Faye Holland will lead the groundbreaking partnership between two of the UK\u2019s leading innovation cities as the newly-appointed Cambridge x Manchester Partnership Director.<\/p>\n
Faye brings extensive experience in the Cambridge innovation cluster to the role, having worked across communications consultancy, innovation and economic development over the course of her career.<\/p>\n
She founded and directed cofinitive \u2013 a communication consultancy at the forefront of innovation \u2013 for a decade before selling and exiting the business at the end of 2025.<\/p>\n
Faye is currently Chair of the Cambridgeshire Chamber of Commerce and has previously served as Business Board Member for the Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority and as a Board Member and key contributor in other organisations involved in technology innovation and good growth.<\/p>\n
Faye said of her appointment: \u201cI\u2019m thrilled to be leading this partnership at a time when collaboration across the UK\u2019s innovation ecosystems has never been more important.<\/p>\n
\u201cCambridge and Greater Manchester are two of the UK\u2019s most dynamic innovation ecosystems and by working together we can deliver far greater impact than either could alone. I\u2019m excited to work with partners across both cities to move quickly and define a model for collaboration that could be replicated across the UK.\u201d<\/p>\n
Faye\u2019s appointment follows on from the launch<\/a> of the partnership last year and the inaugural board meetings<\/a> held in Manchester in February 2026.<\/p>\n Driven by the cities\u2019 respective universities and their innovation ecosystem organisations\u00a0Unit M<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Innovate Cambridge<\/a>, the partnership aims to boost UK\u00a0economic\u00a0growth and advance inclusive innovation, while supporting the delivery of industrial strategy and local growth plans.\u00a0<\/p>\n Professor Duncan Ivison, President & Vice-Chancellor of The University of Manchester, said: \u201cInnovation is at the heart\u00a0of our Manchester 2035 strategy\u00a0and our\u00a0sector-first collaboration with Cambridge\u00a0plays a key role in this.\u00a0We are working together\u00a0and using our respective strengths\u00a0to create a\u00a0thriving\u00a0cross-city innovation network,\u00a0helping to grow investment and deliver inclusive growth.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI am\u00a0so\u00a0pleased to welcome Faye\u00a0at such an exciting time for the partnership,\u00a0and she\u00a0joins us following\u00a0an\u00a0extensive\u00a0career\u00a0within\u00a0the Cambridge innovation cluster.\u00a0The partnership\u00a0is a\u00a0fantastic\u00a0example of how universities can use their resources to\u00a0contribute significantly\u00a0to\u00a0the economy, and\u00a0we are all\u00a0ready\u00a0to\u00a0work with Faye\u00a0to\u00a0drive it forward.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Professor Deborah Prentice, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge commented: \u201cI am delighted to welcome Faye Holland as the new Director of the Cambridge x Manchester Partnership. Faye brings an exceptional understanding of the Cambridge innovation ecosystem, alongside a proven experience of convening organisations, championing talent, and strengthening regional collaboration. Her appointment marks an exciting next chapter for this strategic partnership between two great cities and universities.\u201d<\/p>\n As Director, Faye will spend time in Cambridge and Manchester and will be integral to both the Unit M and Innovate Cambridge leadership teams, and she will drive the partnership forward as it strives to pioneer a new model of place-to-place collaboration.<\/p>\n ‘;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Faye Holland will lead the groundbreaking partnership between two of the UK\u2019s leading innovation cities as the newly-appointed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":822906,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[8813],"tags":[748,51,393,4884,13,2465,53440,53441,16,220110,15,29191,71475],"class_list":["post-822905","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-manchester","tag-britain","tag-business","tag-england","tag-great-britain","tag-headlines","tag-manchester","tag-top-banner","tag-topbanner","tag-uk","tag-unit-m","tag-united-kingdom","tag-university-of-manchester","tag-university-news"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116221634645085814","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/822905","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=822905"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/822905\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/822906"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=822905"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=822905"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=822905"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}