1284 Communications supported East Midlands life sciences as media partner for the latest sold-out Charnwood Campus conference. 

More than 150 industry leaders, investors and innovators came together for the summit in Loughborough this week. It further underlined both the strength of the region’s ecosystem and the scale of its ambition for future growth.

The Summit was led by Charnwood Campus Science, Innovation and Technology Park - with support from Medilink Midlands - as part of Leicestershire Innovation Festival. It focused on how the East Midlands can build a resilient, high‑growth and globally competitive life sciences cluster.

Senior voices from government, industry, finance, and the NHS were among delegates exploring how to accelerate innovation, commercialisation and manufacturing. They also considered how to turn regional strengths into long-term economic advantage.

The agenda was tightly focused on three core themes: finance and investment, scaling innovation and strengthening the region’s manufacturing and regulatory ecosystem. Opening the conference, Charnwood Campus Director Gosia Khrais set out a clear challenge and opportunity, arguing that global uncertainty is creating demand for exactly the kind of stability and resilience the East Midlands can offer. 

A keynote from Louise Knowles, Deputy Director of the MHRA Innovation Accelerator, highlighted how the regulator is enabling life sciences innovation through enhanced access to regulatory expertise and guidance for novel health technologies. 

This was followed by Leicestershire Business Voice Chair Sue Tilley, who spoke about moving from “connection to amplification” - a theme that reflected 1284’s own role in telling the region’s story to a wider audience.

Panels across the day examined what it will take for the UK to lead in life sciences manufacturing, and how that ambition can be financed. Senior leaders from organisations including Horiba, Zydus UK, Kindeva and Quotient Sciences shared practical insights on investment, capital attractiveness and continuous improvement. 

Later sessions turned to the realities of scaling innovation, with contributions from speakers including Dr Nik Kotecha OBE, founder of RandalSun Capital; Nicole McGlennon, of Health Innovation Network East Midlands; Nat Hutley of Koodos; and representatives from Barclays Innovation Banking, MedTech Makers Lab, TBAT Innovation and the British Business Bank.

Insights and qualitative notes from the day, which 1284 helped capture and will share with organisers as media partner, will now feed into a regional position paper.

1284 managing director George Oliver, said: “The Summit showed that, as a region, we’re at a pivotal moment in life sciences, and this event showed the East Midlands proposition is strong. Partnering as media for the summit meant we could connect the conversations in the room with the wider ecosystem that needs to hear them.”