UK Occupiers Expand Across Labs, Offices, and Cleanrooms

🔬 Science Sum up: April 27 – May 1 Sun is out – and it’s not just about the weather but activity on the market, too. The sector has been cheered by AstraZeneca’s commitment to pour £300m in the UK after an investment pause last year. The pharma giant has confirmed it will complete the construction of an office and events building on its Cambridge campus, which has been recently approved by the planners. Also in Cambridgeshire, Camena Bioscience has become the first tenant to secure space at newly built Sidney Sussex Building on Chesterford Research Park. It will be relocating from the park’s Science Village to consolidate its team within a single 2,910 sq ft suit. Nervecentre Software has expanded its UK footprint, having secured a contract with NHS University Hospitals of Liverpool Group. It will home in at Sciontec Developments Limited AI workspace at The Spine on a two-year term. Colin Sinclair says: “This is a strong endorsement of the city’s growing reputation in digital health and innovation.” Woodbourne Group has expanded its top team, with Luke Baker joining from Tesco Pension Investment. He will support delivery of £4bn Birmingham Knowledge Quarter as well as oversee other projects in development pipeline, taking responsibility for deal origination, capital structuring and project delivery. Works are now well underway at OxBio Hub, delivering the comprehensive refurbishment, reuse and extension of building 2700 at Oxford Business Park. The project will deliver CL2 lab-ready space, ranging from 4,000 sq ft to 130,851 sq ft, with flexible layouts designed to suit innovative occupiers. University of Southampton Science Park has topped out Infinity Labs, a new multi‑tenancy building that will deliver 36,597 sq ft of lab space. The building, designed by Scott Brownrigg, is expected to be ready for occupation towards the end of this year. There’s long weekend ahead, but science never stops! Come back on this page next Friday for an update and visit Estates Gazette website to get wider industry news. #lifesciences #realestate #development #occupiers #people #market #outlook #deals #investment #expansion #construction #goldentriangle

🔬 Science Sum up: May 5 – 8 Although the week after the long weekend has been relatively slow, data has showed that occupiers have been a bit more active this year when compared to the last year. The most recent figures from Knight Frank suggest take up of life sciences-related real estate has climbed by 6% year-on-year during the first three months of 2026, with 234,779 sq ft leased across London, Oxford and Cambridge. The latter has led the activity, with 166,689 sq ft leased over the quarter. After finishing third earlier this year, Liverpool City Region Combined Authority is backing plans to bid again for European Capital of Innovation title in 2028 as previous finalists are unable to apply in consecutive years. As part of the bid, a city region-wide steering group is set to be established to shape the next submission, in addition to a citizens’ panel. Tech Foundry 3, the first development to be connected to Harwell Science and Innovation Campus's innovative smart grid, has reached practical completion. The 70,000 sq ft project, spanning six facilities providing wet and dry labs, R&D space, and advanced and industrial manufacturing. Dandy has become the latest occupier at Edinburgh House on St John's Innovation Park. It will occupy suit 4 on the ground floor, measuring 1,148 sq ft of workspace. Former The Oxford Trust director will return to take the helm. Matt F. will be joining from Oxford Innovation Space in September, tasked with leading the organisation into its next phase of growth. Matthew Nicholson has joined the team at Wellcome Genome Campus as head of planning to help deliver an expanded science community. The masterplan spans up to 1.5m sq ft of workspace alongside retail and leisure facilities, and up to 1,500 homes. After 12 years at the helm, Keith Purdie FRSA has left Colworth Science Park, which forms part of the Pioneer Group portfolio. He will be joining Cambridge Science Park as senior director of development and operations, overseeing day-to-day management and strategic direction, and supporting the development of the park's estate masterplan. Keep up with the latest updates from the sector by visiting this page every Friday and Estates Gazette daily to find out more about the wider industry moves. #lifesicences #realestate #development #people #market #outlook #occupiers #leasing #deals #goldentriangle #innovation #investment

Tampa Bay is experiencing significant growth in construction and development, fueling downtown revitalization and expanding infrastructure. Major projects include over 3,300 new housing units in St. Petersburg’s waterfront area and a $2-billion mixed-use development in downtown Tampa’s Channel District featuring hotels, office space, retail, and housing. Additionally, Tampa International Airport is undergoing a $953-million makeover with plans for a $1.3-billion expansion including a new international terminal and air-traffic control tower. - Over 3,300 housing units built or underway in St. Petersburg’s waterfront since 2013 - $2-billion mixed-use development planned in Tampa’s Channel District with medical school and corporate offices - Tampa International Airport’s major expansion and modernization project underway Tampa Bay’s construction boom is reshaping the region’s urban landscape and infrastructure to support continued economic growth. Read more: https://lnkd.in/ePNPWqjG #PRESWERX #FloridaConstruction

The next competitive advantage in life science real estate may come down to tenant experience. Here’s how shared resources, engaging events, and modern building tools can help create a more connected, supportive campus. https://hubs.li/Q047lQ8Z0

The life sciences office market is one of the fastest growing demand segments affecting Central London fringe locations. London is competing with Cambridge and Oxford to attract life science occupiers. The West End fringe, areas like Euston, Paddington and Hammersmith, have seen significant investment from life science landlords. This is a different occupier profile to traditional financial services. For investors, life science is interesting because the fitout requirements and lease structures are different. Longer leases, higher fitout costs but also stickier tenants who are hard to relocate once established in a building. #LifeSciences #LondonOffice #LondonRealEstate #CommercialProperty #PropertyInvestment #Innovation

Last week we held another full-day SHAPE meeting at Richmond House, funded by Liverpool John Moores University. The first meeting was about commercial strategy. This one was about fusing that strategy with an emphasis on urban renewal and neighbourhood regeneration. We did a deep dive on whether our model actually stands up when you test it against the realities of place, policy, capacity and delivery. That meant rolling our sleeves up and getting specific about a few things. One was policy. John P. Houghton helped us place Focal Point in the current regeneration landscape, where the language is not just about growth, but about work, skills, social infrastructure, delivery capacity and whether places can show they are ready to make good use of funding. We moved the conversation away from one-off cultural events and toward long term neighbourhood planning, community engagement and visible local impact. Another was scale. It's easy to talk about taking a model to other towns. It is much harder to ask what has to be true before you do that responsibly. Do you have the right partners in place? Is there a credible local lead? Is there a physical base? Is there enough educational infrastructure, enough industry connection, enough need, enough buy-in? There's no point pretending a "place-based model" can just be dropped into another town and expected to work. You need the right local mix of people, partners, space, need and capacity. You need some sense that the place actually wants it and can hold it. Otherwise you are just importing a set of problems into a different postcode. We spent a good part of the meeting looking at what Focal Point offers in educational terms. Not just events, and not just a vague promise of “talent pipelines” or "creative careers", but a proper progression route. That led into a bigger point about how the space works. Focal Point can't be a youth project, a co-working space, a university partnership and a regeneration tool all in isolation. It has to hold those things together without becoming muddled. Some difficult questions came out of these discussions, but that's what the meetings are for, and answering them (or at least identifying them) makes the foundations stronger. Holding the meeting in Richmond House (soon to be the home of Focal Point) was another big step toward getting the tech hub officially open and moving from planning into delivery. There's still loads to do, but the shape of the thing is getting clearer (pardon the pun). Thanks to all the brains in the room helping us through it: John P. Houghton Mark Lawler Andy Moor Wright Mark Dennis Outten Anthony Killick

This was a good discussion. Thanks Dennis Outten Mark Lawler Anthony Killick Wright Mark Andy Moore for making it so. To frame the conversation, I talked through: - the current #regeneration , homes and #place landscape; - main pressures, priorities, and tensions (are we building homes or places?); - the main funding streams and programmes including #PrideinPlace, LGF, Local #Regeneration Fund, and the role of Homes England. Happy to share the slides I used to do that. DM me for a copy.

It makes me incredibly proud and excited to see the 'Nottingham City Vision 2050' proposal by Nottingham City Council. I've said for a long time that Nottingham is going to be one of THE places to work and live in the coming years and this snippet captures why it's already such a wonderful city: "Nottingham has the foundations of a great European city. We are home to an £11bn innovation economy, two world‑class universities, strong sector strengths in life sciences, advanced manufacturing, financial and business services and clean energy, and a young, diverse and creative population. Alongside this sits a strong independent culture, a vibrant creative economy, great transport links, iconic green spaces, and a concentration of sporting assets that few cities can match." Huge plans in this document including further developing the infrastructure this fine city has in two leading Universities in University of Nottingham and Nottingham Trent University, University of Nottingham Biodiscovery Institute, the NIHR Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre and our biotech and innovation hubs BioCity Nottingham & MediCity Nottingham to build a world-class 'innovation district and corridor'. Ton of other exciting stuff too and I'm so glad to see partners across the city coming together to build this. https://lnkd.in/eYUCX-S9

Advance Realty Investors has launched Continuum, a 60-acre innovation campus in Bridgewater featuring up to 1.1 million square feet of new construction focused on life sciences and advanced manufacturing. The shovel-ready project includes 830,000 square feet of life science facilities, 250,000 square feet for logistics and manufacturing, and over 20,000 square feet of retail and amenity space. - Phase I construction is underway with full site approval and a long-term PILOT agreement in place. - The campus offers build-to-suit opportunities and integrates R&D, production, and logistics in a single ecosystem. - Strategically located with excellent regional connectivity to major highways, airport, and port. Continuum sets a new standard for integrated innovation campuses, supporting efficient construction and collaboration in the life sciences sector. Read more: https://lnkd.in/gqJTMQqr #PRESWERX #NewJerseyConstruction

A fantastic video from Farhaj Mayan, capturing Bristol’s culture and history as a place built for bold businesses and restless creativity. The IBB team has really enjoyed working closely with them as they’ve spent time in the city and immersed themselves in its culture. Zacharias Bowen, our Inward Investment Account Executive, sums it up well: "Bristol has always meant three very important things to me; music, food, and history…it is a forward-facing city, providing a variety of opportunities, from being rebelliously creative, to the cutting-edge of advanced engineering." That’s what continues to draw organisations like Forma to build and invest here. Great to see them choosing and championing Bristol. We look forward to continuing the collaboration!   If you're a founder, creative or technologist, it’s worth taking a look at Forma’s upcoming popup in Bristol. You can find the link in their post below.