To accelerate the Innovation Village’s delivery, the West Yorkshire Combined Authority is supporting a market engagement exercise that will engage and collaborate with potential investors, developers, and occupiers, including leading suppliers to the Trust, on opportunities within the 12.5 hectare development site. This will be completed by the year-end, with the findings supporting a masterplan to consider short and medium-term development opportunities. Leeds City Council, as the planning authority, will develop clear guidance for the Innovation Village site to support its future development.
With advice from KPMG, the Trust is also pursuing ‘alternative delivery models outside of NHS capital budgets’ to bring forward new, fit-for-purpose clinical buildings and further develop the Innovation Village.
The announcement comes as a new report from global commercial property firm, CBRE, describes Leeds as ‘a prime opportunity for open innovation and clustering’, with increasing venture capital activity within the region’s life sciences sector. The report found Leeds was ‘the best-positioned location’ in West Yorkshire to develop a robust life sciences cluster with momentum driven by strengths in medtech – ‘especially digital health and biotech’, but highlighted a lack of ‘grow-on’ space needed to support scalability, collaboration, talent attraction, and economic growth.
The city is ranked third internationally as a healthtech hub, and home to 144 healthtech companies, with a combined turnover of £1.6 billion, and a headcount of 11,400 people, according to Health Innovation Leeds.
The Trust says the announcement supports the government’s forthcoming 10-year plan for the NHS – which will focus on ‘three big shifts ‘ – to digital, community-based, and preventative care – while aiming to deliver early economic benefits through the creation of highly skilled jobs and a pipeline of life sciences companies for the Innovation Village. The initiatives also maintain momentum for the new hospital and regeneration of Leeds city centre after national funding was delayed until 2030.
The three organisations say The Innovation Village will be ‘a go-to destination for science, research, technology, and innovation’, and is planned for a five-hectare Trust-owned site. It forms the centrepiece of the wider Leeds Innovation Arc – a 150-hectare area with anchor institutions including the Trust, one of the UK’s largest, the University of Leeds, Leeds Beckett University, and private sector employers. The Innovation Village is expected to create 4,000 jobs, and £13 billion in economic benefits, and development potential of 1.5 million square feet.
Work is already under way on the first phase with the transformation of the historic Old Medical School into ‘a cutting-edge’ healthtech innovation hub in partnership with Scarborough Group International, a privately-owned regeneration specialists. The Leeds Innovation Village is being supported by funding from the West Yorkshire Investment Zone, and the Old Medical School will create 75,000 ft2 of innovation space by 2027.
Professor Phil Wood, CEO of Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “Leeds is transforming ageing healthcare infrastructure into opportunity through our exceptionally strong partnerships across the region. With the invaluable support of Leeds City Council and the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, we’re excited to be driving forward the Innovation Village at a pivotal time.
“Leeds Teaching Hospitals is committed to delivering world-class healthcare, and our approach to harnessing innovation means we can bring clinicians, academics, and private sector partners together to introduce the latest medical advancements to patients and address health inequalities. By pursuing alternative delivery models, we’re seeking to bring forward urgent healthcare improvements, while creating significant social and economic benefits, which aligns perfectly with the government’s vision for our NHS and the UK’s future health and prosperity.”