The Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Rt. Hon George Osborne MP, was at the University of Liverpool today to announce a package of measures to support the city’s science and transport infrastructure.
He announced that the University, in partnership with Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU), has been successful in a bid to create one of four University Enterprise Zones, with £5 million match funding from government.
High tech businesses
The £15 million facility will house and support new high tech businesses around ‘sensor technologies’.
Sensors are the crucial link between technological devices and the world around them, capturing data on a whole host of areas such as temperature, humidity and pressure. They can be used in everything from home security systems to medical technology and high value manufacturing.
‘Sensor City’
‘Sensor City’ will help inventions go from the lab to the factory floor even faster, and act as a shop window for foreign investment into the city’s high tech start-ups.
University Provost, Professor Stephen Holloway, who led the bid for Liverpool said, “Creating a new space where ideas from our sensor research laboratories can be transformed into new start-ups is a very exciting prospect for both universities and provides great opportunities for our students and staff.”
Following the announcement, Mr Osborne met with researchers from the University’s Department of Electrical Engineering and Electronics to learn about developments in sensor technologies and explore Liverpool’s laboratories.
Professor Robin Leatherbarrow, the LJMU PVC for Scholarship, Research and Knowledge Transfer, said: “This is a tremendous success for Liverpool and a superb example of how our two universities can work together in an area where we each have considerable complementary strengths.”
The Chancellor was also in the city to unveil a £34.4 million transport package as part of the Atlantic Gateway project, which is building greater connections between Liverpool and Manchester.
