Jun 19, 2018

20:38 EDT 18 Jun 2018 | BioNow The Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA) is delighted to announce that two Northwest cluster organisations have received national recognition at the UK's first-ever "Cluster Marks" ceremony held in London last night.After taking the regional titles earlier in the year, both Bionow, and the North West Aerospace Alliance (NWAA) have gone on to achieve national success. The "Cluster Mark" is a new award recognising the best of Britain's manufacturing clusters and their valuable contribution to the country's economic growth. The Cluster Mark was established to raise the profile of various UK manufacturers involved in cluster activity and to help promote their local strengths internationally. The awards also aim to boost the reputation of the many manufacturing sector as a whole and highlight its importance to the British economy. Clusters are regional concentrations of related companies and organisations that compete, but also collaborate to share knowledge, increase innovation and drive growth within the sector. Bionow is the cluster support group funded by the NWDA for the region's biomedical cluster, which incorporates companies from the biotechnology , pharmaceutical and healthcare industry, while the North West Aerospace Alliance, run the NWDA funded Aerospace Supply Chain Excellence programme in the region. Steven Broomhead, Chief Executive of the NWDA, said:  "Both Bionow and the North West Aerospace Alliance are leaders in their field, driven by passionate and knowledgeable individuals who demonstrate a keen awareness of their given sectors. "The NWDA is proud of the region's ability to work in partnership and to create modern sectors in the region that are innovative, enterprising and highly skilled. "With two of the four awards going to Northwest Sector Organisations, it is with great pleasure that I congratulate all involved." The winners were chosen by an Independent Judging Panel, chaired by Minister for Business, Ian Lucas and made up of representatives from industry and academia. Ian Lucas said: "Historically, manufacturing has helped to shape the identity of communities up and down the country and it is still vital to our economy today, accounting for 12.4 per cent of GDP. But in order to succeed globally in a low carbon future, the sector must keep evolving and innovating. This is where collaboration can make a huge difference. "That is why the Government set up the Cluster Mark Awards - to encourage the growth of British clusters and to celebrate the benefits they bring. "All over the UK, clusters are taking root across a diverse range of industries, as the list of nominees demonstrates. The whole panel were struck by the high standard of the entries and I would like to say a huge congratulations to each of the winners." Dr Geoff Davison, Director of Bionow and Biomedical Sector Head at NWDA said: "The Bionow team is immensely proud to receive this award which recognises the great work which the current and previous Bionow teams have delivered on behalf of the biomedical companies within the Northwest. "It is also recognition of the foresight of NWDA in creating the cluster programme within the region and the positive impact which this has had upon the biomedical cluster and the Northwest economy. It is important that this investment continues and that the UK continues to foster the development of knowledge-intensive industries in order to drive future economic growth. "Martin Wright, chief executive of the NWAA, said: "On behalf of the NWAA, I would like to express my thanks to all our staff, partner companies and industry bodies who continue to support us. "This award recognises the importance of the work being conducted in the advanced manufacturing sector in the North West and we take that as a huge compliment."