KQ Liverpool marks a decade of impact with ten for ten

Knowledge Quarter Liverpool has announced a series of ten major events and initiatives to mark its tenth anniversary this year.

The organisation was founded in October 2016 with the aim of harnessing the power of Liverpool’s knowledge economy with the strength of the city’s innovation facilities and in doing so create a world-class destination for science, education, technology and culture.

Its founding members – the University of Liverpool, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (now NHS University Hospitals of Liverpool Group) and Liverpool City Council envisaged a focal point for greater collaboration, inclusive growth and investment. They were joined in 2020 by Bruntwood SciTech, with whom they also created a spin-out development company, Sciontec, which nowadays owns and operates the highly successful Liverpool Science Park and CENTRAL TECH buildings, all inclusive space at The Spine and is developing the £67m HEMISPHERE labs building at Paddington Village.

Over the past 10 years, KQ Liverpool has grown significantly marking a number of key milestones along the way, including becoming a founding member of the UK Innovation Districts Group (UKIDG) and a member of the Global Institute on Innovation Districts (GIID). In 2019 it attracted the Royal College of Physicians to launch its Northern HQ at The Spine in Paddington Village, and last year it helped Liverpool to rank as the third most innovative city in Europe, in the 2026 European Capital of Innovation Awards.

Today, in delivering its 2040 Vision, the organisation directs one of the UK’s most successful innovation districts, home to more than 400 businesses employing more than 15,000 people, and welcomes more than 60,000 students. It also offers a range of business support and innovation skills programmes for young people across the city region and its reputation is recognised regionally and nationally.

Its KQ Futures inclusive innovation programme reaches hundreds of students each year from primary schools through to sixth forms, and it recently created The Animates: Learning in Liverpool book, introducing innovation to young children, distributed to 433 primary schools across LCR. To date, KQ Liverpool and its team has won 15 industry awards in recognition of its placemaking and social value achievements.

Among the planned activities for its tenth year will be a long-distance, endurance fundraising challenge taken on by its CEO, Colin Sinclair, raising money for three local charities - Clatterbridge Cancer Charity, The Brain Charity and Alfie’s Squad - all of whom offer specific support directed at improving health and societal outcomes and raising aspirations for children and young people, aligned with KQ Liverpool’s values. This follows hot on the heels of Colin’s previous fundraising event in September 2025, when he ran a double-marathon across the Liverpool City Region in a day, raising nearly £17,000 for six charities working with children and young people here in Liverpool.

Other ‘ten for ten’ events include the laying of a time capsule capturing the essence of today’s technology and future aspirations, to be opened in 2040, in addition to an art competition in association with dot-art Schools, inviting local secondary school pupils to create original artwork within the theme of ‘Life Under the Microscope’.

The KQ Liverpool team is also planning a community festival recognising the innovation district’s unique location adjacent to residential communities and the importance of their role in making the area so successful.

Capitalising on Liverpool's placing third in the European Capital of Innovation Awards last year, KQ Liverpool plans to engage with the iCapital alumni network and grow its international partnerships, while sharing best practice and contributing to thought leadership with fellow innovation districts. This activity will be accompanied by a refreshed brand identity and special edition logo. Full details of all activities will be released in the near future.

Cllr Liam Robinson, Leader of Liverpool City Council and Cabinet Member for Innovation at the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, said:

“KQ Liverpool has made a significant contribution to the City Region over the last decade. We look forward to continue working together to achieve our shared ambition to grow skills, investment and jobs in the Liverpool City Region.”

Emily Robson, assistant chief executive of KQ Liverpool, said:

“Reaching our tenth anniversary is a really proud moment for us, not simply as an opportunity to look back over what we’ve achieved to date, but because of the exciting platform we now have for the next decade of our growth as an innovation district.

“Just as in the beginning, we remain committed to driving inclusive innovation and over the recent years we’ve really been able to scale up our delivery to achieve that, not least through the LCR Innovation Zone funded KQ Futures programme, working with hundreds of school children each year.

“Our aspiration over the next 12 months is to mark our tenth anniversary in ten ways and use it as a catalyst to drive forward sustainable, positive change for our communities over the next ten years.”

Colin Sinclair, who has led KQ Liverpool as chief executive since its inception, said:

“Reaching this ten year milestone is a proud moment for us but we know there is still so much to do if we are to give every young person the best opportunity in life through our endeavours.

“By successfully positioning KQ Liverpool as a world-leading innovation district, within an equally ambitious City Region, we have set the foundations in place for sustained economic growth, through the innovation ecosystem we have created and by attracting inward investment. All pointing to a bright future founded on fairness, inclusion and equality and a future that’s built on creativity and innovation. That’s our 2040 Vision and that’s what as a team we are striving to achieve.”