West Yorkshire Demonstrator Sprint

The West Yorkshire Demonstrator Sprint marks the first programme delivered through a new partnership between L Marks and NEXUS at the University of Leeds, bringing together corporate innovation expertise and world-leading academic capability to address industrial challenges in the region. Funded by the West Yorkshire Combined Authority and the UK Government, and delivered alongside The Priestley Centre for Climate Futures, the programme connected Nufarm, an agricultural chemical manufacturer operating at their Wyke site in West Yorkshire, with global technology suppliers to tackle one of the most pressing wastewater challenges in UK chemical manufacturing.

The £4.6m challenge

Nufarm’s Wyke site generates a significant volume of complex chemical effluent daily, which at the point of entering the programme was being transported off-site via a high volume of tankers. Nufarm’s ambition was to reduce their environmental footprint and operational costs, with a goal to move as close to direct-to-drain discharge as possible, making effluent treatment one of the most strategically important challenges on their agenda, with a total cost to solve of £4.6m.

Nufarm entered the programme with two potential challenge areas, which were narrowed through a structured Challenge Definition Workshop to a single focus on effluent treatment, identified as the most commercially urgent and environmentally consequential problem to address.

The Sprint

L Marks conducted a targeted global scouting process, drawing on their expert team and extensive network to identify the most relevant technology suppliers from across the world. Following in-depth discussion with Nufarm, four suppliers were selected, each bringing a distinct technological approach to the challenge: Arvia Technology, specialising in electrochemical oxidation; Desotec, focused on activated carbon filtration; Power and Water, developing sonoelectrochemical treatment; and Water Tecnik, offering thermal vacuum evaporation.

The Sprint took place over two days in Leeds in March 2026, with each supplier working in a dedicated room alongside Nufarm subject matter experts and University of Leeds academics, led by L Marks and supported closely by the wider delivery team throughout. Over the course of the two days, suppliers moved from initial problem understanding through to a fully costed proof of concept roadmap, covering commercial proposals, timelines, and KPIs.

Results

• £4.6m Challenge
• 40 Suppliers Scouted
• 4 Suppliers Selected
• 2-Day Sprint
• 100% Success Rate

Within five working days of the Sprint concluding, Nufarm confirmed that all four suppliers would progress to lab testing, running in parallel to maintain momentum and avoid sequencing delays. This outcome was stronger than anticipated going into the event, reflecting the quality of both the scouting process and the structured Sprint methodology.

“The Demonstrator process gave us a focused, structured way to tackle our effluent challenges. Having WYCA, L Marks, Nexus, four suppliers and Leeds University in the room together pushed the Nufarm team to make sharp decisions across a concentrated two-day sprint. It was demanding, but the team found it enjoyable, and I am confident we came out of it with the best outcome for Nufarm.”
– David Griffiths, Sustainability Project Lead, Nufarm

Lab testing will validate the technical feasibility of each approach against Nufarm’s specific effluent streams, with a focus on the efficacy of each process and the quantity and form of any residuals produced. The programme also demonstrated that the Demonstrator Sprint model translates effectively into complex industrial and hardware environments, with the framework designed for replication across other sectors and industrial challenges.

“Industrial effluent treatment is not a problem that sits neatly within a single discipline, and that is precisely why bringing together manufacturers, academics, and global technology suppliers in a structured environment produces outcomes that would not have been possible otherwise. Working with NEXUS and the University of Leeds on the West Yorkshire sprint was the first programme we have delivered together, and the results make a compelling case for expanding that partnership further, and potentially translating that model to other sectors facing similarly complex problems.”
– Daniel Saunders, CEO, L Marks