Manchester Technology Quarter

Manchester Technology Quarter (MTQ)

MTQ is a concept developed to describe the exciting blend of research, Incubation and commercial activity that exists in a very important quadrant within the University of Manchester campus.

In particular, The Manchester Incubator and the Core Technology Facility will sit at the heartbeat of an exciting cluster that will generate ideas and intellectual property(primarily emanating from the Faculties of Life Sciences and Medicine, but also from Engineering , physics and Sciences) that can be harnessed within these facilities and subsequently commercialised. Within close proximity is the Central Manchester Health Trust, with its array of clinics and research centres in Medicine. Adjacent to this exciting development is the North West Genetic Knowledge Park. This is creating an exciting Bioptechnology and Hi-Tech cluster right in the heart of the University of Manchester campus.

There is no doubt that the current Incubator and the Core Technology Facility will continue to play an important role in harnessing these activities.

Incubator Facilities

A business incubator is viewed as an important intermediary in commercialisation, serving as a nurturing halfway house. Incubators permit company founders to conserve cash and accelerate the commercialisation of their technology by providing interim management, access to professional advisers, and shared but secure laboratory facilities. Incubator staff can help with branding the company and increasing the confidence of potential investors that they are dealing with a professional commercial entity.

There are some significant regional strategic projects in the Biotechnology quarter that are closely located to the Biotechnology Incubator and Core Technology Facility, including the NOWGEN project Northwest Genetics Knowledge park, the Innovation management team of Trustech, acting on behalf of the Manchester Hospital Trust (www.trustech.org.uk). Also, the Incubator Building is currently the home of the UK Biobank .

The University of Manchester’s Life Science and Medicine Faculties are procimally located in the Quarter (www.manchester.ac.uk).

The Manchester Incubator Building provides tailored laboratory space and a support infrastructure for biotechnology start-up companies, and is viewed as a major component of the growing biotechnology cluster in the North West.

Since it was opened 4 years ago, the Incubator has been home to 9 biotechnology companies (3 of whom have already successfully graduated), created 250 jobs, and brought in more than £30 million in venture capital to Manchester. It recently won a European award for its achievements in developing young biotech companies.

Following the rapid success of the current biotechnology incubator, a second building is under construction. The new building, the Core Technology Facility (CTF) will provide additional incubation and grow-on space, in a more flexible format, for the growing number of biotech and hi-tech companies in the region