Our Let’s Chat series shines the spotlight on our all-important stakeholders who form a vital part of Engine Shed. We sat down with Dagmar Steffens, Head of Innovation and Inward Investment at the West of England Combined Authority, to find out about its regional strategy and how this sits with the new government’s green paper, Invest 2035.
What do you do and what is your background?
I lead the Mayoral Combined Authority (MCA)’s Inward Investment and Innovation work. This involves leading a team of over 10 people to deliver inward investment activities for Bristol, Bath and North-East Somerset, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire. We put the innovation region’s opportunities on the map, in order to attract firms to locate here, for good. I also lead the MCA’s work around major innovation initiatives and investments, collaboratively with key stakeholders, and support development of our key high growth sector.
Before I joined the MCA, I was Director for Law at UWE’s Faculty of Business and Law, and before that I practised as a corporate solicitor in the City of London and in Bristol, with Slaughter and May and Osborne Clark respectively.
How does the Combined Authority support innovation in the West of England?
We are focussed on businesses in particular, from startups to major corporate innovators. Over and above the inward investment service, we offer programmes for business including opportunities to upskill workforce, cluster building, grants for business innovations, collaborative bidding for innovation funding, digital connectivity improvements, and startup and scaleup support. We align design of our programmes to our Plan for Innovation and Regional Strategic Framework, at the heart which is inclusive and green growth as an outcome, and a positive impact on our residents’ challenges in terms of jobs, environment, communities, and transport.
What opportunities do you see for innovative businesses in the region in light of the new UK government?
In the Government’s Invest 2035 green paper for the National Industrial Strategy, our outstanding regional innovation ecosystem has a real chance to shine. We have the growth-driving future-facing sectors that the Government is looking for, such as advanced engineering, clean energy, digital and deep tech, life sciences and creative tech. Alongside this, we are known for a strong focus on social value, a commitment to the environment and a skilled workforce. Our collaborative and entrepreneurial credentials translate into readiness to deliver for Government, and this will create the opportunity for innovative businesses to benefit from the forthcoming kick-off of the national industrial strategy.
The University of Bristol’s new Enterprise Campus opens in 2026, offering fresh opportunities for partnerships between researchers and industry. How can the new campus support the Combined Authority’s innovation challenges?
We are thrilled with the University of Bristol’s ambitions for their new Temple Quarter Enterprise Campus, and the exemplary way its anchor investment is driving Bristol Temple Quarter as a whole. Our Plan for Innovation sets out 5 Innovation Challenges where collaborative research and development will move the dial for transport, net zero, skills and communities. We already work closely with all of our regional universities against these challenges, be that as part of our Future Transport Zone, as strategic partners in research projects such as REWIRE (Semi-conductor Innovation and Knowledge Centre) or GW-Shift (Supercluster of Hydrogen Impact for Future Technologies). A major development like Temple Quarter focuses these collaboration opportunities further, in this case particularly around the role that digital and deep tech can play in solving current and future challenges. Quantum, AI, future telecoms and cell gene therapy are cutting-edge technologies driving solutions in areas relevant to our residents, such as health, transport, connectivity and Net Zero, and the campus will provide the forum in which people can come together to articulate challenges and find solutions. This Is why we are involved, not least through our £35M investment in the Quantum Technologies Innovation Centre, which will be located there.
How would you describe Engine Shed and its role in the regional ecosystem?
Engine Shed was and is a pioneer in the footsteps of which almost all collaborative workspaces and accelerators in the region have walked. It has been pivotal in the innovation cluster as a homely and enterprising place where innovators are at ease and can come together and grow in an edgy, but caring environment. Long may it continue!
Engine Shed and its partner, Quantum Technologies Innovation Centre (QTIC), are host to a series of quantum commercialisation events and visit programmes. What’s your outlook on the opportunities for quantum in the region?
Quantum is one of the big opportunities for the region. Bristol has contributed to the creation of one-third of the UK’s quantum start-ups, and this is only the beginning. Invest Bristol and Bath recently published its Quantum Technologies proposition for the region. We are putting ourselves forward as the place to be for quantum research as well as startups and scaleups. With our established innovation ecosystem, quantum (whilst a pioneering technology) will find much to benefit from in terms of commercialisation, business support and peer networks. Bring it on!
What are your proudest achievements to date at the Combined Authority?
The business recovery programmes we provided during the pandemic, some of which were led by my team. And possibly contributing to the understanding of innovation not only as a productivity and economic growth lever, but as an effective force for delivery of environmental and social impact in the daily work of a combined authority.
How can Engine Shed and Bristol Innovations help with future ambitions?
Provide the physical opportunity for people from different walks of life to come together and search for innovative entrepreneurial solutions. Maybe get more problem owners involved to share their real-world challenges, to ensure that the ever more technical solutions that are becoming available are crystal clear about what they are trying to solve, and thereby hit the spot and create the impact that is needed.
If you’ve enjoyed this Let’s Chat, take a look at the other interviews in our Let’s Chat series
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