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Two or three clusters, read side by side across sectors, research, companies, capital, infrastructure, government designations and UKIZ relevance. There is no score and no ranking: British clusters are different from one another, not better or worse than one another.

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Side by side

Dimension	ManchesterNorth West	Leeds & West YorkshireYorkshire and the Humber	Nottingham & DerbyEast Midlands
Sectors	Advanced Materials, Life Sciences, Digital Technologies, Creative Industries Supporting: Artificial Intelligence, Advanced Manufacturing, Financial Technology, Engineering Biology	Life Sciences, Digital Technologies, Financial Technology Supporting: Artificial Intelligence, Advanced Manufacturing, Creative Industries	Advanced Manufacturing, Clean Energy, Mobility & Transport Technology Supporting: Advanced Materials, Digital Technologies, AgriTech & FoodTech
Research	The University of Manchester Manchester Metropolitan University National Graphene Institute Greater Manchester health innovation partnership	University of Leeds	University of Nottingham
Companies	Not recorded on the map.	Leeds health data and digital health cluster	Not recorded on the map.
Infrastructure	MediaCity Advanced manufacturing Catapult capability, North West National materials and graphene facilities, teaching hospitals and clinical research capability, and a major broadcast production estate.	Not recorded on the map. Health data infrastructure, teaching hospitals and university research facilities.	Not recorded on the map. Propulsion and nuclear engineering facilities, rail test capability and chemistry research centres.
Capital	A growing regional investor base and northern funds, with growth rounds usually led from London.	Financial services depth locally, but early-stage health technology capital remains limited.	Corporate and supply chain finance; limited venture activity.
Government programmes	No place-based designation recorded.	No place-based designation recorded.	East Midlands Investment Zone — Investment Zones East Midlands Freeport — Freeports
What exists	Advanced materials research including graphene and 2D materials, a large health innovation base built on hospitals and universities, a substantial digital and cyber economy, and the biggest broadcast and creative cluster outside London.	National health data organisations, medical technology, a large financial and professional services base and a research university with data and materials strength.	Aerospace propulsion and small modular reactor engineering, rail technology, sustainable chemistry research and one of Europe's busiest air freight hubs.
What's missing · UKIZ interpretation	The step from materials discovery to volume production, and a growth capital base proportionate to the research output. Health data at population scale is under-used by industry.	A clear route for companies to work with health data at scale, and clinical adoption pathways that move faster than pilot projects.	Diversification of the supply chain beyond a small number of large primes, and company formation from a strong engineering research base.
What could connect · UKIZ interpretation	Materials research connected to Sheffield and Midlands manufacturing, and health innovation connected to Leeds health data capability — a corridor rather than three separate cities.	Leeds health data capability connected to Manchester clinical research and to medical technology manufacturing, giving companies discovery, evidence and production in one region.	Propulsion and nuclear engineering connected to Sheffield manufacturing research and Midlands electrification — one Midlands industrial mission rather than three sectors.
UKIZ relevance	Manchester has scale in four different economies that rarely commission from each other. The proposed zone concentrates on connecting health, materials, digital and creative capability around shared missions.	Health data at population scale is a national asset. The proposed Manchester mission and Leeds capability are complementary rather than competing.	Propulsion and nuclear capability sit alongside the Midlands mobility mission. The proposed Midlands zone connects them.
Last verified	15 August 2026	15 August 2026	15 August 2026

Proposed by UKIZ · not a government designation

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