The Centre for Process Innovation Limited (CPI) is a British technology and innovation social enterprise, headquartered in the North East of England. Established in 2004 by the UK Government agency ONE NorthEast, the company was one of five centres of excellence in a long-term strategy to "reposition the North-East [of England] on the world stage for research and development".
Role
CPI helps companies to develop, prove, prototype and scale-up new products and processes by providing access to facilities, expertise and networks of public and private funders.
CPI is a founding partner in the High Value Manufacturing Catapult, a network of technology and innovation centres designed to transform the UK's capability for innovation in specific technology areas and markets to help drive future economic growth.
Facilities
The company has seven innovation facilities in northern England and one in Scotland:
National Industrial Biotechnology Centre, Wilton, Redcar
National Printable Electronics Centre, at NETPark, Sedgefield
National Formulation Centre, NETPark, Sedgefield
National Healthcare Photonics Centre, NETPark, Sedgefield
The Graphene Application Centre, NETPark, Sedgefield
National Biologics Manufacturing Centre, Darlington
The RNA Centre of Excellence, Darlington
The Medicines Manufacturing Innovation Centre, Glasgow
Funding
In 2011, CPI joined the UK Government's Catapult centres network. It has also received funding from the European Regional Development Fund and the EU's Horizon 2020 programme. Further funding through the Catapult network was announced in 2018.