Plans worth £200m revealed by Imperial College London and Bruntwood SciTech
Imperial College London is to build a life sciences and deep tech development worth over £200m in the west of the capital after partnering with Bruntwood SciTech.
The university has earmarked land at its White City Deep Tech Campus after signing an agreement with the joint venture between property group Bruntwood, Legal & General and the Greater Manchester Pension Fund.
The project will deliver ‘world-class’ labs and workspaces where deep tech start-ups, scale-ups and global businesses can ‘co-locate, collaborate and grow’ with Imperial’s academics, clinicians and researchers.
It will see a new commercial innovation facility spanning at least 200,000 sq ft created while the project marks Bruntwood SciTech’s entry into London for the first time.
Further details about the building and how many jobs the project could create have not been revealed.
The facility is expected to provide access to Bruntwood SciTech’s network of academic, clinical, and innovation partners, investment support and growth programmes.
The new centre is also designed to be net zero carbon in construction and operation in its communal spaces.
Bruntwood SciTech will also provide 100 per cent renewable energy across all shared areas in keeping with its entire 4.8m sq ft portfolio.
If planning permission is granted, constriction is anticipated to start in 2026.
The news comes just over a year after Bruntwood SciTech secured a £500m investment and welcomed the UK’s largest local authority pension fund, Greater Manchester Pension Fund, as a shareholder.
The project also forms part of the joint venture’s target to create a £5bn UK-wide portfolio that supports 2,600 high-growth businesses by 2032.
Bruntwood is a Manchester-headquartered group led by chief executive Chris Oglesby who was awarded an OBE in the King’s Birthday Honours List last year.
The property group owns almost 100 landmark buildings and commercial spaces across Greater Manchester, Cheshire, Liverpool, Birmingham, Leeds and Glasgow.
The Bruntwood SciTech joint venture supports 1,100 life science, tech and innovation-led businesses across nine campuses and 31 city centre hubs.
‘A hugely ambitious project’
Chris Oglesby, CEO of Bruntwood SciTech, said: “Having the opportunity to partner with Imperial to deliver the next phase of their world-leading science and technology campus is a tremendous accolade.
“It is also testament to our work over the last year to deliver on our commitments to driving forward the UK’s innovation economy through our existing work in Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool and Cambridge and buoyed by momentum from our £500m investment, coupled with the strength of our ongoing partnerships with leading educational and public sector institutions.
“The White City Campus is a hugely ambitious project that will help propel the UK to the
forefront of innovation.
“Having worked to become deeply embedded in the knowledge economies of the UK’s leading regional cities and creating successful city-wide innovation ecosystems, it is now the perfect time for us to expand into London.
“This new, joined up approach between the capital and the UK’s fastest growing regional cities will enable businesses to harness the power of the collective and encourage companies of all sizes to consider the UK as their first choice for future investment.”
‘A powerful engine for investment’
Professor Hugh Brady, president of Imperial College London, added: “This new facility will connect world-leading discovery research with incubators, accelerators, startups, scale-ups and industry, and be a place where researchers and entrepreneurs work together on the rapid translation of ideas to impact.
“It is an important investment in our vision for the Imperial WestTech Corridor, a new globally competitive deep tech innovation ecosystem in West London that will act as a powerful engine for investment, inclusive economic growth, and job creation at a local, regional, and
national level.”
The partnership follows the completion of the first phase of Imperial’s White City Deep Tech Campus, which provides research facilities for academics alongside space and support for early-stage companies.
It includes 1.5m sq ft of research, office and lab space and student accommodation already occupied.
More than 5,000 staff, students, businesses and organisations are based at the White City
Deep Tech Campus and are working in areas such as AI, medtech, engineering biology, chemistry and climate science.
The campus is part of the White City Innovation District and is located alongside the former BBC Television Centre and White City Place.
The new innovation centre will ultimately form part of Imperial’s £2bn investment
commitment at the campus, of which a third has already been delivered.
Once complete, the White City Deep Tech Campus will span 23 acres and offer 3.8m sq ft of academic, commercial, R&D, clinical, residential, retail and leisure space for more than 25,000 people.
Bruntwood SciTech was advised by JLL and Addleshaw Goddard, while Imperial was
advised by Eastdil Secured, CMS and Freshfields.
‘Turn more bright ideas into fully-fledged businesses’
Science and technology secretary Peter Kyle said: “This partnership demonstrates the potential that can be unlocked when we combine the expertise of world-leading academics and researchers with the private sector.
“Working together, they can bring more advanced technologies from the lab to the market and turn more bright ideas into fully-fledged businesses.
“The innovation hub will be a great addition to Imperial’s White City Campus, which I have
seen first-hand, with state-of-the art facilities that will cement the UK’s place as a top
destination for businesses to grow.
“With the best resources, the researchers here will unlock new job opportunities and strengthen our economy, building on the investments showcased at the International Investment Summit.”
‘Huge vote of confidence in STEM’
Cllr Stephen Cowan, leader of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham, added: “This landmark £200m investment from Bruntwood SciTech in the White City Innovation District is another huge vote of confidence in our transformative science, technology, engineering, maths, medicine and media (STEM) industrial strategy.
“Bruntwood SciTech has a formidable track record in delivering key technology infrastructure projects.
“Their team includes dedicated science officers with a deep understanding of the UK’s research, academic and government sectors and their infrastructure needs.
“Since launching our unique Industrial Strategy with Imperial College in 2017, H&F has attracted more than £6bn of investment.
“To provide context, that’s more than all the rest of West London combined. We set out to bring our residents and their children the best new STEM jobs in the industries of the future.
“This investment is another indication that our strategy is working – and we’re just getting started.”