Manchester Science Park will get a jumpstart on its expansion plans with a 60,000 sq. ft. block. The building will be funded in part with a £2.5m loan from the Greater Manchester Investment Fund. The amount has been conditionally agreed.
Expansion plans have been on the drawing board for three years. Former chief executive Jane Davies started working on an £18m 10-year plan at that time. It involved taking control of several plots of land located near the site and redeveloping existing facilities at the 240,000 sq. ft. site near Manchester University.
Chief Executive Rowena Burns commented in a recent statement that in the first year of trading under new management that they have “very nearly filled the entire park.” They are now looking for ways to create more space for science and technology companies to keep up with demand.
One way to accomplish this goal will be to create “The Hub,” which will be a new purpose built 60,000 sq. ft. building. It will have a multi-purpose communications hub at its core.
The new building will be made up of a variety of flexible workspaces, including offices, general purpose labs. It will also include event and networking space, all of which are suitable for a wide range of science and technology businesses. There has been significant interest already, according to Ms. Burns.
Bruntwood acquired a 51 per cent share of the park. It also owns the One Central Park incubator in Newton Heath and Turing House at Manchester Technopark in Hulme. It was founded in 1983 and was owned by Manchester City Council as well as The University of Manchester, Manchester Metropolitan University, and five other shareholders.
The main investors continue to retain an interest, and the city and University of Manchester hold 19.7 per cent. Manchester Metropolitan University has 7.3 per cent.
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