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Greater Manchester is seeking to exploit the growing ‘grey economy’.
Highlighted as one of the UK’s four grand challenges in the Government’s Industrial Strategy, ageing populations across the world are driving demand for new technologies, products and services and the region is in a prime position to take advantage of this global change.
Already recognised as the UK’s first age-friendly region by the World Health Organisation, MIDAS – Greater Manchester’s inward investment agency – has appointed a specialist company to characterise the region’s strengths to support a rapidly growing longevity industry.
Aging Analytics Agency is the only analytics entity exclusively focused on examining and representing healthy ageing and is uniquely positioned to provide MIDAS and key stakeholders within the city region with a detailed analysis of Greater Manchester’s longevity landscape, including the identification of companies, investors, R&D hubs, academic institutions and industry professionals operating within this field.
Recently recognised as a High Potential Opportunity investment location for ‘health innovation in healthy ageing’ by The Department for International Trade, this research will look to further enhance Greater Manchester’s healthy ageing offering – a key focus of the city region’s Local Industrial Strategy.
A hallmark of the agency’s brand analytical approach is its ability to produce an interactive industry landscape mind map and IT-Platforms to visually showcase, classify and profile thousands of companies and investors active within the healthy ageing industry.
The appointment of the agency coincides with the establishment of Greater Manchester’s Innovation Partnership in Healthy Ageing (IPHA) – a joint Greater Manchester and government initiative which builds on Greater Manchester’s globally recognised age friendly credentials, the existing framework created by Greater Manchester’s Ageing Hub, the Health and Social Care Partnership and the business support programmes delivered by Health Innovation Manchester, MIDAS and the Growth Company.
The aims of the IPHA include the development and operation of an innovation pipeline of healthy ageing products and services, the establishment of a flow of inward investment opportunities and a programme of events targeted to amplify the region’s reputation as a global leader in healthy ageing.
Richard Deed, associate commercial director for Health Innovation Manchester, said: “Having a better understanding of the wider longevity industry in Greater Manchester will allow us to build a much stronger partnership of local, national and global leaders from policy, business, and academia, to address health inequalities across our ageing population and deliver on our local industrial strategy objectives.”
Dmitry Kaminskiy, founder of Aging Analytics Agency, said: “As longevity continues to be embraced by progressive governments as a major component of their national strategic agendas, we are also seeing an increasing need for local, municipal action on this front as well.
“There are already a handful of proactive municipalities active in this regard, and Manchester is one of them, with the Greater Manchester Combined Authority having made Healthy Ageing one of the major components of its Local Industrial Strategy in 2019.”
Tim Newns, MIDAS chief executive, said: “With a growing population, Greater Manchester has put healthy ageing at the heart of its Local Industrial Strategy and is creating a city region test bed to trial close-to-market goods and services for older people.
“I have every confidence that the work undertaken by Aging Analytics Agency will further widen and cement our proposition as an international leader in this field and showcase Greater Manchester as the ideal environment to take advantage of this ever-growing market.
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