PROFILE

Key themes for economic recovery

By Dr Martin Stow, Director, Nexus

EDUCATION

Resilience and resourcefulness have been the key themes for Nexus members and the wider business community throughout the challenges of the pandemic and as we look forward to recovery and growth beyond the COVID crisis.

At the end of last year we gauged the opinions of start-ups across the region in our Business Barometer survey and, despite inevitable uncertainty about future plans, 71% were confident about business growth this year, with 96% of those businesses believing that innovation was the critical factor. The resulting report, which was published alongside guidance for the start-up community on the support, funding, networks and partnerships they can access, reflected the abundance of ambitious businesses across our region with the potential to boost the economy and shape the future. Many of those businesses have chosen to locate with us – both in terms of physical office and lab space – and as community members, giving them seamless access to the research expertise, talent and facilities at the University of Leeds, from their bases across the globe. Recent international additions to the Nexus community include India’s nanotechnology specialists MagGenome Technologies, who are developing ground-breaking technology for use in the life science, pharmaceutical, chemical and engineering industries and award-winning Israeli bio-technology company Betalin Therapeutics, who are developing revolutionary treatment for diabetes. Nexus and the University of Leeds, as an anchor institution, have been proudly continuing work in the region’s business economy, playing a leading role in developing dedicated and inclusive support for the most innovative new ventures through the interventions from the MIT REAP – the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Regional Entrepreneurship Acceleration Program. The ide@ programme of support that has emerged from our involvement with MIT REAP has so far delivered LEAP, a mentorsupported e-learning course aimed at people with or without ideas wanting to explore starting their own business, and BUILD, an intensive programme enabling a cohort of diverse founders from across the region to accelerate their ideas for innovative new ventures that address societal challenges, to combine profit and purpose. Both initiatives are developed and delivered in collaboration with world-class research experts, successful entrepreneurs, business, finance and legal specialists from our regional ecosystem. That close collaboration and sense of community will continue to add to those key themes of resilience and resourcefulness, as the cornerstones of our region’s business strengths. Growing our base of innovation-driven entrepreneurs is critical to the growth of our local economy and I’m looking forward to welcoming many more member businesses to Nexus throughout the year. To find out more about working with Nexus visit nexusleeds.co.uk or contact hello@nexusleeds.co.uk