CPI Receives 14.4 Million Pound Investment into Formulation Innovation Center

The North East Local Enterprise Partnership has announced an investment of £7.4m into The Centre for Process Innovation (CPI) to develop a new innovation center focused on formulated products. The investment will be matched with £7m from industry.

Complex formulated products are abundant in everyday and industrial life; examples include cosmetic creams and gels, detergent powders and liquids, paints, coatings, inks, adhesives and lubricants and underpin many sectors in the UK economy. The new center will focus specifically on the areas of radical product and process design – two of the major strategic themes identified by UK industry in a 2013 consultation report.
The new center will be located in Co. Durham and will provide facilities and expertise to help companies to develop, prove, prototype and scale up new formulated products. The investment will enable companies to tap into this high growth, highly profitable global market.
The new facility will form part of the National Formulation Centre which is currently being developed by the Knowledge Transfer Network and CPI, and aims to create a hub that co-ordinates national activity and through which companies across the UK can gain access to the strategic development program.

The UK formulation industry is underpinned by a strong academic and industrial infrastructure involving particle design and colloid science, modelling and simulation, bespoke measurement and high-throughput automation. The center will build on CPI’s existing expertise in both formulated product and process design, and will collaborate closely with universities and companies in the North East region and beyond.

“The new facility will support the development of new innovative formulated products and supporting novel manufacturing routes where applicable,” Nigel Perry, CEO of CPI, said. “We will provide both large and small companies with open access facilities to optimise their formulated products and prove their benefits in applications, therefore reducing risks associated with product development. We will build on the UK’s competencies in formulations to position ourselves as world leading.”
The announcement comes as part of a £379m investment into the region from the Government’s flagship Local Growth Fund, which is designed to create jobs and ensure that every part of the country shares in economic growth. Speaking about the fund, Prime Minister David Cameron said, “This historic deal means real change for the North East, with plans to attract new business to the area, drive innovation and invest in key sectors such as advanced manufacturing.”

The investment was announced following publication of the North East LEP’s Strategic Economic Plan, “More and Better Jobs,” which drew on the evidence in the North East Independent Economic Review. The key driver of the review is the need to generate more than 60,000 new private sector jobs in the North East to create a balanced and sustainable economy.