Spinouts, partnerships and impact: Manchester’s innovation ecosystem on show

On day three of the Innovation Festival, spinouts showed their work at University Place, the teams that support them gathered in the Whitworth Hall, and the first Partnership Excellence Awards celebrated the collaborations turning Manchester’s research into real-world impact.

Wednesday was the Festival’s busiest day yet. At Manchester to Market, spinouts supported by The University of Manchester Innovation Factory showcased their work on the ground floor of University Place, from AI-guided enzyme engineering to virtual reality healthcare training and research-led theatre.

A short walk away in Whitworth Hall, the Powerhouse of Innovation Showcase brought together the teams, programmes and partners that help those ideas grow, including a new collaboration between the Innovate UK Innovation-to-Commercialisation of University Research programme (ICURe) and the Henry Royce Institute.

In the evening, the inaugural Partnership Excellence Awards at the Whitworth celebrated the partnerships behind the University’s impact. The evening’s highest accolade, Partnership Excellence of the Year, went to Saraco Industries Ltd, Professor Sarah Cartmell and Professor Andrew McBain, whose collaboration has developed plastic-free clinical disinfection wipes for healthcare.

From enzymes to the stage: Manchester’s spinouts step into the spotlight

Manchester to Market filled the ground floor of University Place with spinouts supported by The University of Manchester Innovation Factory, whose portfolio now numbers around 84 companies worth an estimated £400–500 million. The ventures exhibiting were at very different stages. Among them, Imperagen uses an AI-led robotic lab to engineer enzymes for manufacturers. GiFT, an electromagnetic guidance system for tracheostomy procedures, improved needle accuracy fourfold in trials on mannequins, and its team estimates it could save the NHS around £50 million a year. Not every venture was a technology: Tiny Human Dramas turns anthropological research into short pieces of theatre.

“If it hadn’t been for the Innovation Factory, I wouldn’t have known I belonged in this space… In the arts, a little bit of attention and a little bit of funding goes a long way. The more of us that are in this scene, the more it’ll feel like this is innovation, of a particular kind.” — Megan Rose Donnelly, Lecturer in Social Anthropology and founder of Tiny Human Dramas

The innovation ecosystem backing Manchester’s bright ideas

The Powerhouse of Innovation Showcase in the Whitworth Hall brought together some 25 of the teams, programmes and partners that help ideas grow across the University, and one new collaboration showcased one way in which those pieces can connect. The Innovate UK ICURe programme, ran across the North from The University of Manchester, helps “commercially curious” academics find out whether there is a real market for their research by getting out and talking to potential customers, investors and regulators. Starting later this month, ICURe’s latest local endeavour will bring cohorts of materials researchers at the Henry Royce Institute together with business mentors and potential customers, adding commercial know-how to the equipment and expertise Royce already opens up to researchers, spinouts, and SMEs.

“The best part of this job is, without a shadow of a doubt, talking to these entrepreneurial leads and seeing their personal development growth… to see the light bulb come on above their head.” — Veronica Ferguson, Head of Regional Hub Operations Manager, Innovate UK ICURe

“Don’t put risk-averseness in front of innovation… In order to innovate, in order to keep moving, we’ve got to expand our boundaries… We’ve got to have the freedom to think, the freedom to challenge, the freedom to question and test. Those are the core fundamentals.” — Saeed Adam, Client Relations Manager, Executive Education, Alliance Manchester Business School

Inaugural Partnership Excellence Awards celebrate Manchester's collaborators

The University celebrated its most impactful collaborations on Wednesday evening at the inaugural Partnership Excellence Awards, held at the Whitworth Art Gallery as part of the Innovation Festival.

Organised by the Business Engagement and Knowledge Exchange team, directed by Dr Louise Bates, the awards drew more than 120 nominations. The joyous event brought 25 shortlisted partnerships together, adding an extra layer of connection between academics, industry, public sector and community collaborators.

Congratulations to everyone, especially each category winner:

• Regional Partnership – United Utilities with Prof. Tim Foster, Department of Civil Engineering and Management.
• Social Enterprise Partnership – One World Together with Prof. Nicola Banks, Global Development Institute, School of Environment, Education and Development.
• Strategic Alliance – Boots/No 7 with Prof. Michael Sherratt and Dr Abigail Langton, School of Biological Sciences.
• Small Business Partnership – Saraco Industries Ltd with Prof. Sarah Cartmell and Prof. Andrew McBain, Department of Materials and School of Biological Sciences.
• Research collaboration – FUJIFILM with Prof. Alan Dickson
• Academic Business Engagement and Knowledge Exchange Champion – Dr Thomas Bannan.
• Business Partner Rising Star – Dr Milo Harries.

The multidisciplinary partnership with Saraco Industries also won the Partnership of the Year Award. The relationship began with an award-winning Knowledge Exchange Partnership in 2021 that advanced materials science, biophysics and microbiology expertise into the business, enabling development of plastic-free clinical disinfection wipes that met stringent EN standards. The partnership deepened with further projects to on formulation development and collaboration on a clear, data-driven R&D roadmap. A second KTP is now developing bacteriophage-infused wipes for healthcare applications.

Professor John Holden, Vice-President for Civic Engagement and Innovation, said: “Partnership working depends on brave people.” The University applauds all the pioneers and risk-takers nominated for these awards.

Read the full  awards story story.

Announcements and developments

• On Tuesday evening, the University celebrated the completion of William Kay House, putting innovation at the heart of campus and creating a new home for Unit M.

Manchester 2035: voices from the Festival

“If by 2035 we can tangibly say that, through the things we’ve supported, we have improved quality of lives, through environmental and social impact, I would feel extremely proud.” — Catherine Headley, Chief Executive Officer, The University of Manchester Innovation Factory

“I’d love one of our spinouts to get to the scale where they’re employing 10,000 people. It’s about jobs, and the impact that has. For me, that’s what it’s all about.” — Nic Gowland, Portfolio Director, The University of Manchester Innovation Factory

“Next month we’ll use it in patients in hospital… This could actually save people’s lives.” — Professor Andy Weightman, Professor of Medical Mechatronics, The University of Manchester, on his hopes for the GiFT guidance system

Around the Festival

Beyond the core events, the Masood Entrepreneurship Centre hosted an Enterprise Educators UK exchange event on partner-enabled learning, bringing together academics, University colleagues, students and industry representatives to explore how industry partnerships can be built into enterprise and entrepreneurship education. At Contact Theatre, Creative Manchester’s Re-imagining Innovation: The Value of Creative Practices, part of The Cultural Welcome festival, explored how creative writers and artists approach ideas about innovation – a fitting companion to the theatre of Tiny Human Dramas at Manchester to Market.

Coming up

On Thursday 8 October, the Cambridge x Manchester Partnership Innovation Summit brings founders, researchers, investors and policymakers to Sister / Renold Building (8.45am–1.30pm), followed by the invite-only Investor Summit (1.30pm–5pm).

University founders then pitch at Manchester Venture Builder Demo Day 2026, also at Sister (5pm–8.30pm), while Holiferm’s co-founders share their story at The Founders Playbook, Manchester Museum (5pm–7pm).

Fringe events include:

• Growing Change: Social Innovation from the Ground Up
• Social Enterprise Innovation in Public Services
• Inclusive Innovation for People and Planet
• Beyond the Hearing Loop: How Auracast is Transforming Accessibility at Manchester.