Compare places

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.

Choose up to three clusters

Side by side

Dimension	OxfordSouth East	Bristol & BathSouth West	Nottingham & DerbyEast Midlands
Sectors	Quantum Technologies, Life Sciences, Space, Artificial Intelligence Supporting: Clean Energy, Advanced Materials, Engineering Biology	Semiconductors, Robotics & Autonomous Systems, Quantum Technologies, Defence & Security Supporting: Creative Industries, Advanced Manufacturing, Artificial Intelligence, Clean Energy	Advanced Manufacturing, Clean Energy, Mobility & Transport Technology Supporting: Advanced Materials, Digital Technologies, AgriTech & FoodTech
Research	University of Oxford Rutherford Appleton Laboratory	University of Bristol University of the West of England Bristol Robotics Laboratory	University of Nottingham
Companies	Not recorded on the map.	Bristol semiconductor and processor design cluster	Not recorded on the map.
Infrastructure	Harwell Science and Innovation Campus Diamond Light Source Satellite Applications Catapult National laboratory campus facilities, quantum fabrication and metrology capability, and clinical research infrastructure.	National Composites Centre Quantum and robotics laboratories, national composites facilities and aerospace test capability.	Not recorded on the map. Propulsion and nuclear engineering facilities, rail test capability and chemistry research centres.
Capital	University-linked funds and specialist deep tech investors, with London capital an hour away.	An established angel and seed base with strong deep tech interest; growth rounds usually come from London or the US.	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	A research-intensive university alongside the Harwell campus, one of the largest concentrations of national scientific infrastructure in Britain, spanning space, energy, health and physical sciences, with distinctive quantum, vaccine and space applications strength.	Semiconductor and processor design, quantum engineering, robotics and autonomous systems, aerospace and composites, and a creative and screen economy of national significance.	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	Access. National facilities are heavily used by their own communities; companies without an existing university relationship find the route in unclear. Scale-up space and later-stage capital are also constrained.	Fabrication and volume production capacity to match the design strength, and hardware-friendly capital. Companies scale by moving production abroad.	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	Opening national facility access to companies across Britain as shared ecosystem infrastructure, and pairing Oxford quantum and space capability with manufacturing clusters that could produce at volume.	Bristol design capability connected to South Wales compound semiconductor fabrication and to composites and aerospace manufacturing — a western technology corridor with a complete chain.	Propulsion and nuclear engineering connected to Sheffield manufacturing research and Midlands electrification — one Midlands industrial mission rather than three sectors.
UKIZ relevance	Oxford has infrastructure most countries cannot build. The proposed zone focuses on making that infrastructure accessible to companies that are not spin-outs of the university.	Bristol's design and robotics capability has historically been acquired rather than scaled. The proposed zone concentrates on the capital and customer connections that let companies stay independent.	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 · independent · not a government designation

Back to the map →Methodology →