Local growth is not a zero-sum game Opinion Hubs like Oxford and Cambridge don't operate in isolation. Nurturing their growth will benefit Liverpool, Manchester and Sheffield too.
Astrazeneca ploughs £300m into UK in surprise U-turn Pharma British drugs giant Astrazeneca has promised to plough £300m into its UK operations, just months after cancelling a nine-figure investment in a new lab after getting in a spat with the UK government over drug pricing. In a stunning volte-face, the UK’s largest pharmaceutical company said it would revive its £200m investment into a megalab [...]
Declining patent filings show Britain has stopped innovating Opinion There are lots of ways to measure innovation, but if we go by patent filings, it's a sorry image for the UK, writes Ayushma Maharjan.
Arm is opening a chip shop. This could be transformative March 26, 2026 Fascinating news came on Tuesday night that semiconductor designer Arm confirmed rumours that it would be launching its own chip. For those not in the know, Cambridge-based Arm has so far only focused on semiconductor architecture – the blueprint that determines how chips work – and then licences that out to tech firms who choose [...]
Cambridge grads launch trading exchange to take on established industry March 5, 2026 As more retail investors look to allocate capital in private assets a new exchange has entered the fray, looking to provide a substitute to traditional financial markets. Global trading exchange start-up QFEX, founded by two Cambridge maths graduates, launched on Wednesday, aiming to bring high leverage, 24/7 trading of assets to investors. The exchange, valued [...]
London ranked world’s slowest capital city January 21, 2026 The average driver in London spent more than five days in rush hour traffic last year, with the capital ranking the worst in the world for travel time. Tomtom found that the average motorist spent 136 hours in traffic last year, as London led its ranking of the worst global capital city for slow traffic [...]
Choosing a chancellor of Cambridge is no joke June 30, 2025 Cambridge must choose a chancellor who enhances its reputation without politicising or making a mockery of the role, and Lord Browne is emerging as the most credible candidate to do so, says Eliot Wilson Our leaders like to speak of the United Kingdom “punching above its weight”. For at least 80 years, it has been [...]
Cambridge science has global ambitions and London is our departure lounge June 24, 2025 Cambridge is seizing a unique moment to amplify the global impact of its world-leading research by opening a new office in London’s tech hub, aiming to build stronger connections, embrace entrepreneurial risk, and better integrate academia with investors, says Jim Glasheen From discovering Newton’s law of gravity, to laying the foundation for computing, to unlocking [...]
UK innovation hinges on talent and clusters, says Lord Vallance June 20, 2025 The UK’s science and innovation lanscape is on the cusp of a major transformation, according to science minister Lord Patrick Vallance, who argued the UK must now “connect with its brightest clusters” and supercharge international partnerships to stay competitive. Speaking the recent India Global Forum on Thursday, the government’s national tech adviser and Oxford-Cambridge innovation [...]
Chanel Boat Race: Who are favourites and where do Oxford and Cambridge race? April 13, 2025 It’s that time of year again, when we flock to the banks of the Thames to watch Oxford and Cambridge in the Boat Race. Crews have been warned not to throw their cox in the London river due to unsafe water, and fans will undoubtedly want to avoid the smell of the capital’s sewage. But [...]
