The UK government’s Leveling Up white paper, released in February 2022, sets out an ambitious blueprint to improve lives and expand opportunities across the whole United Kingdom. Among the White Paper’s 12 central missions are plans to: close the gap between the UK’s highest and lowest performing cities; improve educational attainment among children leaving primary school; narrow the gap in healthy life expectancy between the best and worst performing areas of the UK; and close gaps in transport and connectivity.

In addition, the Glasgow city region will become one of three new ‘Innovation Accelerators’. These new centers for innovation, research, and development will drive-up prosperity and opportunity for local people – each backed by a share of £100 million of UK government funding. This Innovation Accelerator, alongside others in Greater Manchester and the West Midlands, are inspired by the Stanford-Silicon Valley and MIT-Greater Boston models of combining excellent research with cutting-edge industry in a city-region.