Harwell Science and Innovation Campus to expand facilities with £7.4 million funding from Santander

The programme will result in new businesses locating to the facility, the expansion of organisations already on site and the creation of thousands of new jobs.

During the 1940s Harwell was a World War 2 RAF air base and is now dedicated to science and technology, with a unique combination of world class facilities, open source national laboratories and supercomputing resources. Research and testing at the campus encompasses five key clusters of work: space and satellite applications; life sciences and health tech; big data and supercomputing; energy and environment; and advanced engineering and materials. Some 5,500 people work on the campus across 200+ organisations.

The focus is for the physical growth of the campus over the coming years. One million sq ft of new buildings are planned over the next five years, with a mix of industrial, laboratory and office facilities. The UK government recently announced a £100 million investment in the Rosalind Franklin institute, an innovative centre to develop treatments and technologies to cure diseases, which will be based at Harwell. The campus is also set to benefit from the government’s latest UK Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund investment of £1 billion over four years which will direct funding into six cutting edge technologies including satellites and space technology, healthcare, medicine, robotics, batteries and materials of the future.

Santander Corporate & Commercial has supported the campus with a number of funding options over the years to allow Harwell to build new facilities including office space and laboratories. The latest funding worth £7.4 million will allow Harwell to refurbish outdated RAF buildings to provide a new headquarters for the campus and further lettable office space.

William Cooper, Partner in the joint venture at Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, said:

We have developed a strong relationship with Santander and the bank’s continued support has resulted in a number of new facilities for our partner organisations and significant job creation. The latest round of funding will result in an attractive new HQ for us at the campus and help us increase our revenue over the coming years with lettable office space.

Lance Anelay, Relationship Director, Santander Real Estate, commented:

Harwell is an innovative campus which is spearheading new scientific and technological developments to aid everything from space and satellites to disease prevention. We look forward to seeing the refurbished buildings when they are complete and hope to work with William and the team in the future.

Photograph courtesy of Harwell Campus.