WestTech London is highlighting the North Acton Square initiative, which is at the gateway to North Acton Tube station and within the fast-changing Old Oak and Park Royal Opportunity Area,  as an example of how culture, enterprise and community can drive local regeneration. The project is turning the square into a social hub where residents, workers and visitors can meet, collaborate and experience the creativity emerging across North Acton and Park Royal.

Commissioned by Ealing Council and supported by the Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation, Imperial College London, City & Docklands, ADD Properties and Downing, the work reflects a wider ambition to create a more welcoming and future-focused urban environment across the WestTech cluster.

A central feature of the redesign is a set of six repurposed shipping containers by architects Christian Senkpiel and Tomato Studio. Positioned along the northern edge of the square, they now house a curated mix of local businesses and creative talent. The result is a new platform for the entrepreneurs helping to power WestTech London’s wider innovation economy.

A doctoral researcher at the University of West London has taken the top prize in the institution’s inaugural Three Minute Thesis competition, underscoring the strength of emerging talent across the WestTech London innovation cluster. Cesar was named the Judges’ Choice Winner for his presentation, ’Virtual Reality for the Visually Impaired,’ earning a place in the national final streamed on 1 October and positioning his work within a rising cluster of research excellence in West London.

The new competition, launched in May 2025 by the UWL Graduate School, is part of a broader drive to elevate the university’s research profile and support the development of clear, compelling communication skills among early career researchers. Judges praised Cesar for translating cutting edge VR research into an accessible format for a non-specialist audience, marking a strong showing for UWL and contributing to the growing momentum behind WestTech London’s expanding deep tech and digital innovation communities.

The UWL 3MT final will return on 15 May 2026 at Weston Hall on the university’s Ealing Campus, with workshops and heats planned for the spring. Organisers expect even greater participation next year as UWL continues to build its contribution to WestTech London’s research landscape and support the next generation of innovators.

A doctoral researcher at the University of West London has taken the top prize in the institution’s inaugural Three Minute Thesis competition, underscoring the strength of emerging talent across the WestTech London innovation cluster. Cesar was named the Judges’ Choice Winner for his presentation, ’Virtual Reality for the Visually Impaired,’ earning a place in the national final streamed on 1 October and positioning his work within a rising cluster of research excellence in West London.

The new competition, launched in May 2025 by the UWL Graduate School, is part of a broader drive to elevate the university’s research profile and support the development of clear, compelling communication skills among early career researchers. Judges praised Cesar for translating cutting edge VR research into an accessible format for a non-specialist audience, marking a strong showing for UWL and contributing to the growing momentum behind WestTech London’s expanding deep tech and digital innovation communities.

The UWL 3MT final will return on 15 May 2026 at Weston Hall on the university’s Ealing Campus, with workshops and heats planned for the spring. Organisers expect even greater participation next year as UWL continues to build its contribution to WestTech London’s research landscape and support the next generation of innovators.

The Centre for London has published a new report, initiated by Ealing Council and supported by the West London Alliance and Imperial College London, which explores the opportunities to boost economic growth in West London, demonstrating the region’s extraordinary growth potential. As the industrial heartland of the capital, West London has the potential to become a powerful engine of growth for the city.  The region has a thriving consumer economy worth £70bn GVA, greater than Leeds and Manchester combined. And, between 2010-2024, the number of businesses has grown by 171% in West London, far higher than Central London’s growth of 50%.

Architectural firm Stanton Williams has been chosen to design the Fleming Initiative’s landmark Centre, a research and public engagement facility to be built on the canal-side as part of the growing Paddington Life Sciences campus.

Located at St Mary’s Hospital, where Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin, the flagship Fleming Centre will provide world-class spaces for research, collaboration and public engagement on antimicrobial resistance.

With cutting-edge laboratories, exhibition areas and collaboration zones, the Fleming Centre will strengthen Paddington Life Science’s role as a hub for health innovation in WestTech London.
The Fleming Centre is part of the wider Fleming Initiative, established jointly by Imperial College Healthcare and Imperial College London, bringing together researchers, clinicians, industry and policymakers, to find solutions to antimicrobial resistance at a global scale.

The White City Innovation District is to welcome a new life sciences and deep tech innovation centre thanks to a new partnership between Imperial College London and Bruntwood SciTech. The £200m investment from Bruntwood SciTech will create 200,000 sq ft of world-class labs and workspaces at Imperial’s White City Deep Tech Campus. The new facility will link Imperial’s world-leading academics and researchers with startups, scaleups and global businesses to speed up the translation of discovery into impact.

The centre will boost White City’s position as London’s leading deep tech cluster and strengthen the WestTech London ecosystem as a hub for frontier innovation. Backed by the UK’s largest property platform dedicated to the innovation economy, the project will grow London’s capacity for scaling science businesses, attract global investment and support the UK’s ambition to lead in science and technology.

The White City Innovation District has been confirmed as the home of the new Bezos Centre for Sustainable Protein, after securing a $30 million investment from the global initiative to develop next-generation food solutions. From cultivated meat to precision fermentation, the Bezos Centre for Sustainable Protein, located at Imperial’s White City Deep Tech Campus will accelerate alternatives to traditional protein sources, making them more nutritious, affordable and accessible while tackling climate change, food security and global health.

By connecting into WestTech London’s clusters, from life sciences in Paddington Life Sciences to deep tech in White City, the Centre will translate research into real-world impact and help create new jobs, industries and investment opportunities for the UK.

Imperial College London has made a £150m investment in Old Oak, securing the 9.6-acre Victoria Industrial Estate to significantly expand WestTech London’s capacity for deep tech innovation, advanced manufacturing and enterprise growth. Located in the London Borough of Ealing, close to the future Old Oak Common Station and neighbouring the White City Innovation District, Victoria Industrial Estate will be transformed by Imperial to create an advanced manufacturing and vital prototyping facility for scaling ventures in cleantech, biotech, medtech and other frontier industries.

Imperial’s vision for is Old Oak Innovation Cluster is to create a hub of innovation and entrepreneurship which will support innovators to stay and grow their businesses in London. The Cluster is located within the Old Oak and Park Royal Opportunity Area which spans land across three London boroughs – Ealing, Brent and Hammersmith & Fulham – and which is being brought forward by the Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation (OPDC), a Mayoral Development Corporation (MDC).

Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, Imperial Incubator and ARC West London have announced a new partnership to support innovators across AI, life sciences, robotics and digital industries.

Imperial and ARC have launched Leap: Powered by Imperial Incubator, a shared laboratory that gives scientists and founders space, equipment and expert support to explore early concepts. By creating a place where young ideas can be tested and refined, Leap enhances ARC West London’s expanding campus, which includes the Motherlabs accelerator and adds fresh momentum to WestTech London as a centre for health and deep tech innovation.

ARC has also formed a partnership with Paddington Life Sciences, led by Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, to strengthen local health innovation across the Charing Cross Hospital area and the wider region. The collaboration will make it easier for companies based at ARC West London to connect with NHS teams and work together on new technologies that can improve care.

 

Brunel University of London, one of the UK’s foremost technical universities, has received government backing to develop ultra-efficient and affordable zero-carbon engines powered by hydrogen. The initiative is supported by an initial £1.3 million award from the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)’s Prosperity Partnerships scheme, matched by industry investment from partners including engine specialists Advanced Innovative Engineering Ltd and MAHLE Powertrain Ltd.

The three-year initiative will design hydrogen rotary and piston engines – addressing the decarbonisation challenges that the heavy-duty trucks, marine vessels, aircraft, and machinery sectors face. Located at Brunel’s campus in Uxbridge, in the heart of WestTech London, the project draws on our strengths in advanced manufacturing, transport innovation, and frontier science.

London Tech Week was once again shining a spotlight on West London’s fast expanding innovation ecosystem, this time with Upstream London hosting a showcase that brought global tech leaders together. Sitting in the heart of WestTech London, the event highlighted how the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham is a gateway for first class research that is shaping the future of deep tech, life sciences and AI.

Local pupils were given the chance to meet business in a session exploring pathways to the industries that are building WestTech London and Upstream London, ensuring the benefits of innovation are felt not just by companies but by the communities surrounding them.

WestTech London and Upstream London are leading a new era of inclusive growth and forging new relationships between education, industry and the public sector.