The last two years have shone a spotlight on the strength and depth of the UK’s science market. While Covid-19 has undoubtedly played a role, there are longer term structural factors underpinning the sector such as an aging population,
In London, for example, availability within the existing science clusters is hampered by site constraints and competition from more established uses. Consequently, this will see the emergence of new fringe locations in places like east London and Southbank.
The number of venture capital (VC) backed biotech firms progressing beyond seed funding has increased 300 per cent over the last five years, fuelled by growth sectors such as AI, personalised medicines, microbiome therapies, genomics and vaccine technology.
ements currently focused on London. With a large proportion of these from early stage biotechs, this suggests demand in the medium term will increase significantly as big pharma and service prov
In more mature markets such as Oxford and Cambridge, there is record demand with some occupiers struggling to secure space. We will also see further requirements for manufacturing facilities in out of town locations, as more companies look to
which is already being seen as schemes get underway across the UK. These include Kadan’s 114,000 sq ft Brandan Road scheme just north of King’s Cross, Arlington Brookfield’s 250,000 sq ft Manbre Wharf in Hammersmith, Reef Group’s Tribeca scheme, also in King’s Cross, Bruntwood SciTech and Birmingham University’s 600,000 sq ft Birmingham Health Innovation Campus,
showing premiums over office space of up to 70 per cent. As more deals are done in 2022, it will provide the evidence to make underwriting lab-enabled schemes much easier.
We will also see further requirements for manufacturing facilities in out of town locations, as more companies look to commercialise their products.
We will also see growth of other regional centres such as Birmingham, Manchester, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Bristol and Stevenage, all of which already have many of the elements necessary for successful science ecosystems.
