Enterprise Tuesday: Research and Technology Platforms Open for Innovative Business
Enterprise Tuesday, which took place on the 3rd of June 2025, was another successful event, for AIP LLP, the campus management company at Norwich Research Park. With over 200 people in attendance and a packed agenda covering both the strategic imperative and the operational achievements of the growing ecosystem, and the feedback has been very positive.
“Really informative event – thought the structure worked really well and kept everyone engaged”
“A truly inspiring event hosted by Norwich Research Park. Briar Chemicals was delighted to not only attend but also be invited to participate in a live discussion on the stage to recognise the value of industry partners to the amazing world-class researchers and businesses associated with the park.” Briar Chemicals.
Roz Bird commented, “We have established our annual series of Enterprise Tuesday showcase events in the diaries of our research and business community, on the campus, and with our key stakeholders locally. It is also great to see people coming to the event, from further afield, who have heard about us and want to find out more about Norwich Research Park.
We presented a big strategic agenda and some practical case study examples of the work we doing to help the world transition from reliance on petrochemical to biochemicals and more sustainable approaches to feeding the world with nutritious food in the face of climate change. We’re calling this ‘BioTransitions’. As always there are multiple opportunities for people to engage so I’d urge anyone interested to please make contact. The next Enterprise Tuesday is on the 25th of November.”
The conference featured speakers from the John Innes Centre, Earlham Institute, The Sainsbury Laboratory, Quadram Institute, the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital and the University of East Anglia (UEA) who highlighted the technology platforms developed at Norwich Research Park, and presented case studies on their applications and discoveries. The event brought to life how Norwich Research Park’s ecosystem works through enterprise, science collaboration, community, links with industry, funding and investment. It is an ecosystem that is high impact, focused and driven by its people, place, innovation and ideas.
Summary highlights from the Conference include:
Prof Lesley Dwyer, presented on behalf of the AIP Board on ‘Working Together to Deliver the Vision.’
AIP Board Member and Chief Executive of the Norfolk and Waveney University Hospitals group, Professor Lesley Dwyer provided a valuable insight on the strategic vision for Norwich Research Park, highlighting the strategic location of the hospital on the Park campus. She emphasised its role in integrating research, clinical care and enterprise and shared the ambition to embed research into every patient’s clinical journey, making it accessible and routine.
Lesley reflected on her previous experience in Adelaide, where a collaborative health innovation district thrived on research and clinical integration. She expressed enthusiasm for leveraging the unique resources in Norfolk to develop new care models and improve patient outcomes through deep partnerships within the Norwich Research Park ecosystem.
Roz Bird, CEO of Anglia Innovation Partnership presented on ‘Creating Economic Growth Through Engineering Biology’. Roz talked about the shared vision for Norwich Research Park, the collaboration opportunities, working within the ecosystem of the campus, and the significant potential to provide objective, academic advice to Government; support economic growth, and champion climate change initiatives.
There are over 150 science parks in the UK, however, only five are BBSRC Research and Innovation campuses, and Norwich stands out as being home to three of BBSRC’s eight research institutes, namely the John Innes Centre, Earlham Institute and Quadram Institute. The collaboration among these institutes, alongside The Sainsbury Laboratory, UEA and Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, fosters a unified vision for impactful research.
In terms of scale, there are over 30,000 people on the campus daily, including 17,000 undergraduates and 3,000 early-career researchers. With significant plans in place to develop both public and privately funded new facilities, Norwich Research Park will maintain its role as a national asset in engineering-biology, creating new opportunities for large corporates, high-growth companies and start-ups, all addressing pressing health and environmental challenges.
Prof Neil Ward, Professor of Rural and Regional Development, UEA and Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research presented on ‘Drivers of Food System Transformation’.
Neil highlighted the key drivers of change in the UK’s agri-food system. He emphasised UEA’s significant contributions to climate science, including the establishment of global temperature records and the concept of carbon budgeting, essential for the Paris Agreement’s goals. Neil, who leads the Agri-Food4NetZero – a UKRI-funded Network (AFN) with over 3,000 members, discussed the development of future scenarios for the food system and the importance of considering societal, political and technological shifts. Currently, the AFN is working on a roadmap to outline pathways to achieve net-zero targets by 2050, with a publication expected in October. This research aims to inform strategies that address the complex challenges facing the UK’s food and farming landscape.
Prof Nick Talbot presented on ‘Healthy Plants, Healthy People, Healthy Planet (HP3)’, the collaborative call to action from The Sainsbury Laboratory.
Nick highlighted the significance of the HP3 vision emphasising the unique strengths of the Park’s institutions, particularly in plant and microbial sciences, which are among the best in the UK and Europe. He acknowledged recent accolades, such as the Wolf Prize in Agriculture awarded to The Sainsbury’s Laboratory’s Prof Jonathan Jones for his discoveries in plant immunity. With a focus on translating research into practical solutions, HP3 aims to address global challenges like food security and climate change. Nick reinforced the urgency of action, as the world loses significant arable land every minute, underscoring the initiative’s commitment to fostering collaboration for a sustainable future.
Prof Mark Webber, Group Leader at Quadram Institute and Director of Centre of Microbial Interactions (CMI) presented on the ‘Impact on Medicine, Food, Energy and Climate Change’.
Mark highlighted the significance of the microbiology research community on the NRP and the diversity and depth of strength present on the park. This is a great potential strength but is not well enough recognised by external partners and Mark explained how this led to the decision to launch the Centre for Microbial Interactions (CMI) on the park to represent the microbiology community. Mark explained how six major research themes have been identified and how these fit with the HP3 agenda already described and how microbiology is central to the key global challenges research on the NRP aims to address. He emphasised how the CMI fully aims to include and represent businesses on the NRP and highlighted some of the innovative spin outs present on the park using microbiology as a core part of their business and leveraging the expert workforce and facilities present on the NRP. He finished by reflecting on a panel discussion at the CMI annual conference earlier in the year where a series of spin out and spin in companies from the park reflected about the potential of the NRP and how impact can be derived in this ecosystem.
Q&A session with Lesley, Neil, Nick and Mark
The session focused on achieving net zero and mitigating climate change, starting with the barriers to progress in the UK. The conversation further explored the role of Government investment, as significant sums have been made available, especially in the context of current inflation pressures on capital projects. The discussion concluded with a call for continued effort to develop more sustainable practices, particularly in the chemical industry, indicating that transitioning from petrochemicals to biomolecules is a crucial step on this long journey towards sustainability.
BioTransitions – presentations on the implementation of gene editing and precision breeding.
Rory Hornby, COO and co-founder of Alora, explained the company’s mission to combat global hunger through innovative ocean agriculture. Utilising precision breeding, Alora is developing salt-tolerant crops that can thrive without fertilisers or fresh water, ultimately increasing agricultural yield while being carbon negative. Hornby explained how they identify key genes from salt-tolerant plants and apply rapid trait testing to accelerate development. This approach seeks to provide sustainable solutions for food production, paving the way for a resilient agricultural future in the face of climate challenges.
Dr Jack Peart, Chief Business Officer at food biotech company Tropic, outlined its aim to become a leading force in tropical agriculture by utilising gene editing. With a focus on enhancing productivity, sustainability and climate resilience, Tropic concentrates on key crops, particularly bananas, rice and coffee. Jack highlighted the challenges faced by the banana export market, reliant on the Cavendish variety, and the significant waste stemming from cosmetic imperfections. To combat this, Tropic introduced a new reduced browning variant of the Cavendish banana, that should help minimise waste and improve shelf life.
Prof Martin Warren, Chief Scientific Officer and Group Leader at Quadram Institute highlighted the importance of a balanced diet rich in vitamins and minerals, advocating for the establishment of the UK’s first micro-nutritional clinic to address deficiencies. He also discussed innovative approaches like biofortification to enhance nutrient content in crops, particularly focusing on vitamin B12. Collaboration within the research community promises significant advancements in tackling nutritional challenges and improving public health outcomes.
Prof Anthony Hall, Scientific Adviser and Co-Founder of TraitSeq.
Anthony shared insights on TraitSeq journey from research to commercialisation. A spin-out from the Earlham Institute, TraitSeq was established after recognising the commercial potential of PhD research conducted by Josh Colmer. It focuses on addressing challenges in agri-tech innovation, leveraging large, complex datasets through advanced machine learning algorithms to develop biomarker-based solutions for crop protection and bio-stimulants. TraitSeq has successfully secured significant funding and established contracts with multinational companies, including Syngenta, to enhance the development of new agricultural products, demonstrating its commitment to empowering innovation in agriculture and fostering mutual growth between partners.
Panel discussions hosted by Anglia Innovation Partnership’s Samantha Graham and Dr Monika Chhetry with guests:
- John Farley, CEO, iBoxit, Zyvex Ltd, Ediform and Ankose CIC
- Dr Ofir Meir, CEO, QuberTech
- Dr Andrew Osbourne, Vice President of Preclinical Research, Ikarovec
- Dr Sasha Eremina, Entrepreneur-in-Residence, The Sainsbury Laboratory and Director of BioP
- Graham Temple, Operational Excellence Manager, Briar Chemicals
- Ben Newton, CFO, Duranta Energy
- Dr Nicol Janecko, Group Leader, Quadram Institute
The conference was rounded off with two panel discussions with one gaining insights from start-up, spin-out and spin-in companies about their experiences growing a business at Norwich Research Park and the other explain the links with industry that have been established to provide local solutions to global challenges.
During the intervals guests were able to connect and network with a wide range of industry experts.
“This was an excellent networking and meeting of science and industry that is beneficial to all.”
“Moving to Norwich Research Park has been one of the best decisions for Alora. From the world-class team we have built here to the sheer number of opportunities from global organisations to share our achievements and vision. Our incredible co-founder, Rory Hornby, presented Alora to the Enterprise Tuesday audience. It is a pleasure to carve out our corner of this ambitious innovation hub!” Luke Young, CEO and co-founder, Alora
Concluding thought
“To be a successful science park campus, you must ensure that all the people in your region know about you so that they can be advocates and collaborate with you.” Roz Bird, CEO of Anglia Innovation Partnership.
Our next Enterprise Tuesday will take place on Tuesday 25th November, stayed tuned for more information on the event launching soon.
To view the full gallery of images from the event, please visit our Event Gallery page.
