Property developer Bruntwood SciTech has unveiled plans for a new innovation cluster in Birmingham that aims to accelerate tech growth in the region.
The project, called the Birmingham Innovation Quarter, is a joint venture between Bruntwood SciTech, Aston University and Birmingham City Council.
The 20-hectare site will sit within the Birmingham Knowledge Quarter and is aiming to become a technology and health innovation hub.
Professor Aleks Subic, vice-chancellor and chief executive of Aston University, said: “Birmingham Innovation Quarter represents an innovation ecosystem that will co-locate industry, business, entrepreneurs and start-up founders together with staff and students from academia, bringing digital cutting-edge research into a range of sectors – most critically the health tech sector.”
The site will contain science and tech commercial offices, residential spaces, student housing, hospitality, teaching and research buildings. There is scope for future extension of the site.
“It will become the catalyst for foreign investment, for business transformation, and for skills, and in turn will create socio-economic impact across the region,” added Subic.
Birmingham City Council leader, Cllr Ian Ward, said: “Our city has a proud history of invention, research and development and the Birmingham Innovation Quarter will build on that tradition, becoming a space where globally-recognised innovation, the brightest talent and most exciting businesses and cultural institutions come together.”
West Midlands tech growth
It comes amid strong tech growth for Birmingham and the wider West Midlands ecosystem. In 2021, the West Midlands was crowned the fastest-growing tech sector and in 2022 the ecosystem was valued at £15.3bn.
UKTN’s latest regional report found that 85% of tech company decision-makers said the West Midlands is currently a good place to start and grow their business.
Bruntwood SciTech, a joint venture partnership between Bruntwood and Legal & General, is an active property developer in the UK tech sector. It has previously redeveloped a life science lab in Macclesfield, a £21m tech hub at Manchester Science Park and is working on offices in Glasgow.
Read UKTN’s latest regional report on the West Midlands tech sector here.
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