Luke has more than 25 years’ experience advising government, combined authorities, universities and innovation organisations on economic development, innovation-led growth and major investment decisions.

His work spans strategy development, HM Treasury Five Case Model business cases, programme evaluation, economic impact assessment and market demand studies. He specialises in assessing innovation ecosystems and clusters, developing propositions for research and innovation infrastructure, and examining the contribution of universities, research and technology organisations, spin-outs, scale-ups and anchor businesses to regional growth.

Luke’s recent work includes advising HM Treasury on the Green Book refresh; directing the development of the business case for the £90 million Sustainable Materials and Manufacturing Centre in Atom Valley; reviewing the University of Manchester’s Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre; and assessing the long-term strategic partnership between the University of Liverpool and Unilever. He has also directed or advised on major evaluations for UKRI and DSIT, including the Innovation Accelerator, Strength in Places Fund programmes and the 5G Testbeds and Trials Programme.

Luke has extensive experience of place-based economic development across the North and Midlands of England, Scotland’s Central Belt and Wales. He directed SQW’s contribution to the first Independent Economic Review of the Midlands Engine and was a member of the national panel that assessed devolved investment funds across 11 UK areas.

His principal areas of expertise are:

• innovation ecosystems, clusters and districts
• research and innovation infrastructure
• university-industry collaboration and commercialisation
• Five Case Model business cases and Green Book appraisal
• programme evaluation, impact assessment and value for money
• city-regional economic strategy and place-based investment.