Britain likes to say it wants to be a science superpower. In one Hertfordshire town, that ambition is no longer a slogan — it is a functioning reality.
Stevenage, the first New Town built after the Second World War, has quietly become one of the UK’s most important centres for advanced science, technology and manufacturing. It is best known as the UK’s leading cluster for cell and gene therapy, hosting the largest concentration of advanced therapies outside the United States. But life sciences are not Stevenage’s only strategic strength. Alongside its world‑leading life science ecosystem, Stevenage is also home to major global advanced manufacturing and defence innovators including Airbus and MBDA. These organisations sit at the cutting edge of aerospace, space, defence and systems engineering — sectors that rely on the same deep scientific capability, Stevenage Shows Why Britain Must Invest in the Science highly skilled workforce and long‑term patient capital as advanced therapies. This convergence matters. Innovation today increasingly happens at the boundaries between disciplines: life sciences, advanced manufacturing, space technologies, robotics, digital systems and materials science. Stevenage is one of the few places in the UK where these capabilities already co-exist at scale. The town hosts the Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult, the Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst and a growing network of global pharmaceutical firms, scale‑ups, manufacturers and research organisations. Together they form a rare, end‑to‑end ecosystem that takes ideas from laboratory bench to clinical reality — and increasingly, to large‑scale manufacturing. That same ecosystem is now being reinforced by investment and commitment from the aerospace and defence sectors. On Thursday 29 January 2026, Airbus opened its new “Launchpad” in Stevenage — a dedicated support service for new and early‑stage companies in the space and advanced engineering industries. Backed by support from the UK Space Agency, the Launchpad is designed to accelerate innovation, supply‑chain growth and commercialisation for emerging firms. This is not a symbolic gesture. It is a clear signal that global industrial leaders see Stevenage as a priority location for early‑stage innovation, scale‑up and long‑term growth. It also underlines a wider truth: early‑stage funding and patient capital are now as critical in advanced manufacturing and space technologies as they are in life sciences.
Stevenage has already attracted £3.2 billion of private‑sector investment for regeneration. That capital did not arrive by accident. It followed skills, infrastructure, regulatory credibility and a proven ability to translate science into production. Investors have already judged Stevenage — and by extension the UK — to be one of the best places in the world to develop complex, high‑value technologies. Yet the same risk applies across all these sectors. Breakthrough ideas often falter in the “valley of death” between technical success and commercial scale. Facilities are expensive. Prototyping, certification and trials are complex. Workforce skills take years to build. Without targeted early‑stage and scale‑up funding, the UK risks exporting its intellectual property while importing the finished products. The prize for getting this right is substantial. Advanced life sciences, aerospace, space and defence manufacturing deliver high‑value jobs, export‑intensive growth and strategic national capability. Even when individual companies fail, the skills, knowledge and infrastructure remain, strengthening the wider economy.
Stevenage shows what happens when government, industry and investors align around long‑term priorities. It is not a regional experiment. It is national infrastructure — for health, for security, for productivity and for future growth. The choice now is whether Britain builds on this foundation with sustained early‑stage investment across life sciences, advanced manufacturing and space — or whether it allows global competitors to capture the value of innovations developed on British soil.
Government needs to understand that their past investments need further funding support today, to assist with concluding early-stage production investment to deliver the solutions and the international opportunities for the Country.
About the Author
Adrian Hawkins OBE was awarded his honour by the Queen in the 2021 New Years Day Honours list for his services to business and skills. A lifetime businessman, Adrian Chairs biz4Biz a business support organisation which he founded 15 years ago to create a business network initially in the Home Counties and which is now reaching further nationally. Adrian is also, Chairman of Hertfordshire Futures (previously the LEP) and the Hertfordshire Futures Skills and Employment Board. Adrian is also Chairman of the Stevenage Development Board alongside biz4Biz. Adrian has 50 years’ experience in the world of business.
ADRIAN HAWKINS OBE
Chairman – biz4Biz
Chairman – Hertfordshire Futures Board
Chairman – Stevenage Development Board
Chairman – Hertfordshire Skills & Employment Board
