The Budget on 28 October put the government's AI package at over £700m. Most of it is going on AI security and sovereign AI. One line stood out for us in Leeds.
£30m to kickstart local AI partnerships, with West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, and York and North Yorkshire all named. The aim is to help small businesses grow, give people the right skills and improve local public services. Barnsley was named the UK's first Tech Town earlier this year, and this builds on that.
Why this matters
For too long the big tech investment has gone to London and the South East. Seeing Yorkshire named is a real vote of confidence in what's happening up here.
It's also the right focus. Not just funding for big AI companies, but getting AI into the hands of local businesses and the people who'll be doing the jobs.
What we've seen at AI Lab
AI Lab exists to bring universities and businesses together around AI. Over the last six months we've taken nearly 1,000 students through our programmes. They work on real business problems, build their first AI agents, and pitch them to people who run companies. Businesses get fresh thinking on their challenges. Students leave with skills most of the workforce doesn't have yet.
The government is now backing the same idea: universities, businesses and councils working on AI together, locally.
What happens next
We don't know yet how the money will reach businesses, who will be eligible, or when. The announcement says it will be used to bring councils, businesses, universities and colleges together, but the detail is still to come.
In the meantime, an SME doesn't need the funding to start. Pick one process that's eating up your team's time and work out what it costs you.
What we'd like to see is the money going to the practical end. In our sessions, what moves a business is a real problem, a small team and a working prototype in front of the people who run the company. Students learn the same way. If the partnerships are built around events and reports, they won't work. If they're built around real problems and working prototypes, they will.
About the author
Charlie Bartle
Co-founder, AI Lab UK · CIO, Zygens
Charlie co-founded AI Lab UK and runs the lab programme on the ground. She works with SMEs, councils and universities to turn AI curiosity into working tools people actually use.
