21 Mar 2025

Forging the Future: An Inside Look at Sheffield’s Innovation Spine

How do you redesign a city for innovators to thrive? Charlotte Thompson is seeking to answer that question for the Sheffield Innovation Spine, a two-year planning project with a 20-year vision to transform Sheffield’s city centre and create more spaces for startups and scale-ups to be successful.

The project’s partners – Sheffield Technology Parks, Sheffield City Council, The University of Sheffield, Sheffield Hallam University and South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority – are plotting how best to put in place the innovation spaces, laboratories and specialist facilities innovators need, and unlock investment opportunities that could be worth billions of pounds to Sheffield.

In this video, Charlotte talks to James Taylor and Pete Hopton about removing barriers to growth in sectors such as tech, manufacturing, and life sciences, and the importance of collaborating with partners in Manchester and Leeds to compete on the global stage.