The project was launched as a core component of Liverpool’s pressing requirement for economic regeneration in the wake of the decline of traditional industries including manufacturing and maritime activity.

Merseyside, a designated ‘Objective One’ region, with two world class universities had no specialist infrastructure to promote the growth of its knowledge economy. Consequently, high value commercial and employment opportunities were being lost to Merseyside.

One of the strategic objectives of the Liverpool Science Park Innovation Centre was to enable knowledge-based Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs)to commercialise their Intellectual Property in Liverpool. To do this specialist facilities and business support infrastructure was required.

The delivery mechanism selected was to be a special purpose vehicle called Liverpool Science Park where the shareholders were Liverpool City Council, Liverpool John Moores University and the University of Liverpool.

Since opening in January 2006 the Liverpool Science Park Innovation Centre has provided early success and has outperformed the delivery of project outputs in a number of significant areas. Through its delivery of outputs, Liverpool Science Park is already demonstrating its ability to be a significant tool of economic regeneration.

Potential exists for the early success of Liverpool Science Park to be exploited but it will require full public funding support for another phase of development before it will be feasible for the remainder of Liverpool Science Park to be funded by the private sector.

In operational terms Liverpool Science Park is delivering, at a regional level, the objectives of the Lisbon Strategy and it is an outstanding example of real delivery leading directly to the building of the knowledge economy in a region that was a casualty of decline in traditional industry. Liverpool Science Park is providing considerable benefits for its target market and there is clear objective evidence to demonstrate this.

This practice was presented at the Fourth Best Practice Conference New Horizons in Graz, Austria on 15 November 2006. The conference aimed at promoting exchange of experience and dissemination of best practice between authorities involved in the implementation on EU Structural Funds Programmes in Europe. It was destined to contribute to improving quality of implementation of Structural Funds on the basis of project presentations and visits.

Liverpool Science Park – Innovation Centre
David Lupson (Chief Operations Officer)

01/01/2006

case

Urban Policy > Economy knowledge & employment > Research & innovation

Implementation & production