Legal and General to develop Uni of Oxford science and innovation district as part of £4bn partnership

Published by

Nicky Godding

Legal & General has revealed that it will fund and deliver a new innovation district with the University of Oxford, extending Oxford’s existing Begbroke Science Park across an adjacent 14-hectare site.

The first phase of the scheme will bring forward new teaching facilities for the universities Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences departments, as well as providing space to incubate spin-out companies. Future phases will also seek to develop 2,000 new homes, with a mix of affordable tenures and subsidised key worker accommodation.

The new Begbroke innovation district forms part of Legal & General’s £4 billion partnership with the University of Oxford; Oxford University Development (OUD). By building out a network of high-quality research and innovation facilities, alongside affordable homes to accommodate students and teachers, the Partnership is seeking to retain talent in the city, boost the economy and support spin-out and scale-up businesses. The wider masterplan for Begbroke will create a ‘live/study/work’ environment, with ambitions to include a hotel, restaurant, bars, cafes, shops, educational, community and sports facilities.

Legal & General has brought forward projects, in partnership with world-leading universities, worth £2bn this year alone. This has included a scheme with Manchester University and its first development for the OUD partnership, the new Life and Mind Building. The Life and Mind Building is the University of Oxford’s largest ever building project, with a project cost of £200m, which will house the Departments of Experimental Psychology and Biology, including Plant Sciences and Zoology.

Begbroke will be funded by long-term annuity money from Legal & General’s retirement business, with Legal & General Capital acting as Developer and Bruntwood SciTech (a 50 / 50 JV between Legal & General Capital and Bruntwood) as Development Manager for the first phase, whilst longer term plans for future phases are finalised. Legal & General Capital has been advised by LGIM Real Assets.

Chris Oglesby, Executive Chair, Bruntwood SciTech, said: "The development of Begbroke Science Park into a major new science and innovation district will provide much needed, additional research and innovation facilities for some of the UK’s most exciting life science businesses and support the creation of new high value, highly skilled jobs for the sector. Our reputation for working in partnership with public, private, academic and clinical institutions to create world-class science and tech clusters, that fuel innovation and foster collaboration, is why we’re well placed to help bring this ambitious vision to life."

Nigel Wilson, Chief Executive at Legal & General, said: "We are extremely proud of our partnership with the University of Oxford, which in the wake of COVID-19 will help retain talent in the city, whilst driving essential inward investment and providing opportunities for world-leading innovation, as well as much needed housing for key workers. Investments such as this are creating virtuous cycle whereby pensions and savings are used to create positive social, environmental and economic outcomes which are in line with our commitment to Inclusive Capitalism."

Dr David Prout, Pro-Vice Chancellor at the University of Oxford, added: "We are delighted that this project is going ahead as part of our JV partnership with Legal and General. It will provide much needed expansion space for academic research and also for University spinouts and commercial collaborators. It will double the amount of space in the Science Park and form the first phase of a larger commercial, academic and residential development."

Nicky Godding

Nicky Godding is editor of The Business Magazine. Before her journalism career, she worked mainly in public relations moving into writing when she was invited to launch Retail Watch, a publication covering retail and real estate across Europe. After some years of constant travelling, she tucked away her passport and concentrated on business writing, co-founding a successful regional business magazine. She has interviewed some of the UK’s most successful entrepreneurs who have built multi-million-pound businesses and reported on many science and technology firsts. She reports on the region’s thriving business economy from start-ups, family businesses and multi-million-pound corporations, to the professionals that support their growth and the institutions that educate the next generation of business leaders.