it was greenfield. And that was always the plan, to provide something special.

'But yes, of course it's boring that companies can't grow. We have an awful lot of interested parties coming to look around our space. They tell us about their wonderful assets that they're developing and all of their exciting technology and innovation. And they're enthused by what we're doing. We're enthused by what they're doing. And when it comes to signing on the dotted line, there is definitely a problem with their funding and their ability to grow. But I think it's a cyclical process and that funding will come back.

'Somebody once described VC funders to me as like teenage girls, that they all follow the herd and they ought to be doing the latest trendy thing. So everybody's running after scale-up AI companies today and tomorrow. There might be more interest in the biosciences start-up. So it is a cycle. It will come back. I have absolute faith in Oxford as a city. That's a really nice thing that we have the backing of Oxford University and Oxford City and Oxfordshire County Council. And so the place, the wider place that we're plugged into is fantastic.'

Victoria was asked - what is your USP compared to other science parks? Would you say that was one of them? I mean, we have out-of-town science parks. You're sort of out-of-town, but you're not. So is that one of your key points?

'I think our location is one of our USPs, absolutely, that we are spanning two worlds. And I think we've done that successfully in urban design plans. And we don't call it a science park. It's an innovation district. And when you come to see it, it should be obvious why. There are no fences around the boundary. The buildings are close together at a very urban scale. Car parking is away from the centre of the site, so it will feel largely pedestrianised. Obviously, science companies need deliveries, but apart from that, the site will be pedestrianised. And so, yes, we sort of struggle the best of both worlds.'

Image: development at Oxford North

She was then asked about how companies would be able to grow and whether there are flexible spaces to do so. She confirmed:

'That's so essential. We heard that right from the very beginning when we were master planning the space, is that once a company has started up and invested in staff in an area, they do need space to grow, and they need space to grow easily. Real estate really is the least of their worries. I listen to a lot of founders speaking about the challenges that they face, and I'm always absolutely overwhelmed at what they do.

'You know, I often moan about how hard development can be, but really, it's nothing compared to what these founders are facing. They need to be able to go to a physical place and just get on with it and get on with their science. And so that's what we're aiming to do, is provide a huge variety of spaces that they can seamlessly move in and out of. People don't often say it, but sometimes these companies need to get smaller as well as get larger. They might split. That's quite common. And you need the spaces for big companies as well as for start-ups, because it's a bit of a circle. But the big companies ought to be where the small companies are, and vice versa. So that ecosystem is really important.'

Image: part of the Daubeny Project at the Oxford Science Park in east Oxford - designed by Scott Brownrigg

Matthew Humphreys, Project Director at Scott Brownrigg then joined the conversation to talk about the persistent demand for out of town science parks as opposed to inner city lab locations:

'We're seeing opportunities in both geographic areas. The in-town benefit from location, from urban amenity, from closeness to academic institutes. And, yeah, we have a number of schemes of small and large scale, of urban labs. It is in Cambridge, where we're thinking that there's an opportunity to demystify science, to put science on show, to get the community integrated within what's going on. People often think, you know, they don't understand what science is, what goes on here, how do you create vaccinations, all that sort of thing.

'So certain things that will take place within an urban laboratory won't take place within something that's out of town. So actually the demand for both is, I don't think one will take over the other. If you're talking about Harwell as an example, we've been working with Moderna on a GMP facility there, and we're also finishing off an advanced manufacturing mid-tech facility. Both of those couldn't function within an urban environment. The safety of it, the security of it. And so actually that offering at Harwell is very important, and Harwell does it successfully with its mixture that Victoria's talking about as well.

Heather asked - Is it difficult to grow housing in that site and around it? Because of the nature of some of that activity, does it not really lend itself to feeling like a community housing? Matthew responded:

'The housing point's a tricky one because in an area like Oxford, it's quite an expensive place to live. Your typical scientist doesn't necessarily earn a salary that would garner them a property within Oxford. And so actually to make sure that you create that ecosystem, you create that community, to create the affordable housing for the scientists and the laboratory technicians to work in these environments is critical. There is talks about some growth adjacent to Harwell, which will include some housing. How they mix that with some of what's going on remains to be seen.'

Heather said:

I don't know whether in Eddington, at Cambridge, they planned for that very carefully, a mix of key workers that live there. Maybe if you were a scientist and you got married and had kids, you could also move into a large property. Is that what science parks are thinking about?

Matthew commented:

'I think part of the key to that is what Victoria was talking about, is that variety of space to enable that expansion and contraction. If you're a science park out of town that is just providing huge floor-plate pharmaceutical facilities, you're kind of making a rod for your own back, in a sense. You need to create that variety of space that helps grow that community, create that ecosystem, create that knowledge share to make it a desirable place to be and work. If it's just a monofunctional space, you're really kind of restricting the community that that will create. You're probably putting boundaries up around it. Because if it's just a set of headquarter buildings, people probably don't want people walking around through it. These campuses need to be permeable. It's lovely to hear that there's no fences at Oxford North and that sort of thing.

Liz Leffman commented:

'I think one of the other things we have to bear in mind is that we have a lot of existing communities. And those people work in some of these places. And so one of the key things, as far as I'm concerned, is that we make those places really nice places to live. So we need to invest in our market towns, as well as thinking about putting affordable housing onto some of these new sites. If we don't invest in our market towns, if we don't invest in the pandemic economy, as well as some of these new businesses, people won't be able to stay here. We need to make Oxfordshire and places like Oxfordshire great places to live. With the green spaces that people want, with all the facilities that they need, places they can go and sit and have a coffee, all of those things, it's not just about housing. But they're not the new town strategy to sort of act as a foundation for new ideas.

'We also have a big, a very large economy, and things like, you know, we have a big visitor economy, for example. So it's making those places places where people want to come, want to stay, and having infrastructure. All of those things. Is that tourist tax going to be a problem? I don't think the tourist tax is a problem at all. Do you think it's really... I mean, you go to a hotel in Paris or somewhere, and you pay a tourist tax. What's the problem? It's a relatively small amount, but you add it to people's bills, and it's fine. And that will support a lot of the things that we're talking about. Is it going to hit the less advantaged? I don't think somebody staying at a store in Oxford is going to notice a tourist tax. I think we could use the money that we bring in through tourist tax. And I don't like to call it tourist tax. That's another way of describing it. We could do so much for our existing communities if we had that funding, and that would include some of the quiet parts of the city.'

Ian Courts responded:

'I mean, tourist tax depends on locations, and I think there's a lot of work to be done to make it a sustainable prospect. But I just think reinforcement of the importance of place. Investment decisions aren't always made, well, this is a good place to build a factory or whatever. Most employers will be thinking about where are the places they can attract staff. I mean, I meet with businesses in Solihull almost every other week. I have one-to-ones to talk to them about why they're there, any issues, and they all mention the ease with which they can get people to their workplace, what people do when they're there. Because the truth of it is, growth industries aren't necessarily the most productive in getting local employment, because businesses coming in need the staff that they need, and they won't necessarily be there locally. So, I mean, I think that's just an important factor, the place, the quality of the place to live in. And that's what troubles me about some of the current planning government measures, is that it doesn't really have regard to that.'

Clive reacted:

'On what you described of the tourist tax, I mean, we're quite well-developed. We've counted colleges and hotels around progressing some kind of bid or A-bid for the city. I think if that's going to fly there, it has to be part of a bigger picture of transformation in the city. So if we don't, you know, the hotels and colleges would quite rightly say that it's not our responsibility to sort out public realm that's not great in the city. It's not our, to sort out the lighting, the wayfinding, the quality of the station, the quality of the entrance into the city, some of those other things that Neale Coleman has talked about.'

Image: Cornmarket Oxford with view to Carfax and Christchurch