UK’S AMBITION TO BE A SCIENCE SUPERPOWER FUELLED BY SCIENCE PARKS

The UK has set its sights on becoming a science superpower. And it’s put a man in chanre who could actually help realise this ambition.

George Freeman, the UK’s Minister for Science, Research and Innovation, was elected to parliament in 2010 after a 15-year career in science, research and technology, when he founded, financed and managed tech start-ups.

He was the first Minister for Agri-tech, the first minister for Life Science and the first Minister for Transport and Transport Tech.

He knows that to be a science superpower, the country needs to improve the depth and breadth of the innovation economy across the UK, supporting regional customers of science, technology and innovation excellence.

Across the UK there are more than 130 science parks. Often clustered around the country’s top universities (such as the universities of Oxford, Warwick and Bristol), they are also attracting increased investment from commercial and institutional investors which recognise the economic, social and investment value of science parks.

Science parks also support the local economies where they are based as they grow to meet the needs of the people that work there. This further boosts local employment thanks to cafes, shops, gyms, pre-school nurseries, hotels and accommodation and transport links.

Milton Park is home to 250 companies and more than 9,000 people, many of them working on translating science innovation into commercial products and services.

But what Milton Park identified a few years ago was that it’s not enough for science parks to o er lab and o ce space to help attract the skilled people its tenants expect. The park must also provide first-class travel and community facilities for the people that work there.

Over the last few years, as part of its 2040 vision for Milton Park, owner MEPC has been investing in a comprehensive range of amenities alongside its continued development of o ce and laboratory space, from sustainable transport to new cycle and footpaths, all wrapped up in extensive investment in biodiversity projects.

Alongside this, work is ongoing on the development of a new tech box scheme.

The scheme, to be named Nebula, has been designed with space, technology, life science and engineering companies in mind, supporting the growth of startups and cross-industry collaboration within the science and technology community.

The development will comprise a total area of just under 80,000 sq ft and feature seven new research and development workspaces ranging from 6,000 sq ft up to a single building of 30,000 sq ft.

Brookfield launches ARC Oxford Science and Technology Park

With demand for lab space in Oxfordshire reaching almost 860,000 sq ft, late last year Brookfield launched ARC Oxford, previously known as Oxford Technology Park.

Brookfield, which also manages Harwell Campus near Abingdon, is set to invest more than £1 billion into Oxfordshire by the end of the decade.

Brookfield acquired Oxford Business Park in 2021 and has already speculatively redeveloped, refurbished and let around 60,000 sq ft of space geared towards life sciences lab space.

Harwell Science and Innovation Campus sees value in clusters

Harwell campus is a collaboration between government, academia and industry.

Last year Harwell became part of the Advance Research Clusters (ARC) network. This is an alliance of innovation campuses funded by Brookfield in the UK and Europe. The network provides membership for those who work at the campus, including free events, discounts and access to space at other ARC campuses.

A number of major UK scientific organisations are based at Harwell, such as the National Quantum Computing Centre and the Central Laser Facility, anchor organisations like the European Space Agency, innovative private sector organisations such as Oxford Nanopore and Astroscale, alongside teams from 30 UK universities.

The campus is managed and developed by the Science and Technology Facilities Council, the UK Atomic Energy Authority and private sector investor, Brookfield. It is investing significantly in the campus to add homes, facilities and more R&D space.

Brookfield has five million sq ft of development potential planned across the UK’s Golden Triangle, with three million sq ft planned at the 700-acre Harwell site.