Keele University has announced its masterplan for Keele Innovation District, which it says will be a nationally significant hub for innovation, and a catalyst for major growth throughout the region. Credit: Keele University

Keele launches ‘innovation district’ expansion plans

21 May 2026 09:02 Mike Sheridan Comments (0)

A Staffordshire university launched high-level plans to expand its Science and Innovation campus into a mixed-use research park with more than 1m sq ft of employment space this week.

Keele University, near Newcastle-under-Lyme, says its planned Keele Innovation District will contribute £1bn to the local economy once completed, as it unveiled a masterplan for the site to delegates at UKREiiF in Leeds.

The concept was first mooted last year, with the university aiming to bring together businesses with Keele’s education and research facilities on a single site.

Early plans, backed by Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council, Stoke-on-Trent City Council, and Staffordshire County Council, show larger format offices alongside residential and industrial uses.

Professor Kevin Shakesheff, Vice-Chancellor of Keele University, said the project would be an example of how academia and industry could “co-exist for mutual benefits”.

“Businesses can access the latest academic research, innovations, and a pipeline of graduate talent, while our researchers and students can work with industry leaders at the top of their fields on the problems that matter most to them,” he said.

“With Keele Innovation District this relationship will be even more significant and coupled with the benefits for the wider region this has the potential to be a truly transformative project. I am pleased that our local authority partners share this optimism and look forward to working with them to bring this project to fruition over the years ahead.”