Nexus in partnership to transform Old Medical School to Flagship Innovation Hub

3 mins

5 university stakeholders in Old Medical School partnership

Nexus has signed three landmark Memoranda of Understanding with Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, HiVE Places, and Leeds Beckett University for a partnership to transform the Grade II* listed Old Medical School at Leeds General Infirmary into a world-class flagship healthtech innovation hub.

The partnership will unite academia, the public sector, and industry to accelerate research, investment, and real-world impact across healthcare.

The Old Medical School is one of HiVE Places’ founding projects. HiVE Places is an independently operated platform focused on developing and operating innovation environments to accelerate economy growth, including healthtech innovation.

The purpose of the innovation hub in the Old Medical School will be to turn collaboration into an active, open community. This will bring entrepreneurs, investors and innovators into the mix from the outset, so clinicians, researchers and businesses can work side-by-side to develop and scale new health technologies that improve patient care and drive economic growth.

Each organisation in the partnership will play a key role. Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust will anchor the project from the clinical side, giving companies direct access to NHS expertise, patient insight, and live testing environments. Nexus will link occupiers with the University’s research base, specialist facilities, and entrepreneurial programmes, helping innovators to accelerate from an early-stage idea to a market-ready solution. Leeds Beckett will bring their applied research and enterprise strengths. HiVE Places will lead the redevelopment and long-term stewardship of the building, helping to connect occupiers with networks and mentorship required to scale.

Investing in regional growth

The new healthtech innovation hub will form the centrepiece of the Leeds Innovation Village, one of four neighbourhoods within the £2 billion Leeds Innovation Arc. Backed by the £160 million West Yorkshire Investment Zone, the Arc is the city’s most ambitious regeneration and innovation programme in a generation, linking its universities, hospitals and business base through new infrastructure and shared purpose.

Gareth Scargill, Director of Nexus, commented: “We’re incredibly excited to be partnering on this landmark project. By bringing our communities together under one shared vision, even more businesses will be able to access the world-class health innovation expertise at Nexus and across the University of Leeds. This collaboration strengthens the support available to innovators at every stage of their journey, helping them scale faster, make real-world impact, and contribute to a thriving healthtech ecosystem for the region.”

With the innovation hub as its focal point, Leeds is set to strengthen its position as the UK’s most connected health innovation ecosystem, drawing national and international investment and building on its reputation as a location where start-ups, scale-ups and global firms thrive side by side.