CPI’s new presence in Liverpool will help drive innovation and economic growth in the region.
CPI officially launched its first North West base at The Spine in Liverpool yesterday, having taken an office within Liverpool Science Park (LSP), overlooking the city’s famous Hope Street and the Liverpool Everyman theatre.
Attracted by LSP’s vibrant cluster of science and technology-focused customers, as well as Liverpool City Region’s expertise in advanced manufacturing and sustainable packaging, the move will further CPI’s ambition to provide a hub for partnerships with universities, local government, industry and SMEs, enabling transformative innovation programmes and creating jobs in the region.
Sophie Walton, Director of Strategic Partnerships at CPI, said: “We are excited to move into our new offices at Liverpool Science Park and have already begun hosting key meetings and activities here.
“Our office will enable us to better connect to, and integrate with, the vibrant research and innovation ecosystem that we see growing rapidly in and around the city.
“Through local partnerships and collaborations, we will support the development of technologies that will have significant and far-reaching societal and economic impacts – both in Liverpool City Region and beyond.”
Following its expansion to new premises in Liverpool, the independent innovation organisation is looking to collaborate and support the commercialisation of deep tech innovations that solve healthcare and sustainability challenges. CPI is a founding member of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult and now joins fellow Catapult member, the Manufacturing Technology Centre, at LSP.
CPI’s expansion strengthens the Catapult’s presence in the region, not only bringing together complementary capabilities, but working alongside the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority (LCRCA) to improve support for local manufacturers.
Philippa Lee, Head of Operations at Liverpool Science Park, said: “CPI are a fantastic addition to the LSP community, and we are delighted that they have chosen to open their new northern base here.
“Their use of trailblazing science and technology to solve the biggest global challenges in healthcare and sustainability complements our other customers’ ground-breaking work and we are excited to see what synergistic connections develop between them in the future.”
CPI’s new base at LSP sits within the heart of the Knowledge Quarter Liverpool (KQ Liverpool) Innovation District and has been made possible thanks to £110,000 of pre-development funding from the LCRCA.
This investment signifies the first important step for CPI and LCRCA, along with founding partner Unilever, to co-develop a £60 million National Packaging Innovation Centre, that could put the UK at the forefront of the £1 trillion global packaging market and play a significant role in meeting Net Zero targets.
The National Packaging Innovation Centre shares CPI’s core ethos of bringing together industry and academia to commercialise research and innovations.
Sophie Walton, Director of Strategic Partnerships at CPI, added: “We already have a long-standing history of collaboration with the University of Liverpool, and as part of our strategy to accelerate our support within the region, we recently formalised this further by signing a Memorandum of Understanding.
“This will see us continue to grow this key relationship across a wide and ambitious portfolio, in areas such as technology commercialisation, skills development, and economic growth.”
LSP’s physical proximity and shareholder connections with both the University of Liverpool and Liverpool John Moores University, make it an attractive home for over 60 leading science, technology and knowledge-based companies.
Having remained open throughout the pandemic, LSP has enabled its customers to play their part in the city’s economic recovery and the addition of CPI will further help to drive jobs and productivity in the region.