A £6.5million grant towards a new state-of-the-art life sciences complex – set to create hundreds of Nottingham jobs – has been approved by the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership.
Nottingham City Council plans to build the £31m building, on brownfield land next to the BioCity Nottingham facility on Plough Lane, in the city centre.
Building of the new facility is set to begin this summer with it to be completed in spring 2017. It is anticipated it would safeguard and create around 250 jobs in the short term in the life sciences industries, and create a further 700 jobs over a 30 year period.
(courtesy CPMG Architects) – An image of the planned bio-sciences facility.
The Council applied for £6.5m towards the project’s costs, through the Local Growth Fund managed by D2N2; which promotes economic growth and job creation in the Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, Derby and Derbyshire area.
D2N2’s £6.5m grant was agreed at a meeting of its Infrastructure and Investment Board. The new bio-sciences facility is among a number of major projects for the D2N2 area, due to be funded over the next six years through its £194m Local Growth Fund allocation from the Government.
The Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) has an over-arching target of creating 55,000 private sector jobs in ten years (by 2023). Life sciences are one of its eight ‘key sectors’ for economic growth and is highlighted in D2N2’s Strategic Economic Plan.
The new facility will provide 51,000 square feet of floor space, over five storeys, chiefly for new and recent start-up companies, working in the life sciences and bio-sciences sector.
David Ralph, Chief Executive for the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership, said: “Life sciences has proved a boom sector in Nottingham over the last ten years and it needs room to grow.
“D2N2 is committed to aiding the growth of its key sectors, life sciences being one, and so we were happy to make this major investment in the plans put forward by our local authority partner, Nottingham City Council.”
Councillor Jon Collins, Nottingham City Council Leader, added: “We are pleased that the Local Enterprise Partnership has approved this grant. It will ensure that that we can expand the BioCity complex, which is one of the most successful in the country. It will help create jobs, regenerate the east side of the city, and keep Nottingham at the forefront of life sciences’ research and development.”
BioCity, which has championed the life sciences agenda and driven its growth in Nottingham since it was established in 2002, has welcomed the news.
Director, Toby Reid, said: “We are delighted that there is further investment in the sector here in the city.
“BioCity is committed to making Nottingham, and indeed all of our sites across the UK, powerful clusters for the life sciences. That takes commitment from all of our stakeholders and partners. This news demonstrates a huge commitment from the City Council and the LEP to this sector.
“Our success is built on the success of the companies based here. We have a company survival rate of 91% at BioCity Nottingham and many fast growing companies. These companies need specialist space for expansion. This new project will provide just that.”
Nottingham City Council started preparing the site this spring. The main contractor during construction will be Willmott Dixon and the architects, CPMG of Nottingham.
The building will be designed to achieve a BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Methodology) rating, aimed at reducing its environmental impact.
For more information on D2N2’s promotion of the life sciences key sector – and to read its Life Sciences: Strategy and Action Plan (2014-2023) – see web link www.d2n2lep.org/LifeSciences
To learn more about the work of BioCity Nottingham go to its website at www.biocity.co.uk/biocity/nottingham
Media wanting further information about this news release can contact Sean Kirby, Communications Officer, on the D2N2 Newsdesk on 0115 9578749 or email: sean.kirby@d2n2lep.org
