DHBW Mannheim – Study Visit
21st July 2011
Cambridge Technology Cluster
Robert Jones
Programme Leader, Executive MBA
Lecturer in Entrepreneurship & Innovation
robert.jones@anglia.ac.uk
http://cambridgemba.wordpress.com
http://cambridgearea.wordpress.com
Cambridge is an economic “hot-spot” – based on
high-tech
We have a famous business area on our door step:Silicon Fen
(Cambridge)
Copied from:Silicon Valley (California)
The Cambridge Phenomenon
Cambridge Phenomenon Conference 2010
http://vimeo.com/15767187
Cambridge Science Park
What is a science park?
What is necessary for a science park?
Cambridge Science Park
100-plus hi-tech firms
5,000 personnel
small start-ups
spin-outs
subsidiaries of multinational corporations.
There are now 60+ university / business parks in the UK
Cambridge Science Park
1970s
slow progress, 25 firms
1980s
cluster forming, social centre, VC, spin-outs
1990s
1200 firms, 35,000 employees, incubators
2000s to present day
IPOs, biotech, mix of types incl MNCs,
life sciences, photonics, nanotechnology and materials science
St John’s Innovation Centre
http://www.stjohns.co.uk/
Rent-Address 3 Star Service
£7 + VAT per week
Cambridge Cluster
What is a cluster?
What are the conditions
that influence a cluster to start and then grow?
Clusters
Porter, M
“Competitive Advantage of Nations” (1990)
“Clusters and the New Economics of Competition” (1998)
“Geographic concentrations of interconnected companies in a particular field”
Specialist firms tend to “cluster” or co-locate.
Alfred Marshall (1890)
The Cambridge Phenomenon
In 1985 SQW published a study into Cambridge’s success.
The Cambridge Phenomenon Revisited
(SQW, 2000)
Examined Cambridge's high tech cluster, how it originally evolved, and
subsequently developed over a fifteen year period; the causes and barriers
to growth in firms and the links to the research communities. It also
contains a review of entrepreneurial attitudes and intent amongst a range
of populations, including schoolchildren, university students and the
academic faculty.
http://www.sqw.co.uk/
Examples of Cambridge technology
Sinclair computers
Acorn computers
ARM plc
Plastic Logic
Autonomy plc
CSR Cambridge Silicon Radio
Marshall Group of companies
Abcam plc – antibodies online
Key factors that encourage clustering are:
http://www.dti.gov.uk/CB/biotechclusters/chapt03.pdf
Greater Cambridge
Partnership 2009
But most of these firms are very small
40% of firms are micro & employ
1-5 people.
20% of firms are micro & employ
6-10 people
Only about 2.5% of firms employ more than
200 people
Cambridge high tech firms are based on:Innovation
Design
“Know-how”
Intellectual property
Patents
= High value-added
Exploitation by licensing to overseas producers
e.g. ARM plc
Do we see the emergence of the New economy?
Manufacturing
Service
+++
Knowledge
+
What next
??
---
Hermann Hauser
http://www.amadeuscapital.com/
Co-founder with Chris Curry of …..
Continuing growth of high-tech:e.g. West Cambridge development
More research sites:Addenbrookes pharma & medical
Hinxton
human genome
Babraham
biotech
Landbeach research park
Abington
research park
BUT ……. Some key problems
Venture capital
- lack of “seed” capital
Skills shortages
- recruitment problems
Housing
- very high prices
Lack of building land - “green belt” policies
Transport
- road congestion
Planning constraints
Lack of seed capital is a big problem
Limits to growth - what can we do?
The Cambridge Cluster - the Way Ahead (2006)
Report produced for GCP by W J Herriot,
T Minshall & A Smeets of St John’s Innovation Centre Ltd on behalf of the
Cambridge Technopole
The Cambridge Cluster - the Way Ahead (2006)
Explains the size and characteristics of the cluster – the context and
the role of the University of Cambridge.
Reviews the concerns that Cambridge has not created any really
substantial businesses – no “big gorillas”
Analyses the importance of finance, particularly Venture Capital
Funding, in the growth of the Cluster.
Reviews the specific Tym recommendations on business support
Examines how we might be more proactive in attracting business
to the sub region
Takes into account the findings of the SQW Report to position the
Technopole and Enterprise Hubs in a regional context
Warning
Walter Herriot quotes:Michael Best in the Massachusetts Technology Road Map and Strategic
Alliances Study “Choosing to Lead: The Race for National R&L
Leadership and New Economy Jobs” (2004).1
“We need to collaborate more effectively and develop a technology
roadmaps that looks five or ten years down the line. Without a road map
and an economic development strategy, we run the risks of turning into
Cambridge, England: we’ll have isolated clusters of the very best
University research and a number of small R&D firms but not the
downstream production, service and support jobs that make a vibrant
economy. We’ll create all the new ideas but others will get too much of
the benefit”.
What can we do? 5
LIBRARYHOUSE
Looking Inwards, Reaching Outwards
The Cambridge Cluster Report – 2007
Silicon Valley comes to Cambridge
November 2010
http://www.svc2c.com/