The Oxford to Cambridge Growth Corridor is a nationally significant region—an innovation powerhouse with the potential to deliver an estimated £78 billion in additional economic growth by 2035, and create over 403,000 high-skilled jobs by 2050 (Public First, 2025).
However delivering on this promise will require more than world-class infrastructure and R&D. It will require a workforce equipped with the advanced skills needed to power the region’s knowledge-intensive economy.
That’s where the Arc Universities Group (AUG) comes in. Now operating as part of the Supercluster Board, AUG brings together the region’s leading universities to shape and deliver a bold vision for Skills and Talent. Backed by legacy funding from East West Rail (EWR)—a transformative transport scheme set to unlock connectivity across the Arc—AUG has been invited to lead this critical workstream to ensure the right people, with the right skills, are in the right places to drive long-term growth.
Why Skills and Talent?
As the region’s economy evolves, questions around workforce capability become increasingly urgent:
- How can we train, retrain and retain the talent needed to fuel innovation and enterprise?
- What will it take to meet the advanced skills demands of sectors such as life sciences, AI, sustainable energy, and the creative industries?
- How can we build an inclusive, lifelong learning ecosystem that delivers both prosperity and quality of life?
These questions are at the heart of AUG’s mission. With support from government—including the appointment of Lord Patrick Vallance as Ministerial Champion for the Arc in early 2025—the Skills and Talent programme is uniting education providers, employers, investors, and innovators to co-develop practical solutions to the region’s skills gap.
Our Focus Areas
Working across the Growth Corridor, the AUG is targeting the region’s most dynamic and strategically important clusters:
- Technological Innovation
Quantum, life sciences, space, AI, robotics, future mobility, and digital public services
Lead: Sarah Haywood, MD, Advanced Oxford
- Environmental Sustainability
Net zero, decarbonisation, sustainable construction, green energy and aviation
Lead: Professor Aled Jones, Director, Global Sustainability Institute, Anglia Ruskin University
- Creative and Cultural Industries
Gaming, film, digital arts, and the visitor economy, with major hubs like Pinewood and Create Cambridge
Lead: Dr Steve Partridge, Dean of Arts, University of Hertfordshire
These clusters reflect the region’s competitive strengths—and the areas where the skills challenge is most acute.
A Lifelong Learning Approach
Our work is grounded in a lifelong learning model, recognising that skills development doesn’t begin and end with formal education. From early learning to adult reskilling, from immersive digital training to ICT-enabled support systems, AUG is mapping out the infrastructure needed to make lifelong upskilling a reality.
This work will inform the creation of a Skills and Talent Taskforce for the Growth Corridor, supporting long-term coordination and delivery.
Building on strong foundations
The AUG’s programme consolidates and extends previous work—such as Innovate Cambridge and the Strategic Investment Plans developed by former Local Enterprise Partnerships—aligning efforts with the Government’s new industrial strategy and national skills priorities.
Ultimately, the initiative will support the creation of a Skills and Talent Taskforce for the Growth Corridor, providing a coordinated and evidence-led platform for action. With Lord Patrick Vallance appointed as Ministerial Champion in early 2025, and with national government support, this is a pivotal moment to shape a skills-led growth agenda for the region.
