The new interventionism

HALF of the building outside Coventry, in the West Midlands, looks like an aircraft hangar, the other half like the offices of an investment bank or legal firm. Businessmen in pinstripes, young researchers in white coats, machinists in high-visibility jackets and bearded academics stride along the polished corridors. In the main halls they congregate around 3D printers, dummy manufacturing lines and laser-welding devices. Some machines are boarded off for confidential experiments by individual businesses.

The job of this “High-Value Manufacturing Catapult” (HVM) is to turn academic ideas into marketable products. Here, academics and entrepreneurs can test new methods and technologies before making large-scale investments. Individually, says Dick Elsy, the chief executive, they could not justify buying the kit needed to run such experiments. The catapult, where government, firms and universities share the costs, solves the problem.