UK Prime Minister David Cameron singled out the University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) with Boeing as a role model for a new generation of Technology Innovation Centres.

Speaking at the CBI in London, Cameron confirmed funding of over £200 million for a network of elite R&D centres to drive growth in the UK's high-tech industries.

"The fact is that we are not as good as some of our competitors in turning great ideas on the drawing board into prototypes in a laboratory and actual goods and services people can buy," Cameron said.

The new centres, based on recommendations in reports from technology entrepreneurs Hermann Hauser and James Dyson, will bridge the gap between innovation and commercial success.

"These centres will sit between universities and businesses, bringing the two together. They won't just carry out their own in-house research, they will spread knowledge too connecting businesses - large and small, new and old - to potential new technologies, making them aware of funding streams and providing access to skills and equipment.

"It's the sort of thing you see in Orgreave, where the University of Sheffield, Rolls Royce and Boeing are all working together," Cameron continued.

"These centres will be great for research, great for business - and they're going to put Britain back at the top table for innovation."

The network will be established and overseen by the Technology Strategy Board, but individual centres will retain a high degree of autonomy. Funding has been announced as totalling more than £200 million over four years.

Each centre in the network will focus on a specific technology where there is a large global market and significant UK capability. Areas identified in the Hauser report include plastic electronics, regenerative medicine, and high value manufacturing.

The first phase of the programme will include investment in existing centres, to be identified by the TSB in the spring following consultation with industry, universities and other interested parties. New centres will then be considered.

Following Cameron's speech, the AMRC Factory of the Future was visited by film crews from the BBC, ITV and Sky News.