Existing ecosystem · West Midlands
Birmingham & the West Midlands Innovation Ecosystem
The West Midlands holds Britain's largest automotive supply chain, significant battery and power electronics research, quantum sensing capability and one of the country's densest concentrations of engineering employers.
What is Birmingham & the West Midlands good at?
- Automotive engineering and electrification
- Battery and power electronics research
- Quantum sensing and gravity sensing
- Manufacturing supply chain depth
UKIZ analysis
What exists
Drawn from public sources
The largest manufacturing base in the UK by employment, automotive and electrification engineering, rail and mobility research, and a young, large working-age population.
What's missing
UKIZ interpretation · proposal
Ownership of the value in electrified vehicles: battery, power electronics and software increasingly sit outside the region and outside the UK. Innovation-active SME supply chains are under-capitalised.
What could connect
UKIZ interpretation · proposal
Midlands manufacturing paired with battery and power electronics research, North East battery production and Coventry testing capability as a single electrification value chain.
The ecosystem
Universities
University of BirminghamUniversities
Research university with quantum sensing, rail and energy research strengths.
University of WarwickUniversities
Research university with a large automotive and manufacturing research base.
Research institutions
WMGResearch institutes
Applied research group working with manufacturers on electrification and materials.
Specialist infrastructure
Energy Systems CatapultCatapult centres
Catapult centre working on the transition of the UK energy system.
UK Battery Industrialisation CentreSpecialist facilities
National facility for battery manufacturing scale-up and process development.
Government programmes
West Midlands Investment ZoneInvestment Zones
Government-designated Investment Zone supporting advanced manufacturing and technology sectors.
Connectivity & data
Connectivity
Central rail position, Birmingham Airport and the national motorway network.
Relevant data
DSIT cluster data records the West Midlands among the largest manufacturing R&D concentrations in the UK.
Capital, infrastructure & government support
Capital
Corporate and supply chain finance dominate; venture capital is thin relative to industrial output.
Infrastructure
Automotive research centres, battery and vehicle test facilities and major logistics assets.
Government support
West Midlands Investment Zone activity and advanced manufacturing priority designations.
What could connect elsewhere in Britain
UKIZ interpretation. Places whose capability relates to Birmingham & the West Midlands, and why connecting them could create more value than either can create alone.
- Sheffield & Rotherham
Both carry Advanced Manufacturing and Advanced Materials as a leading strength. Depth in the same field in two places usually means duplicated effort rather than a shared pipeline — the connection worth making is a division of labour between discovery, production and demand.
Compare Birmingham & the West Midlands and Sheffield & Rotherham → - Nottingham & Derby
Both carry Mobility & Transport Technology and Advanced Manufacturing as a leading strength. Depth in the same field in two places usually means duplicated effort rather than a shared pipeline — the connection worth making is a division of labour between discovery, production and demand.
Compare Birmingham & the West Midlands and Nottingham & Derby → - Newcastle & the North East
Both carry Mobility & Transport Technology and Advanced Manufacturing as a leading strength. Depth in the same field in two places usually means duplicated effort rather than a shared pipeline — the connection worth making is a division of labour between discovery, production and demand.
Compare Birmingham & the West Midlands and Newcastle & the North East → - Teesside & the Humber
Both carry Advanced Manufacturing and Advanced Materials as a leading strength. Depth in the same field in two places usually means duplicated effort rather than a shared pipeline — the connection worth making is a division of labour between discovery, production and demand.
Compare Birmingham & the West Midlands and Teesside & the Humber →
UKIZ perspective
What this could mean for UKIZ.
The region's transition depends on owning the new value in a vehicle rather than assembling someone else's. The proposed Midlands zone focuses on batteries, power electronics and software.
Related proposed UK Innovation Zones
Proposed by UKIZ · not a government designation
Sources & evidence
Sources & evidence for Birmingham & the West Midlands
- DSIT — UK Innovation Clusters Map
- UKRI — research and innovation infrastructure
- GOV.UK — place-based programme designations
- Catapult Network — centres and specialisms
- ONS — regional and business statistics
Descriptive statements are drawn from these sources. Statements about what is missing and what could connect are UKIZ interpretation and are labelled as such. Inclusion on this map is never sold.
Last verified: 15 August 2026