CONTENTS
05 NEWS & EVENTS
News, events and happenings in the Cambridge business community
09 WHO YOU GONNA CALL?
Discover how our city’s brightest minds got called up to help in the Covid-19 crisis
For many, business ground to a halt during peak lockdown, but for a group of Cambridge companies, the race was on to solve a problem of national importance – which had the potential to save tens of thousands of lives. I’m talking, of course, about the UK government’s Ventilator Challenge, which called upon some of Cambridge’s brightest minds to collaborate on the creation of a ventilator for the NHS. For a medical device project of this nature, you’d usually be looking at a timescale of around three to five years, but this one had a deadline of just weeks. Find out how this (seemingly) mission impossible panned out with the inside story from TTP, one of the consultancies that worked on the project, in this issue. From AstraZeneca’s much-publicised work on the vaccine to a lesser- told story of three Cambridge housemates that created an online portal to circulate helpful coronavirus information to the public, read about how our city’s tech and science community stepped up in the fight against coronavirus from page 9. More than anything, what I’ve come across during the course of putting this issue together are stories of resilience, of staggering adaptability and, in some cases, unexpected silver linings, in what has been a seismic few months in the Cambridge Cluster. In some sectors, the pandemic has accelerated innovation, as Parminder Lally recounts in her article, Green Shoots, on page 17. In others, such as education, it’s necessitated huge steps forward in terms of technology understanding and integration, as we discover from speaking to local teachers on page 21. One thing’s for sure: this extraordinary crisis has changed the way we live and work, likely forever. The concept of the traditional office – and its inherent value – have been thrown into question as homeworking and social distancing have become the norm, so where does that leave shared workspaces and hubs, of which Cambridge has many? Mantle Business Centre’s CEO makes some predictions on page 27, while Allia Future Business Centre’s team consider why the office is more than just a space for desks on page 19. From social enterprise Form the Future’s transition to a digital world to Cambridge Network’s CEO on the remarkable resilience of the Cambridge Cluster, the pages ahead share how the businesses of Cambridge have been weathering this ongoing storm, and are looking ahead to a drastically different –but bright – future. I hope you enjoy the issue and keep an eye out for number 8, out at the end of October.
13 CHALLENGE ACCEPTED
TTP tells all about its role in the government’s Ventilator Challenge. 14 RESILIENCE & ADAPTABILITY Cambridge Network CEO John Gourd
explains the keys to the Cluster’s success.
17 GREEN SHOOTS
Patent attorneys Appleyard Lees on how the pandemic has accelerated innovation.
19 MORE THAN A SPACE FOR DESKS
Allia Future Business Centre takes a look at the role of the office in a post-pandemic world.
21 SCHOOLS GET SMART
L ockdown prompted huge leaps for tech in education, but local schools had a head start.
25 ADAPTING TO DIGITAL
Cambridge social venture Form the Future on weathering the pandemic.
27 PICKING UP THE MANTLE
Mantle Business Centre’s CEO reflects on an extraordinary few months and shares future plans.
28 BREAKING NEW GROUND
Lockdown got you craving a house move? Check out these incredible new homes.
34 OUT OF OFFICE
Inspiration for where to spend that precious annual leave. Up this month: Salthouse Hotel.
21
NICOLA FOLEY EDITOR IN CHIEF
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CONTRIBUTORS Sally Bain, Matthew Gooding, John Gourd, Parminder Lally, Laura Nicholls
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