CLUSTER NEWS – December 2024
Season’s Greetings to you All!
All of us at the Cluster wish you and yours a very happy festive season and a successful and prosperous New Year.
We look forward to working with you in 2025 and developing our region’s HealthTech sector to be even more innovative and influential than ever before.
For 2025, we are planning to improve our website so as all the better to serve our members and respond to enquiries from within our region’s HealthTech ecosystem and beyond. We also have plans for events and activities that hopefully you will find increasingly relevant to you and your business.
Celebrate this season, relax and refocus, and come back refreshed in 2025 and ready to go again.
CLUSTER’S EVENTS
We are working on our 2025 calendar of events now and we will let you have the details soon. You are welcome to send us your ideas for webinars, seminars and other events – as well as activities such as success stories, fact files, surveys.
My thought piece about future HealthTech in Birmingham Business Magazine, which featured in their Life Sciences Special Report, has been well received and commented on positively.
The Skills Seminar I organised and held on 02 December was very successful. We covered a lot of ground and identified plenty of actions to be followed up on during 2025, including a new MedTech qualification, bootcamps for raising skills levels and support for apprenticeships.
My preparations for a roundtable for stakeholders as part of the development of a single Narrative for HealthTech in the West Midlands are well advanced. Invitations will be coming out soon.
As a member of Midlands Engine’s Board for Health, Care and Life Sciences, I responded to the Government’s very short consultation on the Budget proposal to de-fund Midlands Engine.
I am taking part in a training programme, led by WM Growth Company, on Strategic Relationship Management. There are four in-person modules (one day each) and nine additional webinars. The programme is part of a push by the West Midlands as a whole to improve relationships and services for businesses.
The Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC) operates a cluster steering group for our region’s Robotics and Autonomous Systems (RAS) sector – I have been appointed to its steering group and I attended my first meeting this month.
I have met with MTC to discuss a joint manufacturing/HeathTech event during the first Quarter of 2025.
The next Topical Tuesday will be on Tuesday 14th January at 4.15pm.
HEALTH TECHNOLOGIES SECTOR NEWS
KickStart for Health Tech
We have recruited entrepreneurs for the first cohort of the free-to-access programme of support for HealthTech entrepreneurs and innovators. This is a collaborative effort between West Midlands Health Technologies Cluster (WMHTC) and Birmingham Enterprise Community (BEC), with support from a wide range of our partners and stakeholders.
This new KickStart programme aims to support aspiring entrepreneurs and innovators looking to enter the thriving HealthTech sector in our region with FREE work packages.
Whilst the existing funding is just until March 2025, we are very hopeful of renewed funding for the following Financial Year as well.
Contact Emma for details: emma@wmhtc.co.uk
Help us get approval for our region’s new MedTech qualification
Payments are available for some of your help
A national Awarding Organisation has now been engaged to help with getting the new MedTech qualification – modular, Level 4 – approved and piloted. I have been asked to recruit employers to ensure that the new qualification is genuinely employer-led. Employers are being sought to fulfil these three roles:
- Members of the employer stakeholder advisory group – this is a virtual meeting with a maximum of 15 employers (ideally from a cross-section of the cluster/sector) that will take place early next year. The nature of the meeting is to review the proposal and discuss any feedback.
- Content writers – writers are given support and guidance – the main writing of content will be up to Easter 2025 – a lot of content is already available but having cluster employers will ensure relevancy.
- Validation panel – employers to validate the qualification – this will likely be a virtual meeting and employers need to be different from the members of the employer stakeholder advisory group. Only a handful of employers are required.
Content Writers will have experience of writing for Higher National Certificate (HNC) and Higher National Diploma (HND) qualification materials including HNC and HND Units (including assessment grids) and Sample assignments. You will help develop industry-focused content, responding with accuracy and flair to briefs set by the qualification development team. Typical qualities will include ability to write to tight timescales (often less than a month) and write both technical content and engaging and descriptive text. For this work, a payment of £350 a day is on offer.
The Awarding Organisation is hoping to have a shortlist of candidates for these roles by Friday 10th January.
Please email me now if you are interested: david@wmhtc.co.uk
Funding opportunities
Net Zero Cohort for Manufacturing SMEs
A bit niche for HealthTech in our region, I know, but this event in Oldbury on Thursday 16th January 2025 (all day) can help qualifying SMEs (in manufacturing) to:
- Minimise energy costs
- Find out more about legislation that will impact you e.g. CBAM
- Invest in solar panels or energy-efficient machinery
- Reduce scope 3 emissions to stay in or enter a supply chain.
Potentially, benefits of attending could include Grants up to £100,000 for efficient machinery and sustainable solutions like solar panels and a 5-day technical innovation project with expert support to overcome sustainability challenges, reduce costs, increase turnover, or improve productivity.
To learn more and register see here.
MHRA trials five AI technologies
Five innovative technologies have been selected by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) for the AI Airlock.
This pilot scheme aims to better understand how we can regulate AI-powered medical devices in a way that enables getting these types of products to the NHS and patients who need them as quickly and safely as possible.
These novel medical devices have the potential to significantly improve the diagnosis and care of patients. Those selected for the pilot include medical devices for cancer and chronic respiratory disease patients as well as those requiring radiology diagnostic services.
For more details read here.
Baseline mapping of HealthTech businesses in the West Midlands
So, now we have some reliable data about the HealthTech businesses trading in the area of the West Midlands Combined Authority:
£££ – Over £6bn turnover and over £5bn GVA.
Life sciences and digital health predominantly, with strong presence in data infrastructure, services and software development.
Key sector verticals include Data Infrastructure Software and Services, SaaS for Healthcare, and Human Health Services.
Nearly 91% of the identified companies were classed as Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), with a significant proportion classified as Micro-Companies (45%), highlighting the sector’s entrepreneurial nature and need for targeted support, especially with scaling up.
There are significant clusters around Birmingham and Coventry.
One-day conference to explore how we can work together to accelerate life sciences collaborations that will help unlock the region’s potential. From using health data research to improve healthcare products so they are ready to go to market to how AI and data-science is driving real-world evidence generation.
The conference will be held on Monday 03 March 2025 at Edgbaston Park Hotel, 53 Edgbaston Park Rd, Birmingham B15 2RS.
Register now to secure your place at this event.
WEST MIDLANDS REGION NEWS
Both the region’s Innovation Accelerator and Made Smarter programme will get fresh funding for 2025-26 so they can continue to support businesses and drive growth across the West Midlands.
These are programmes that support businesses, researchers and entrepreneurs get expert advice and funding to commercialise new and emerging products and technologies through the Innovation Accelerator and technical support or grants to help them adopt new digital machinery and processes to increase productivity and drive growth through Made Smarter. The funds will continue to be overseen by the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA).
You can read more on the WMCA’s website.
There is an enormous amount of interconnectedness in our region between sectors. We find this all the time, with opportunities for HealthTech businesses to link up for projects with manufacturers, creatives and designers.
The Business Growth West Midlands (BGWM) Supply Chain Transition programme helps ambitious SMEs in the West Midlands to tap into new supply chain prospects.
This strand of the programme targets dynamic sectors in Health and Med Tech, Manufacture of Future Housing and Smart Energy Systems, and is designed to propel businesses towards securing new supply chain orders in these sectors.
It is funded by the UK Government and provided by Business Growth West Midlands. For more details and to sign up for the programme see here.
Birmingham and Solihull Export Support Programme
Birmingham City Council and its partners have launched the Birmingham and Solihull Export Support Programme, designed to support small to medium enterprises (SMEs) based in the Birmingham City Council and Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council local authority areas.
The programme is funded by the UK government through the UKSPF. The UKSPF is a central pillar of the UK government’s Levelling Up agenda and provides £2.6billion of funding for local investment by March 2025.
The details, and how to apply, are here.
Black Country State of the Sub-Region
- Annual Economic Briefing
This online event provides a unique opportunity to explore the findings from the Black Country Annual Economic Review 2024 and understand the current challenges and opportunities facing the region.
Those who join the webinar can also learn about the Single Settlement, and what Devolution means for the Black Country. And there will be a panel discussion on a Place Based Approach to Economic Growth in the Black Country.
The webinar is on Wed 29th January 2025 at 10:30am-12:00pm via Teams.
To secure your place, please register here.
West Midlands Business Festival March 2025
In October, Richard Parker, Mayor of the West Midlands, announced a major new festival for the business community offering firms the chance to come together and help turbocharge economic growth across the region.
The first West Midlands Business Festival will take place in March next year and bring together small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and the wider business community for a fortnight of inspiration, innovation, learning, showcasing, and networking.
Organised by Business Growth West Midlands (BGWM), the festival will be one of the region’s biggest and most influential annual business-to-business events.
You can register your interest in taking part in the Business Festival here.
10th Anniversary of Venturefest
Also in March 2025, we will be helping celebrate ten years of Venturefest, our region’s premier platform for connecting investors, innovators and entrepreneurs.
Venturefest West Midlands continues to bring together regional businesses, universities, science parks and business support organisations. It will be held on Wednesday 19 March 2025 at the Eastside Rooms in Birmingham.
Running alongside Venturefest West Midlands will be Birmingham Pitch Up, a pitching competition for business owners, giving a unique opportunity for businesses to raise their profile both in the West Midlands and in front of a national audience of investors.
West Midlands – A Capital of Innovation
The West Midlands has been recognised as one of the top three European regions for innovation at the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA) European Capital of Innovation Awards 2024. Our team went all the way to the final with an approach called ‘HUMANiCITY’ – Making Innovation Work in the Most Human of Places. The awards recognise cities that have embedded innovation into the daily fabric of urban life, advancing sustainable, inclusive, and resilient communities. The top three finalists attended the Awards Ceremony in Lisbon, and for receiving the bronze award, the West Midlands was awarded €100,000.
NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Funding for Life Sciences Innovative Manufacturing
I am talking to HealthTech and manufacturing interests in our region about whether we can mount a realistic bid for funding from the Government’s £520 million Life Sciences Innovative Manufacturing Fund.
The funding will be UK and sector wide and will provide capital grants for investments in the manufacture of:
- Human medicines (this includes both the manufacture of active pharmaceutical ingredients (API)), drug substance and finished products
- Medical diagnostics – for both disease identification and monitoring.
- MedTech products – all types of medical devices related to human health.
The fund will remain open until all the funding has been allocated.
Our challenges are around the conditions for getting funding, including one private company must be the applicant, the capital cost of the project must be at least £8M, and the funding from Government is to supplement existing capital (to be the difference between a good plan going ahead or not).
Local Growth Funds
I have only just come across this House of Commons briefing about Local Growth Funds. It covers a range of Government initiatives over the past 5 years, for example, Levelling Up and Shared Prosperity and is a helpful guide to understanding what they cover and how the funding has been used.
I found it interesting to see how the West Midlands has performed in securing a fair share of these funds.
I also think the section on Investment Zones is informative, and highly relevant as the new West Midlands Investment Zone will come into existence in April 2025.
World Health Organisation approves ‘groundbreaking’ TB test
“High-quality diagnostic tests are the cornerstone of effective TB care and prevention,” says the WHO Director for Regulation and Prequalification, Dr Rogerio Gaspar.
A potentially “groundbreaking” test for tuberculosis (TB) has been endorsed by the UN World Health Organization as part of continuing efforts to eradicate one of the planet’s leading infectious killers. The test – called Xpert MTB/RIF Ultra – uses molecular analysis to detect the genetic markers of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacterium that causes TB, in the saliva of people suspected of infection.
It is the first such test to receive “prequalification” status from the WHO, meaning that it has passed stringent quality checks and can now be purchased by governments and UN agencies, as part of their TB eradication efforts.
WHO is currently assessing seven additional TB tests in an effort to expand access to quality-assured testing technology for the disease.
Spotlight on…
Barques, celebrating 35 years of creative design
Local design company Barques has been active in the West Midlands for 35 years. They are credited with developing a new look for Europe’s leading sustainable healthcare conference, CleanMed Europe.
Organised by Health Care Without Harm Europe, CleanMed Europe shares ideas and solutions for reducing healthcare’s environmental impact. When the conference wanted a new way to engage its audience, it turned to Barques for help. Following its shift to a fully virtual format post-pandemic, the conference has been helped to grow its engagement and attendances, and to communicate its mission more effectively.
As David Kidney knows only too well, Barques is generous with its time and expertise in support of local charities, including David’s work to help St Paul’s Church in the JQ to raise the money for repairs to the church’s roof – see Raise the Roof for details.
I hope you enjoy reading my e-bulletin. Feel free to contact me personally with your feedback and suggestions for future activities at david@wmhtc.co.uk
Regards,
Executive Chair.
