Place Projects - 18 June 2015

£6.5million grant towards new life sciences facility agreed by D2N2

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.

Bioscience Extension

(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

Latest News & Events

05 December 2023

Made Smarter East Midlands welcomes Government’s £4.5 billion investment in manufacturing

Read Article

29 November 2023

D2N2 LEP Annual Event and AGM, 7 December 2023 12 – 2.30pm: last call for registrations

Read Article

22 November 2023

D2N2 LEP welcomes the announcement of an East Midlands Investment Zone in the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement

Read Article

22 November 2023

Creative businesses in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire set to benefit from funding to help them thrive

Read Article

16 November 2023

New showreel videos promote the impact of the D2N2 Growth Hub

Read Article

15 November 2023

Charter for Inclusive Entrepreneurship, supported by D2N2, launches nationally to minimise barriers to business for under-represented groups

Read Article

10 November 2023

D2N2 LEP Chair, Elizabeth Fagan, shares her thoughts on the strategy and plans for East Midlands devolution, on track to happen in Spring 2024

Read Article

10 November 2023

David Williams, Deputy Chair of D2N2 LEP, receives his MBE in Derbyshire

Read Article

30 October 2023

Mark Rogers, Interim Chief Officer for the East Midlands Devolution Programme, to speak at D2N2 Annual Event and AGM

Read Article

27 October 2023

Milestone achieved for East Midlands devolution

Read Article

Get in touch.

Subscribe to our newsletter

Sign up
Address

D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership
8 Experian Way
Nottingham
Nottinghamshire
NG2 1EP

Social

Our Partners