Scaling Britain: why infrastructure is key to realising spinout potential

By Marc Ambasna Jones 09 Mar 26 Reading time: 5 mins

The UK is widely recognised as a leading innovation economy, with government strategy explicitly aimed at making the country a global hub for ideas and technology by 2035. It ranks among the world’s top performers on research output and spinout formation, reflecting scientific depth and entrepreneurial energy. But attention is now shifting to scale – how to convert world-class research into durable, high-growth companies rooted in the domestic economy. This is not a uniquely British ambition. Across Europe, policymakers are seeking more consistent routes from early promise to sustained industrial presence. In the UK, that increasingly points to the conditions around growth, such as capital, capability, and infrastructure.

The National Centre for Universities and Business’ latest State of the Relationship report reinforces the point. In 2023/24, 81,499 interactions between universities and businesses were recorded – a 6.4% increase on the previous year. Engagement with SMEs rose by 8.7%. Yet total collaboration income declined in real terms for a second consecutive year, returning to £1.34bn. While activity remains strong, the financial depth underpinning everything needs more work. In deep tech, where capital requirements rise sharply beyond the seed stage, those conditions can extend past funding to include access to specialist laboratories, affordable space, and a supportive ecosystem.

For Ashley Brewer, head of incubators at Science Creates, that practical layer is increasingly central to conversations around scale. OMX, a new purpose-built facility in Bristol set to open in the coming months, has been designed specifically to address this.

“The UK doesn’t have a shortage of ideas,” Brewer says. “What we have to get better at is building the environments that allow those ideas to scale. That means space, support, specialist infrastructure, and proximity to the right capital.”

OMX has been designed around what Brewer describes as the “growth inflection point” for deep tech firms, the stage at which technical validation has been achieved and hiring, regulatory preparation, or advanced prototyping begin to accelerate. At that point, access to the right facilities becomes part of the business model.

“Once you’re beyond proof of concept, your infrastructure requirements change quickly,” he says. “You need specialist labs, you need room to build teams, and you need to be embedded in a community that understands the technical and commercial journey you’re on.”

That phase often coincides with rising capital needs and more complex investor conversations. The intention behind OMX is to bring physical capacity and investor proximity closer together, creating an environment in which companies can expand without interrupting momentum. In policy terms, it speaks to the wider focus on strengthening the conditions that support sustained growth.

OMX also sits within a broader strategy developed by Science Creates over the past decade, one that has sought to build a nationally connected deep tech platform rather than a purely local incubator network. Companies entering its programmes are not limited to Bristol spinouts. Many arrive from across the UK, attracted by specialist facilities and sector expertise. The intention is to combine regional research strength with a network that extends into national and international investor communities.

OMX has been developed in partnership with the University of Bristol and with support from Research England. It’s a good example of a model in which universities play a direct role in building the physical infrastructure required for commercialisation of innovation. The OMX facility sits close to the University of Bristol’s new Temple Quarter Enterprise Campus, part of a wider innovation district intended to strengthen links between research, industry, and investors. Together with earlier Science Creates facilities opened in 2017 and 2021, the partnership has created more than 75,000sq ft of specialist laboratory space in the city centre.

“There’s a point in a deep tech company’s life where momentum can stall. Bringing together space, capital, and community reduces that friction. It keeps companies moving forward.”

Ashley Brewer, Science Creates

Brewer describes the model as one built around depth rather than geography. “We work with companies wherever they originate,” he says. “The aim is to create an environment that supports ambitious science-led businesses at scale, and that means being connected well beyond the city.”

That outward orientation aligns with the UK’s wider emphasis on regional strengths contributing to national capability. Infrastructure in this context is not simply about serving a postcode; it is about strengthening the system’s ability to retain and grow companies within the UK.

National policy increasingly recognises that scale depends on coordinated ecosystems – capital, talent, space, and networks operating together. Facilities such as OMX represent one strand of that approach. Its impact will be shaped not only by the companies it hosts, but by how effectively those companies integrate with investors, public funding mechanisms, and sector supply chains across the country.

“There’s a point in a deep tech company’s life where momentum can stall,” says Brewer. “Bringing together space, capital, and community reduces that friction. It keeps companies moving forward.”

Early interest in OMX reflects this. Companies preparing to move in include science-led firms working in areas such as advanced materials, quantum technologies, and engineering biology, sectors where laboratory infrastructure is integral to product development. Many are beyond the earliest incubation phase, having secured initial funding and technical validation, and are now expanding teams or preparing for more complex regulatory and manufacturing pathways.

The UK’s innovation debate is certainly moving beyond invention. The pipeline of research and spinouts remains strong. The emphasis now is on strengthening the conditions that allow more of those companies to mature, remain rooted and contribute to long-term economic depth. OMX does not resolve that challenge on its own. Its significance lies in how it aligns infrastructure, capital, and community at a critical stage of growth. Whether that alignment translates into sustained company retention and deeper regional density will become clear over time. What it represents, however, is a tangible expression of a national strategy increasingly focused on delivery.

Marc Ambasna Jones / Working as a technology journalist and writer since 1989, Marc has written for a wide range of titles on technology, business, education, politics and sustainability, with work appearing in The Guardian, The Register, New Statesman, Computer Weekly and many more.

Working as a technology journalist and writer since 1989, Marc has written for a wide range of titles on technology, business, education, politics and sustainability, with work appearing in The Guardian, The Register, New Statesman, Computer Weekly and many more.