Imperial hosts life sciences roundtable shaping London’s talent strategy

The roundtable explored the skills landscape to shape the Inclusive Talent Strategy with a focus on the life sciences sector.

Imperial recently hosted a roundtable exploring ways to increase and diversify pathways into London’s economic growth sectors, convened on behalf of the Mayor of London, Sir Sadiq Khan, to inform the Inclusive Talent Strategy being developed as part of the London Growth Plan.

Leading representatives and employers from London’s life sciences sector contributed to the discussion as part of the wider development of the Inclusive Talent Strategy. The Strategy will address skills shortages in growth sectors, including life sciences, creative industries, technology, and construction, while creating talent pipelines for emerging sectors, including AI and green jobs.

The discussion addressed challenges in accessing talent, building up a more joined-up talent pipeline, supporting diverse and inclusive hiring and making the skills system more accessible, easier to navigate and responsive to employer needs.

WestTech London - powering investment, growth and jobs  

The Deputy Mayor of London for Business and Growth Howard Dawber highlighted the role of WestTech London, anchored by Imperial, as a powerful engine for investment, inclusive economic growth and job creation. WestTech London will build a globally competitive innovation ecosystem in West London, leveraging Imperial’s campuses and assets at South Kensington, Paddington Life Sciences, the White City Innovation District, and increasing activity at Old Oak and Park Royal.

Howard Dawber, Deputy Mayor of London for Business and Growth, said: "It was a pleasure to join leaders from the life sciences sector at Imperial College London as part of our Inclusive Talent Strategy consultation. London is already Europe’s leading city for life sciences and AI, but we’re determined to build on this with further innovation and research, driving inclusive growth not just in the West Tech corridor but across the capital and beyond. 

“We know that growth depends on people, which is why we’re developing a new Inclusive Talent Strategy in partnership with London Councils and BusinessLDN. We want to build an employer-led skills and careers offer that aligns education and training with industry demand, helps employers connect with talented Londoners, and supports more diverse and inclusive hiring across the capital. This will help every Londoner to find good work, progress their career, and in turn grow the economy.

“We’re building a system that’s faster, clearer and more impactful – and we’re doing it with employers, not just for them. Together, we can make London the talent capital for life sciences as we continue working to build a better, fairer, more prosperous London for everyone.” 

The roundtable featured representatives from life sciences companies based in the White City Innovation District, including Imperial student startups, Multus and Mytos, and Complement Therapeutics. Multus are developing affordable feedstock for cultivated meat production. The company has grown rapidly at Imperial’s White City Campus, with access to facilities and support including from Imperial’s Advanced Hackspace, Imperial Incubator and the Translation & Innovation Hub (I-HUB), creating jobs and growth. Mytos are developing automated ways to grow cells, saving time and reducing costs for teams working in drug development and cell therapy. 

The event was supported by Bloomberg Associates.

Supporting London’s life sciences sector

Imperial plays a crucial role in supporting the life sciences sector in London through world-leading teaching, research and support for entrepreneurial students and staff creating successful life science companies. Imperial’s campuses provide major clusters of life sciences expertise and help make London one of the leading centres for life sciences in the world.

The White City Innovation District, anchored by Imperial’s White City Deep Tech Campus and Hammersmith Hospital Campus, is emerging as Europe’s leading deep tech cluster in life sciences, AI, cleantech, MedTech, spacetech and security science.

Last November, Imperial announced a new partnership with Bruntwood SciTech, providing major life sciences capacity at White City. The partnership will lead to a new £200 million life sciences and deep tech innovation centre, delivering world-class labs and workspaces where deep tech startups, scaleups and global businesses can co-locate, collaborate, and grow.

Imperial are also core partners in the rapidly growing Paddington Life Sciences innovation cluster, centred around Imperial’s St Mary’s Hospital Campus. The cluster is driving forward health and wellbeing in areas such as infectious disease, immunology, acute medicine, diagnostics and biomarkers. It will also be home to the new Fleming Centre, a joint initiative between Imperial and the Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, tackling antimicrobial resistance around the world.