Market Assessment and Business Case for the Centre of Expertise in Advanced Materials and Sustainability

Client: Rochdale Development Agency on behalf of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority and wider partners

Greater Manchester’s Innovation Plan identified strengths in the discovery and commercialisation of Sustainable Advanced Materials. To build on this strength, partners from Greater Manchester's Graphene, Advanced Materials & Manufacturing Alliance (GAMMA) – including Rochdale Development Agency and the University of Manchester - had a vision for developing a new innovation asset, originally known as the Sustainable Materials Translational Research Centre (SMTRC) and now referred to as the Centre of Expertise in Advanced Materials and Sustainability (CEAMS). This proposed Centre would be located in Atom Valley and support the development, and accelerate the adoption, of productivity enhancing new materials and industry 4.0 technologies by materials and manufacturing firms.

SQW worked closely with partners from GAMMA to support the development of the SMTRC vision. This included an initial market assessment where we engaged with 40 companies from across Greater Manchester and surrounding areas to understand their materials related innovation needs and challenges. We subsequently developed a green book compliant, five case model business case for the SMTRC.

In parallel, and informed by industry feedback from our market assessment, we also supported GAMMA’s original submission to the Innovation Accelerator process. We were delighted that the Centre of Expertise in Advanced Materials and Sustainability (CEAMS) was announced as one of the successful projects from Greater Manchester.