Boat Race 2025: Avast! There is life outside of London
The Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race should put a spotlight on the regions, whose businesses need support now more than ever, writes David Wrench
This weekend’s almost 200-year-old event, the Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race, rightly puts the spotlight on the sporting prowess of the two cities for the day. But it should also serve as a powerful reminder of the importance of championing regional innovation – and the businesses making this happen.
Tariffs will hurt regional businesses the most
The global tariffs threat that’s playing out right now risks disproportionately affecting regional businesses, much more so than those in London, as they are typically more product and manufacturing-centric than the largely service-centric firms in the capital. Now, more than ever, we must ensure that our smaller, regional businesses are being supported with the finance and support that they need to ride out potentially turbulent times ahead.
And it’s not only tariffs. Championing regional businesses is vital to the government’s levelling-up agenda and will help ensure these businesses are backed with the finance, investment, skills and supply chain support that they need. But this requires investment from both government and private investors.
The Oxford-Cambridge Growth Corridor is a great example of a promising government initiative that, if delivered as intended, can transform critical areas outside of London. The ‘corridor’ is home to some of the best artificial intelligence, life sciences and biotech companies in the world – bringing significant talent and global investment right here in the UK. The recently announced Universal Studios theme park, due to open in just five years time in Bedfordshire, will be another huge asset for the corridor and the trickle down effect will give a meaningful boost to small businesses in the local area.
As a country, we need to move away from reliance on London for driving economic growth. We also need to better support our small businesses to ensure the UK remains the best place for them to be as they scale, to stop our most promising startups looking to Europe or the US for scaleup support or turning to acquisition as the only viable growth path.
Private investors can play a crucial role here – and not just from a funding perspective. There are fantastic regional investment networks – such as regional angel investor networks and British Business Bank-backed regional funds – but growing businesses also urgently need support in areas like exporting, hiring, mentoring, go-to-market advice and through non-executive director access.
How ‘the regions’ support the UK economy
SMEs are the lifeblood of the UK economy and are increasingly based outside of London. Partly a post-pandemic shift and partly the cost-of-living in the capital, a growing number of entrepreneurs are choosing to set up shop in smaller towns and cities across the UK. Innovation is thriving nationwide, with hotspots like Oxford, Cambridge, Bristol, Edinburgh and Manchester particularly leading the way (according to Barclays Eagle Labs’ Tech in the UK 2024 report, which highlights the high-growth companies outside of London).
Between them, Oxford and Cambridge contribute around seven per cent of the UK’s GDP. Both are renowned for successfully launching spinout businesses and attracting investment based on university IP, with the University of Oxford the UK’s leading institution for filing European patent applications.
Bristol, and the South West more broadly, has a thriving tech and cyber scene. Edinburgh, and Scotland in general, is a major hub for fintech as well as a growing climate tech and environmental services ecosystem. Meanwhile, Manchester and the wider Northern Powerhouse area have produced some of the country’s most promising businesses in advanced manufacturing, medtech and digital.
So, while Boat Race fans flock to the river on Sunday to soak up the atmosphere, let’s also take the opportunity to spotlight the need to support small, regional businesses. With sustained support and investment, there will be a positive flywheel effect; encouraging even more innovation and even more jobs created across the UK.
David Wrench is partner and head of new investments, south, at YFM Equity Partners