The UK Agri-Tech Centre (UKATC) has completed a consultation that will reduce its workforce by 60% from 130 to 50 staff as part of a restructuring it claims will make it “a leaner, more agile, more focused organization.”
The shift represents a significant change in how UK agtech startups and other businesses will access publicly supported R&D facilities and expertise, with the Centre moving from directly providing services to connecting companies with external partners.
The move, which the UKATC insists is “not a cost-cutting exercise,” reflects a shift to a new operating model, chief engagement officer Daniel Himsworth told AgFunderNews.
The center, which operates 43 facilities covering crops, livestock, aquaculture, engineering, robotics, and AI, is shifting from conducting testing and validation work itself to the role of facilitator, he explained.
Moving forward, its primary role will be to connect startups, corporates, academics, investors, government, farmers, and other stakeholders trying to solve some of the biggest challenges facing the food supply chain, said Himsworth.
“We’re talking about drought, labor shortages, disease prevention, helping farmers increase yield.”
Shifting from direct testing to industry matchmaker
Under the new model, which will be operational in 2027, said Himsworth, “We plan to move away from directly testing, trialing and validating technologies ourselves. This includes transitioning our current facilities into partner organizations. We will continue to connect businesses with the specialist facilities and expertise they need, while working more closely with partners across the UK’s wider research and innovation network.
“We will increasingly connect businesses and industry with the right technologies, expertise, evidence, facilities, funding and opportunities to help innovation move into practical, commercial use. We will be the glue that brings shared intelligence, insight, and knowledge around capability together and will be working with innovators to make sure they are tackling the right challenges and have a better understanding of the market need.”
CEO Steve McLean, who joined in January 2026, added in a statement: “We recognize that these changes have a significant impact on our organization and particularly on colleagues whose roles are affected, and our immediate priority is to support our people through the process while we build the new direction for the business.”
Why the existing model needed revamping
The UKATC was formed in 2024 following the merger of three government-backed agtech organizations spanning precision ag, crop protection, and livestock. It is a private not-for-profit that receives core funding from the government via Innovate UK and has historically generated some revenue from providing testing services, securing a share of public grants allocated to collaborative R&D projects, and income from startups paying to use its facilities.
Asked why the existing setup is not working, or why cutting its staff so significantly would help the industry address the challenges it faces, Himsworth said that in some cases, the model was inefficient.
“We’ve got R&D partners that we both compete with and partner with for research contracts. This [re-organization] is about us being able to work with these facilities and remove duplication and remove that competitive element. We want to connect agri-tech businesses and food producers and retailers with the right research facilities and be that connector, rather than competing for work with them, so that was one of the reasons.
“We will be that connector, that matchmaker in the middle, that has the freedom to be able to connect the right people to the right challenge and the right problem, without doing the testing, the trialing, and the demonstrating ourselves.”
What happens to the center’s 43 facilities?
He did not say which partners would take over current testing, validation and facility operations, adding that, “This is not about us selling facilities. This is about us transitioning those facilities to people we’re already working with. We’ve got a mixed ownership model throughout.
“This is about keeping those facilities within the UK’s capability and us coming to arrangements with our partners to transition them on a case-by-case basis.”
He added: “We designed this [the new model] with Innovate UK and with support from DEFRA [the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs].”
David Farquar, president at TechTour, which connects tech startups with investors and industry partners, said the pivot “enables UKATC to focus on driving the adoption of new agrifood technologies, rather than early-stage R&D, which many other organizations are well equipped to support.”
He added: “At TechTour Resilient Ag in Monheim in March, this was clearly identified as one of the key barriers to unlocking factors limiting food production globally. Furthermore, it will enable UKATC to ensure investment in new agritech is more relevant to the needs of commercial farming.
“The third major benefit will be allowing them to build positive partnerships with subject matter experts across a range of foundational technologies and industry applications to an extent that no individual organisations could ever hope to aspire.”
Startup perspectives: What worked, what didn’t
One exec at a UK-based startup that has worked with the UKATC and its predecessor organizations, said it had been “really supportive of us along the way,” adding: “We also know quite a few of the people affected, so it’s genuinely sad to see this happening. There are some excellent people there who have done a lot to help businesses like ours.”
He told AgFunderNews: “Potentially one of the challenges is how much the centers have been trying to cover—from technology development and testing through to grant applications, project management and adoption. They’re all useful things, but it’s a lot for one organization to do. So I can understand the thinking behind having a clearer focus and working more through partners, rather than trying to deliver everything themselves.
“A clearer focus on adoption could be a positive thing. The important bit, from our perspective, is that businesses and growers still have access to the practical support they need, and that the change builds on the good work that’s already been done.”
The founder of another startup told AgFunderNews his experience had been less useful however: “We had multiple meetings but didn’t feel they really added any value.
“They said we can put you in touch with [leading research institute X] but I don’t need someone to do that, I can contact them directly. As a startup, we want to speak to experienced people that have been there and done that and can help us with assessing pitchdecks, scaling, navigating the regulatory process, and finding investors.
“For me what would have been more useful is having a handful of C-suite level people that I could call to give me advice. There are not that many agtech startups in the UK and the more help we can get the better.”
Further reading:
12 months of UK agrifood strategy—and where it’s headed next
Bramble’s Chris Mitchell shares a vision for the future of UK health and agrifood
Inside the UK cultivated meat regulatory sandbox with Mosa Meat, Hoxton Farms, and BlueNalu
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