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The UK’s new prime minister has put local economic development at the heart of government – and highlighted how a triple helix model could help drive better collaboration across the public, private and third sectors. This article explores the triple helix model and how it has been deployed so far
In his first speech in the House of Commons as prime minister, Andy Burnham set out the details of his plans to rewire how the UK government works.
Burnham is prioritising devolution of powers across the country in an effort to boost regional and local governments, and with the UK cabinet having published a joint statement on the plans, he told MPs that he would be “relentless in giving people and places what they were promised 10 years ago: ownership and control”.
Burnham said such an approach would boost growth in the UK, and that it had been a lesson from his decade as Greater Manchester mayor.
“It has given me… a clear theory of growth, and I will apply it to all parts of the UK, learning from what has been achieved in Greater Manchester,” he said.
“It took the devolution of power out of this place [Westminster] to allow our big city regions the ability to set new ambitions for themselves.
“Now I want every single place across our regions and nations to be able to do the same, creating the conditions for good growth in every postcode.”
Burnham reiterated that the driving force behind all of this will be Number 10 North – a new office in Manchester which is part of a series of machinery of government changes Burnham made by on his first day in office.
It will be tasked with “rebuilding of resilience in our communities and the re-industrialisation of our regions”, Burnham said. “Its creation was one of the first acts of this administration and I believe that in time it will be seen as one of its most significant.”
For this plan to work, a more intentional approach to the reindustrialisation of Britain is required, Burnham said, and his government would back local industrial strategies, and would both identify priority sectors and develop a triple helix approach to economic development “by entwining business, academia and government behind the plan”.
Burnham’s mention of the triple helix model promoted some online discussion, with one article calling it “bizarre, meaningless guff”. But it is actually a term that attempts to capture, as Burnham said, the long-term benefits of economic innovation and invention.
Read more: What do UK prime minister Andy Burnham’s efforts to rewire the state mean for the civil service?
What is the triple helix model?
The triple helix is a framework that describes how universities (academia), industry, and government interact to drive innovation and economic growth. It is focused on bringing together university-industry partnerships, and building clusters of start-ups and scaleups that can boost local economic development.
The triple helix model is at the heart of existing UK innovation efforts. The Local Innovation Partnerships Fund (LIPF) – which is led by UK Research and Innovation – runs from 2026 to 2031 and earmarks a minimum of £30m (US$41m) in government funding for 10 UK regions, as well as a competitive funding opportunity of up to £20m (US$27m) for high-potential innovation clusters in other areas of the country.
Through co-creation with UK Research and Innovation, partners will work to identify and assemble a “compelling” portfolio of activities that draw upon local research and innovation strengths. The innovation clusters must show potential to help solve the country’s “biggest challenges” and to “unlock discoveries that improve people’s lives”, the government said, which has also designed the LIPF to give local leaders “skin in the game”.
At the heart of the LIPF is the triple helix model, in which the expertise and perspectives of three vital players – local government, industry and academia – are brought together to harness the strengths of regional sectors, and to accelerate scientific and technological breakthroughs to market.
In a partner content article for Global Government Forum, Leo Boe, innovation and investment strategy expert at PA Consulting, said it is not unusual for a degree of collaboration to be seen between two strands of the triple helix model – but rarely three.
But, he adds, if two is the start, then three is the spark. “The LIPF stands out because it incentivises all three to work together. And that has great potential to increase knowledge exchange, create a consortia to leverage different types of funding and greater investment, accelerate the route from initial research to commercialisation, grow sovereign capability, and ultimately deliver regional economic growth and international competitiveness,” he explains.
However, Boe warns that the triple helix model “only works” when it’s treated like an operating model, “not just a label slapped on a project that has no real intention behind it”.
Read more: Power in numbers: driving innovation and growth through the ‘triple helix model’
GGF study identifies success factors for cross-sector collaboration
Global Government Forum research has also examined the success factors that can ensure that bringing together business, academia, and government to drive economic growth can succeed.
The Delivering Economic Growth in Partnership study, undertaken with GGF knowledge partner The Whitehall and Industry Group, identifies the critical factors that enable cross-sector partnerships between government, business, academia, and civil society to deliver real economic impact.
Based on interviews with government leaders in Australia, Canada, Estonia, Finland, France and Singapore, the study explores how to make these collaborations succeed and avoid common pitfalls. It also looks at what the UK government can learn and adapt from this in growing the economy.
As one interviewee for the study put it: “I would say that we cannot survive in a future without very deep cross-sectoral cooperation between different kinds of partners.”
Enabling conditions
The report identifies critical success factors, including:
- Defining and agreeing the shared problem early, so that all partners are working towards the same goal
- Embedding trust and transparency through clear governance, with roles and accountabilities visible to all
- Investing in people and resources to make collaboration credible and sustainable
- Measuring progress jointly, using data and risk monitoring to adapt quickly when challenges emerge
Sarah Wray, research editor at Global Government Forum and author of the report, said: “Taking practical steps to embed these enabling conditions will turn cross-sector collaboration from rhetoric into results. When trust, governance, resources and capability are in place, governments, businesses, academia, and civil society can combine their strengths to deliver outcomes that are not only faster, but also more resilient and widely supported.”
Download the report: Delivering Economic Growth in Partnership