Andrew Borland, Chief Innovation Officer at the VEC, University of Liverpool, explores the future of innovation in the Liverpool City Region following the launch of Novel, an Innovation leadership initiative delivering growth through collaborative innovation.
Innovation ecosystems don’t emerge by accident. They require careful cultivation, strategic alignment and collaboration, and the right balance of key components working in harmony.
This need for a collaborative approach to innovation inspired the launch of Novel, a leadership initiative aimed at connecting business leaders with experts and R&D support to foster the next generation of innovation leaders in the Liverpool City Region (LCR).
Funded by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) as part of the existing Horizons project, the programme’s second session at the Love Lane Brewery in Liverpool’s Baltic Triangle brought together leading innovation thinkers to explore how we can better understand and challenge traditional orthodoxies of innovation to generate fresh impact and change.
The Novel team were joined by their partners from Edinburgh’s CodeBase, the UK’s largest tech ecosystem builder, who shared insights dissecting what it means to create an ‘innovation ecosystem’, and the challenges facing our region which it will be necessary to address if we are to realise its growth potential.
Liverpool’s challenge
Metro Mayor Steve Rotherham has been true to his commitment and vision that Liverpool should be the best place in the UK to do business. The Liverpool Combined Authority has invested in delivering a rapid and radical modernisation of the region’s “startup and tech” ecosystem. Successes from Baltic Ventures to LCR Angels have led to a jump in the city’s ranking.
The next challenge for LCR is how to successfully mature the innovation ecosystem beyond startups and into the big time of a world class whole economy model that builds high turnover businesses in key sectors such as of manufacturing, construction, professional services and creative, to deliver a real sea change in culture and capability.
This became clear when we brought together the voices of business leaders and public sector figures who understand the unique challenges facing the Liverpool City Region. The contributions and insights shared by some of the region’s leading CEO’s, Managing Directors and business owners at the Novel event highlighted two of the greatest issues we face: too much fragmentation across the region and a need to mature the ecosystem.
Like many cities and regions, Liverpool has ambition but needs coherence to generate impact. Today’s challenges in innovation and progress require speed, openness and collaboration. For this, we need leadership. The discussion and agenda need leadership from the real leaders of successful businesses – without it we will struggle to shape strategy and subsequently stall progress. Liverpool’s leaders must proactively shape the new generation of innovation ecosystem, not wait for external solutions. This leadership must come from within and be reflective of the diverse organisations and industries in the region, as well as an understanding of the nuances of regional business.
Reimagining the innovation landscape – the ‘graphic equaliser’ concept
The term ‘ecosystem’ in the context of innovation was famously defined by Y Combinator, the leading US start-up accelerator and venture capital firm, as “rich people, geeks, and a city they both want to live in”.
But today, an innovation ecosystem isn’t just startups and funding – it’s a dynamic system where talent, capital, corporates, government and academia work together.
Steven Drost of CodeBase presented his “graphic equaliser” approach to ecosystem development – visualising different components like investors, startups, academia, the state, and SMEs as sliders that need careful calibration to create harmony.
This metaphor resonates powerfully with Liverpool’s current position. While our city region possesses valuable assets – from world-class universities to a rich industrial heritage – ambition must be partnered with greater coherence and collaboration between industries, academia, the state and funding to truly unlock its innovation potential.
SMEs are the cornerstone of our region’s economy – according to the Liverpool City Region Scale Up Ecosystem report, SMEs make up 97.7% of the LCR economy. Stimulating and enabling the next generation of innovation leaders among SMEs, matching them up with the skills, expertise and capital to drive innovation, will be crucial.
Looking outward, not just inward
Ecosystems grow when they push their ‘local maximum’ – raising the ceiling of what’s possible, not just improving the average.
To do this, we must look outwards at a national and international level, not just inwards.
There’s a thesis in the United States that ‘Europe is a museum’, with a rich legacy and history but no innovation today. By creating an ecosystem within our region that fosters innovation and growth, which can compete on a national and international scale, we can challenge this narrative.
These insights must inform our approach to building Liverpool’s innovation ecosystem – recognising that true transformation comes not from isolated interventions but from creating a harmonious system where founders, investors, government, academia, and industry can work together to collectively drive sustainable growth.
The ultimate measure of success will be the ability of a collaborative ecosystem to deliver tangible improvements in industrial productivity and efficiency, innovation and economic growth.
