Over the last five years, the National Composites Centre has been focused on driving industrial transformation through technical, supply-chain and workforce interventions and innovations. Our latest report shares a snapshot of our impact across the UK, capitalising on opportunities to bring together leading companies, innovators, and academic researchers towards accelerating the UK’s journey to net zero.
The National Composites Centre (NCC) strives to support people and businesses to be more productive and therefore to be more competitive, locally, nationally, and internationally. Part of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult, the NCC helps businesses to grow and also helps people to gain more appropriate skills to take up job opportunities in these growing businesses.
We do this through:
- Investing in differentiated partnerships;
- De-risking innovation and investing in capability development;
- Providing access to engineering expertise, equipment, as well as research and development space; and
- Connecting innovators to researchers and industrial partners.
Initial economic assessments suggest that from 2017-2022, the NCC delivered:
- £59m of direct gross value add (GVA) per annum through the annual generation of 50 enhanced products, processes, and services.1 £40m GVA per annum being realised in the West of England region.2
- 800 jobs per annum created and sustained through the generated GVA. With a further 800 jobs being sustained in the supply chain, and 400 in the wider economy.
In terms of what this equates to in practice, on an estimated annual average the NCC has supported some 300 businesses per year, 90% of which had a footprint in the West of England, and around 33% being SMEs.
The NCC also continued to grow our reach in 2023, with engagement rates more than double the five-year average, with over 625 businesses engaged, 40% of which were SMEs; and worked with companies at several different stages on their innovation and growth journey. Almost half of the companies the NCC has worked with since 2020 have returned for additional support to deliver a broader portfolio of innovation programmes.
Although commercial impact varies with every firm, it is estimated that within six years of investing in an enhanced product or service, turnover in the beneficiary firm is likely to increase by at least 16%.3
Read the full report, and infographic summary, to find out more about the NCC’s strengths in driving national innovation, attracting investment to the West of England, and creating a pipeline of engineering talent.
1 Scottish Enterprise Research in the impact of innovation on enterprises.
2 Based on an estimate that 70% of impact was retained in region.
3 Innovate UK commissioned report by Enterprise Research Centre and Innovation Caucus based on a survey of 300 SME businesses.
