Speakers
Panel Discussion
The UK's most significant innovation clusters are no longer operating in isolation. The Oxford-Cambridge Growth Corridor, The Cambridge x Manchester Partnership, and Innovate Cambridge, are each being actively positioned as major assets to the future of innovation in the UK - and together they sit within a broader landscape of national investment in AI, life sciences, materials science, advanced manufacturing, creative industries, quantum, climate tech, and semiconductors.
Oxford, Cambridge, and Manchester represent a concentration of capability that is increasingly central to the UK's economic and technological strategy - not as a single homogeneous cluster, but as three distinct ecosystems whose different strengths, sectors, and communities create opportunities that no one city could offer alone.
This panel brings together leaders from across that landscape to explore what joined-up working actually delivers: for the UK's GDP, for its global competitiveness, and for the sectors shaping the next decade. Panellists will examine how each location's uniqueness - from collective academic research strengths from each cities universities, to Manchester's industrial depth and inclusive growth model, to Oxford's translational science base, to Cambridge's deep tech and venture ecosystem - can unlock opportunities that only emerge through connection.
The session will address three core questions: What does inter-city collaboration contribute to the UK's national tech strategy and economic output? How do cross-city programmes and partnerships create value that standalone clusters cannot - and what is the honest answer on where that value is still to be proven? And what should international partners and investors understand about how these collaborations work, and what it would actually take to commit capital to them?
Faye began her career in global technology firms including PIPEX and IBM, progressing through senior marketing and portfolio leadership roles across Europe and international markets.
In 2014, Faye founded cofinitive, an award-winning innovation communications consultancy supporting research-led and high-growth technology businesses. Over more than a decade, she built the firm into a recognised industry leader before its acquisition in 2025. She also established the #21toWatch Awards, one of the East of England’s most prominent platforms celebrating emerging innovation talent.
A recognised contributor to the Cambridge innovation cluster, Faye mentors founders through university entrepreneurship programmes including impulse, serves as Entrepreneur in Residence at Anglia Ruskin University, and co-hosts the Cambridge Tech Podcast. She is regularly named among the UK’s most influential women in technology and is driven by a belief in visibility, collaboration, and turning strategy into action.
Faye leads the delivery The Cambridge x Manchester Partnership - a flagship cross-city collaboration designed to strengthen the UK’s innovation economy. Faye also serves as Chair of the Cambridgeshire Chamber of Commerce, where she provides strategic leadership to support regional competitiveness, skills development, and technology-led growth.