Harwell secures £110 million growth funding from Santander

Published by

Nicky Godding

Harwell Campus, the UK’s science and innovation hub, has secured £110 million funding from Santander Corporate & Commercial to further expand the campus, and enter its next 400,000 sq ft phase of development.

The development will further expand Harwell’s portfolio of hybrid buildings, offering flexible space comprising offices, laboratories and high-tech manufacturing facilities. As well as being the UK headquarters for multinationals, Harwell offers business incubation from Seed or Series A, and throughout their lifecycle.

Europe’s largest collection of open access scientific facilities, worth over £2billion, is located at Harwell. Companies looking to grow can tap into the knowledge and skills of the 5,500 people strong science and tech community. Focusing on the core sectors of life sciences, energy and space, and with an estimated gross value added of more than £1billion, these investments generate impressive returns in terms of job creation and national economic growth.

Oxford and Cambridge are estimated to need 2.5 million sq ft (the equivalent of 40 football fields) of laboratory and research space to accommodate growth. It is predicted that meeting this target would contribute £2.8 billion to the UK economy. With this development at Harwell Campus – the equivalent of the UK’s largeststadium, Wembley, or 7 football fields – the UK is already making strides towards meeting this target.

William Cooper, Partner in the Joint Venture at Harwell Campus, said: “This round of funding enables us to expand our unique portfolio of attractive hybrid buildings. Having Santander alongside us puts Harwell in a strong position for continued growth in order to meet the pent-up demand for 2.5 million sq ft of research labs in Oxbridge alone.”

Lance Anelay, Real Estate Finance Director, Santander Corporate & Commercial, said: “Wehave supported the expansion of Harwell Campus through five construction schemes over the last eight years and we are excited to be working alongside them once again. The new facilities will further enhance Harwell’s profile within the global scientific community and provide a boost to the UK economy.”

Angus Horner, Partner and Director of Harwell Campus, said, “Our relationship with Santander is born out of our mutual commitment to stimulate the UK’s science and tech sectors, drive economic growth in the UK and boost the nation’s standing in the global market.

“With a total of 5.5 million sq ft of planned development Harwell Campus is one of the most ambitious regeneration and rejuvenation projects happening right now in the UK property sector.”

Harwell Campus is rapidly expanding via a private public partnership between Harwell Oxford Partners and U+I, plus two Government backed agencies, the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) and the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA).

Tom Edgerley, Development Director at U+I, a partner in the joint venture at Harwell Campus, said: “Harwell is an example of the far-reaching benefits successful public private sector partnerships can bring – not just to investors and developers, but to the communities that use the final development. We’ve been involved in the partnership at Harwell for 5 years and we are proud to see continued growth and new discoveries emerging from the campus.”

Eastdil Secured acted as financial advisor to Harwell on the transaction.

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.