Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham is set to channel "Innovation Nation" funding directly to England's regions, according to BusinessCloud.

The report, published on businesscloud.co.uk, carries only a headline-level announcement: Burnham will hand regions funding under the "Innovation Nation" label. The outlet has not yet published the accompanying figures, eligibility criteria or delivery timetable alongside the syndicated headline.

What do we know so far?

• Andy Burnham, mayor of Greater Manchester, is the named figure behind the pledge.
• The funding carries the branding "Innovation Nation".
• The money is directed at regions rather than a single central programme.

What remains unconfirmed?

For R&D managers and university innovation teams, the operative questions are the ones the announcement does not yet answer:

• The size of the funding pot and whether it is new money or reallocated existing budgets.
• Which organisations can apply — universities, local enterprise partnerships, catapult centres or private firms.
• Match-funding requirements and how awards interact with existing regional programmes.
• Timescales for calls and the metrics used to judge regional innovation performance.

Regional funding announcements of this kind typically carry political weight ahead of fiscal events, and the "Innovation Nation" framing suggests a positioning exercise as much as a spending commitment. Until the figures and delivery mechanism are published, portfolio planners should treat the pledge as directional rather than budgetary.

BusinessCloud's full report is expected to set out the detail; watch for the funding envelope and application route before adjusting any regional R&D pipeline assumptions.