Hosted by Professor Aled Jones, Fellow of King’s College and Director of the Institute of Global Sustainability at Anglia Ruskin University, the evening brought together voices from academia, business and government to share insight, debate strategy and deepen collaboration.

A shared ambition

The region’s potential is well established. With an anticipated £78 billion boost to economic output by 2035 and over 400,000 high-skilled jobs forecast by 2050, it represents one of the UK’s most significant opportunities for sustainable growth. The conversation began by acknowledging this ambition – and then turning swiftly to the practical steps required to meet it.

Guests discussed the baseline research already undertaken across three key sectors – technology, environmental, and creative – highlighting shared trends and cross-sector challenges. A common thread was the need to futureproof the workforce, not only through education and training, but also through a deeper understanding of evolving employer demand and industry transformation.

Key themes

Technology: The region’s recognised strengths in life sciences, AI, and robotics were celebrated, but there is also an acknowledgement that there is an urgent need for a coordinated workforce development strategy. Cambridge’s Life Sciences Cluster was cited as a model for targeted, data-led intervention, with a focus on the importance of cross-sector planning and talent pipeline alignment.

Creative industries: With creative employment in the UK rising rapidly – from 1.7 million in 2013 to 2.4 million in 2023 – discussion turned to the need to better integrate this dynamic sector into regional planning. Attendees noted the declining number of young people, particularly from disadvantaged backgrounds, pursuing creative education. Many called for stronger support for freelancers and micro-businesses and better recognition of the sector’s evolving skill needs.

Environmental sector: The green transition is driving new demand across the corridor, with a 50% increase in green job postings nationally over the past five years. While local initiatives such as Green Skills Bootcamps were applauded, participants highlighted patchy progress and the need for improved forecasting of green job roles and clearer employer engagement.

Collaboration over competition

A recurrent theme is the lack of coordination – between sectors, between institutions, and across local and national government. Many guests note the duplication of efforts and called for a unified, agile regional strategy that could monitor and respond to skills needs in real time. As Sarah Haywood, Managing Director of Advanced Oxford has said, the challenge lies not only in current workforce gaps, but also in anticipating future needs:

“What we have to think about is not just the skills that are being deployed at the moment but what are the skills likely to be needed in ten, fifteen, twenty years, and beyond.”

A Cambridge model for action

A key moment in the evening was a presentation from Anglia Ruskin University’s Professor Claire Pike, who shared an emerging skills model developed in Cambridge in collaboration with Cambridge University Health Partners and Innovate Cambridge. The model offers a practical, place-based approach to identifying and addressing workforce needs—combining real-time employer insight, education system alignment, and regional innovation priorities. It sparked wide interest from attendees as a potential template for wider adoption across the corridor.

Looking Ahead

As the evening drew to a close, there was a strong consensus: the Oxford to Cambridge Growth Corridor will only achieve its full potential if talent strategy is placed at its core. This means targeted investment, better data, and long-term planning—backed by meaningful collaboration between the public and private sectors.

There was a clear appetite to continue the conversation and build on the momentum of the roundtable. The event reaffirmed that if the region is to meet the ambition laid out for 2050, the work must begin now—with skills and talent leading the way.

At the event, the Arc Universities Group also saw a preview of a short film created from the recent Creating a Scientific Superpower conference earlier in the month – an event that brought together senior leaders including Lord Patrick Vallance to explore the long-term challenge of building a science and innovation-ready workforce. The film served as a powerful reminder of the scale of transformation required across the UK’s education and training systems to underpin national ambitions. It reinforced the message that while infrastructure and investment are vital, the true catalyst for sustained growth will be the people – trained, adaptable, and equipped for the jobs of the future.

“This government’s priority is economic growth, and the corridor is at the heart of that agenda.”

Matthew Pennycock, Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government).