Liverpool’s Digital Manufacturing Accelerator bags £15m funding

Two projects at Liverpool Science Park and SciTech Daresbury are set to secure £15m from the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority.

The £15m will go towards the Liverpool City Region’s Digital Manufacturing Accelerator, made up two separate property assets.

One will be located in Liverpool’s Knowledge Quarter and is to include a “rapidly reconfigurable factory environment” which will act as a testing facility for manufacturing companies across the City Region.

Both the pharmaceuticals and fast-moving consumer goods industries will be target for this facility, with tech including highly-automated, digitally-enabled production facilities built in container units; this is known as “factory in a box” technology.

At SciTech Daresbury, the funding will also support the construction of a “digital factory environment”, which allows manufacturing companies to build “digital twins” of their existing manufacturing processes, test out new tech, and examine the physical impact on manufacturing of adopting new technology.

The Manufacturing Technology Centre currently employs 25 staff across the City Region but it is hoped this additional investment will provide “substantial potential” for expansion.

Up to £15m will be provided by the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority to support the two projects, with this package set to be signed off on 1 November. This will come from the Combined Authority’s Single Investment Fund.

Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram said: “The Liverpool City Region is already a hotbed of advanced manufacturing activity and we are leading the way, nationally and internationally.

“The funding will have the twin benefits of delivering solutions for established industries whilst also providing a space in which innovative and responsive SMEs can develop.  Being able to support facilities like this, which will drive the city region’s economic fortunes, is one of the main reasons we are so keen to take more decisions locally.”