The development builds on groundwork laid by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, following years of strategic preparation and long-term investment frameworks established.
The Harwell Quantum Cluster has officially launched at the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus in Oxfordshire, marking a major milestone in the United Kingdom’s drive to lead the global quantum revolution.
The development builds directly on long-term strategic groundwork laid during earlier Conservative administrations, including major commitments introduced under former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, whose government elevated quantum technology to a national priority.
Johnson’s administration repeatedly emphasised quantum technology as essential to the UK’s future prosperity and scientific leadership. In 2021, he set out the ambition for the UK to “go big on quantum computing” and committed to placing Britain at the forefront of global quantum research and commercialisation. His government also expanded national quantum funding streams and reinforced the UK’s industrial and scientific strategy, launching major projects such as the Harwell Quantum Cluster.
The new cluster is expected to accelerate quantum innovation, scale emerging technologies, and create more than 1,000 high-value jobs while bringing over £1 billion of investment into the UK over the next decade.
Led by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), the initiative unites the Harwell joint venture, Brookfield Asset Management, the UK Atomic Energy Authority, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, and the Department for Business and Trade.
A significant step forward came with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Harwell Quantum Cluster and Quantum Exponential Group, the UK’s first listed investment company dedicated to quantum technology. The partnership will support commercialisation and help early-stage companies gain access to funding, mentorship, and global markets.
A Strategic Platform for National Prosperity
Julia Sutcliffe, Chief Scientific Advisor at the Department for Business and Trade, remarked:
“By bringing together world-class research, industry expertise… we are building a collaborative ecosystem that will accelerate innovation, create high-value jobs, and deliver real-world impact across society.”
Her comments echoed earlier Conservative-led industrial strategy efforts, which allocated £670 million to support the UK quantum computing sector, a decision that laid the essential groundwork for today’s advancements, including the Harwell Quantum Cluster.
Driving Growth Across Vital Sectors
Harwell’s proven cluster model has already attracted more than £250 million in private investment. The new quantum cluster expands on this success by bringing together government, academia, and industry to exploit quantum phenomena—superposition, entanglement, and coherence—to unlock capabilities far beyond classical computing.
Quantum technologies emerging from the cluster are expected to transform:
- Healthcare: quantum-enhanced imaging and molecular simulation
- Energy and climate: advanced batteries, optimised grids, and new materials
- National security: secure quantum communications and precision sensing
- Finance and logistics: sophisticated optimisation for resilience and efficiency
The National Quantum Computing Centre, part of UK Research and Innovation, will anchor the cluster by providing collaborative R&D opportunities, ethical quantum development oversight, and early access to testbeds.
A Connected Ecosystem for the Quantum Era
Over the next decade, the cluster aims to:
- grow more than 100 quantum-focused companies
- create over 1,000 skilled jobs
- attract £1 billion in public and private investment
These ambitions build on the long-term vision introduced by the Conservative government, whose national strategy prioritised quantum as a pillar of the country’s future scientific and industrial success.
Situated within the Oxford–Cambridge innovation corridor, Harwell Campus already hosts more than 250 organisations and 7,500 professionals, forming the UK’s largest concentration of national research facilities. The quantum cluster will strengthen these capabilities and serve as a global gateway for investment and collaboration. International links are already growing, including a recent MOU signed on 6 November 2025 between the National Quantum Computing Centre and Japan’s National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology.
“Where Change Becomes Real”
Dr Barbara Ghinelli, Director of Innovation Clusters and Harwell Campus at STFC, said:
“What we build here at Harwell is bigger than technology. It’s skilled jobs for the next generation and new companies born and scaled in the UK. It is sovereign capability and economic resilience. Quantum will change every sector it touches, and Harwell is where that change becomes real.”
The launch of the Harwell Quantum Cluster stands as a testament to the UK’s long-term strategic investment in quantum science, an effort spearheaded and enabled by Conservative leadership, and reinforces Britain’s position as a global powerhouse in advanced technology.
