The UK Science Park Association (UKSPA) has appointed two senior figures from the sector to interim leadership roles as it moves to implement its newly launched strategy for strengthening the UK’s science parks and innovation clusters.
Roz Bird, CEO of Anglia Innovation Partnership LLP — the campus management company for Norwich Research Park — has taken on the role of Interim Chair. Jane Hutchins, Director of Cambridge Science Park, has been named Interim Vice Chair. The pair will work alongside UKSPA CEO Ruth Hall and the wider Board to drive forward the association’s priorities: building a stronger collective voice for science parks and innovation clusters, and supporting innovation-led economic growth across the UK.
Bird’s connection to UKSPA dates back to the early 2000s, when she worked for the organisation as a Business Development Manager at the start of her science park career. She subsequently held senior leadership positions at Granta Park and Silverstone Park, where she helped launch the Silverstone Technology Cluster and helped originate the concept of the Oxford-Cambridge “supercluster.” Since joining Norwich Research Park in 2022, she has focused on attracting and retaining innovative agri-food and health businesses, including work on the campus’s first privately funded speculative lab and office development. She joined the UKSPA Board in 2023 and currently coordinates Women in IASP (International Association of Science Parks), alongside a seat on UK Research and Innovation’s Local Innovation Partnership Fund national panel.
Hutchins brings more than 20 years of experience managing science parks and supporting business growth, with an earlier career spanning B2B sales, financial regulation and policy work. She moved from Southampton to Cambridge Science Park in 2022 and now regularly advises governments, investors and developers in the UK and abroad on lessons drawn from the UK innovation ecosystem.
Both appointees pointed to collaboration as central to the role ahead. Bird said UKSPA’s membership base offers a valuable “wealth of knowledge and good practice” that can support existing activity and inspire the next generation of practitioners, while Hutchins emphasised the value of shared learning across the network and stronger links between innovation places and their surrounding communities.
The appointments follow UKSPA’s Summer Conference, where the association’s new strategy — developed in consultation with its members — was formally launched.
Source: UKSPA (ukspa.org.uk)