Independent report

University Enterprise Zones final impact and process evaluation

Findings from the University Enterprise Zones (UEZ) programme, set up in 2016 to facilitate engagement between R&D focused businesses and universities.

From:
Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
Published
4 July 2025

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University Enterprise Zones final impact and process evaluation: executive summary

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University Enterprise Zones final impact and process evaluation

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Details

To understand the delivery and impact of the University Enterprise Zones (UEZ) programme, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) commissioned Technopolis to conduct a 3-year evaluation of the UEZ pilot.

The evaluation answers the following questions:

1. What was the impact of the programme?
2. How has the programme achieved these impacts?
3. Did the funding of incubator/grow on space successfully overcome market failure?

Background

UEZ was a capital funding initiative to create affordable commercial workspaces and increase engagement between businesses and universities. It was a £20 million investment and five universities were awarded grants to construct or refurbish commercial work and incubation space, that opened in 2017. They were

  1. Bradfield Centre at University of Cambridge
  2. Digital Health Enterprise Zone (DHEZ) at University of Bradford
  3. Future Space at University of West of England
  4. Ingenuity Centre at University of Nottingham
  5. Sensor City at University of Liverpool (This site was closed in 2021 and is undergoing refurbishment. It was not open at the time of this publication. The time for reopening is not known).

This study builds on a baseline evaluation of the programme, also carried out by Technopolis in 2017. The present study, covering the subsequent years with specific focus on 2021-2023 has encompassed a mixed method approach combining long-term primary data collection, econometric analysis, and theory-based methods.

Key findings

  • Increased university-business engagement - The programme generated increased university business engagement, though this effect diminished over time.
  • Effective market failure intervention - UEZs successfully addressed gaps in connectedness and collaboration between local innovation stakeholders.
  • Strong value for money - The UEZ pilot delivered additional £100,000 in Gross Value Added (GVA) and created new jobs, outperforming comparable initiatives including Sci-Tech Daresbury Campus, XPLOR and the Roslin Innovation Centre.
  • Process insights - The evaluation revealed specific mechanisms through which the programme achieved its impact.
  • Regional impact: - It also provides evidence of regional impact of the policy by estimating GVA and employment per region of the site.

Updates to this page

Published 4 July 2025

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