Innovation Accelerators for knife crime: A realist pilot report

In Autumn 2025, three urban areas in England with high levels of knife crime were selected to take part in an Innovation Accelerator pilot project. A multi-agency team of representatives from Birmingham, Manchester and Westminster were tasked with developing and delivering problem-solving activity in an unusually short period of 110 days. They were supported in this activity by social enterprise management consultancy PPL and the College of Policing. Using a combination of observations, survey and interviews, this report provides a short overview and reflection on the activity and highlights learning that can inform future iterations of the Accelerator programme. It describes the process of how the Accelerator activity unfolded (mechanisms) in different contexts supported by quantitative and qualitative data from participants in the programme. The findings of the report highlight what went well, what did not go well, how the Accelerator ‘worked’ and how future Accelerators should look.