GSK has today announced that it has formally started the process of seeking a development partner to transform land within the company’s existing 92-acre Research & Development site in Stevenage into one of Europe’s largest ‘clusters’ for biotechnology and other early-stage life science companies.

• Plan aims to unlock up to £400 million of new private investment and create up to 5,000 new highly-skilled jobs over next decade
• Stevenage could become one of Europe’s largest ‘clusters’ for biotechnology and other early-stage life science companies
• Vision for campus developed in partnership with Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst, UK Government and Stevenage Borough Council; GSK to make 33 acres of land available for development at the company’s R&D site in Stevenage

GlaxoSmithKine to create 5,000 jobs in Stevenage

Roberto Perrone interviews Adrian Hawkins OBE, Chair of Stevenage Development Board about the GSK announcement and what it means for Stevenage

Click on the player above to hear the radio interview

The vision for the new campus has been developed in partnership with Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst (SBC), the UK Government, Stevenage Borough Council and the Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), and would build on the existing presence of GSK, the Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult and the SBC on the site.

As part of proposals set out today, GSK is looking to sell the 33 acres of land, with an aim to subsequently unlock up to £400 million in new investment from a private sector developer to build the new campus and potentially create up to 5,000 highly-skilled jobs, over the next five to ten years. The company expects to select a development partner later this year, with a view for work to begin on master planning for the new campus in 2022.

Tony Wood, Senior Vice President, Medicinal Science & Technology, GSK said: “The past 18 months has shown the UK life sciences sector at its best and the UK has recently unveiled an ambitious 10-year vision for the UK life sciences sector. Our goal is for Stevenage to emerge as a top destination for medical and scientific research by the end of the decade. We are excited to find a development partner to realise our vision to foster the next generation of world-class scientists and biotechnology firms in Britain.”

If successful, the new campus could attract several world-class research organisations to Stevenage, creating exciting opportunities for collaboration in a state of the art, life science ecosystem. The highly-successful Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult and Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst are both already on the site and have attracted a number of successful start-ups which collectively have raised around £1.6 billion of funding. These organisations were set up with a mixture of public and private sector support – including from GSK – and are both involved in the plans which should enable their expansion.

Dr Sally Ann Forsyth OBE, Chief Executive Officer, Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst said: “Stevenage is already a leading location for life science companies to develop and commercialise cutting edge therapeutics. Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst is home to over 40 companies, and today’s proposal presents exciting opportunities to build on this by supporting their growth, attracting new organisations to the ecosystem and facilitating further collaboration with world-class organisations. We look forward to working with GSK and other partners to further develop the thriving life sciences campus in Stevenage.”

The new campus – which would sit next to GSK’s existing site at Stevenage – could ultimately deliver 100,000 square metres of new floorspace for commercial life sciences research and development.

As one of its two global R&D hubs, Stevenage is a key location for GSK, employing world-class scientists and driving cutting-edge innovation. It is already the UK’s largest cell and gene therapy cluster, the third largest globally and includes GSK R&D activities in the field. The plan is expected to build on these strengths.

Councillor Sharon Taylor OBE, Leader of Stevenage Borough Council said: “I am deeply proud that Stevenage is home to a world-leading life science cluster and welcome plans for a new life sciences campus. This will cement our standing as a leading STEM location within the UK. As we recover from the Covid-19 pandemic, it is vital that we create new, quality jobs and opportunities for our town and our country. Our shared commitment is to make Stevenage even better, working with businesses, residents, community groups and partners to help regenerate the town and create many new jobs and opportunities for local people. We look forward to continuing our work with the life sciences sector to make Stevenage a leading light in the discovery and development of the medicines of the future.”

Mark Bretton, Chair, Hertfordshire LEP and Chair, LEP Network, said: “Our investment in the Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult and Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst has consolidated Stevenage’s position as a globally recognised hub for cell and gene therapy, attracting international companies with the potential to create thousands of high-level jobs. Hertfordshire LEP played a pivotal role in securing Stevenage’s Life Sciences Opportunity Zone and High Potential Opportunities recognition. This exciting new development will be a key component of our Cell & Gene Cluster Plan, ensuring continued growth and investment for the area.”

Adrian Hawkins OBE, the independent Chair of the Stevenage Development Board said: “Our highly successful Towns Fund bid fully recognises the importance of the STEM sector organisations based in Stevenage and how they can provide an excellent opportunity, to level up and secure long term social mobility for local people within Stevenage and the broader North Herts area. The Hertfordshire LEP and County Council, have regularly worked with both central Government and the Stevenage Borough Council to facilitate the delivery of both the Catalyst and the Catapult within the GSK Stevenage site and this announcement of an additional space allocation, will bring many more successful start-ups to Stevenage and enable the scale-up of companies already based in the Town. This development cannot fail to further enhance Skill levels locally and provide the opportunity for all our residents to achieve beneficial employment, at the same time as an exciting career in the Life Science and Advanced Engineering sectors.

GSK’s existing R&D operations at Stevenage are un-affected by the development plans announced today, which will also require the expansion of the public road gyratory to improve access to the site.

About GSK

GSK is a science-led global healthcare company. For further information please visit www.gsk.com/about-us.

There suddenly appears to be a new found wealth that is driving this desire for closer proximity to the electorate. Whilst billions of pounds have been set aside to support the Covid pandemic and facilitate growth post pandemic, we appear to have found a new confidence in our ability to fund activities despite the level of debt shouldered by most G7 countries. Has our Government gone “Crypto” is the Britcoin a reality to follow the unfettered Bitcoin? Whilst I applaud the support for many businesses provided by Government during Covid, is there a plan at any time afterwards to balance the books?

Will we be faced with redundancies or resignations following the removal of furlough? We are riding high on state aid for our homesteads, but once the guaranteed income is removed will businesses reach that make or break tipping point and reduce their staff levels or will they equally be faced with a deluge of resignations in a restricted labour market? It is my belief that we are facing a false dawn. Remove the enforced Covid arrangements and the new normal will be business as usual. The Hospitality sector in particular has been the first casualty resulting from the labour shortage created by Covid where many overseas workers have returned to the safety of their families in their native countries to see out the pandemic. Returning to the UK has been made much more difficult following immigration rules introduced in the meantime created by Brexit. This has skewed our thinking around unemployment in particular and will stimulate wage increases at this end of the employment market.

Rising house prices resulting from a greater appreciation of the countryside and the need for social distancing, home working offices and a garden, will place greater pressures on many other employers to increase wages. The more than a million empty homes in England and the more than one million homes with planning permission yet to be developed, might become the new wasteland of oversupply, once the impact of higher wages finds its way to consumer pricing, driving up inflation.

Those with the requisite skills will benefit from this “brave new world” ahead and really should take the opportunity to take the offer from the highest bidder to support their families new way of life. Indeed many may love the option of continued home working and others may desire a return to the old ways which may also be the arbiter of change for the future. The people will decide what is right for them and the companies likewise. Decisions around redundancies have been clearly delayed by the furlough scheme, but soon these decisions must be made as we near the opportunity for the resumption of normal service by business and the various safety nets are removed.

And at the point where obfuscation becomes the order of the day, is this the moment when devolution makes more sense again? Will we see a return of decision making back to the regions once the money supply tightens and pleading poverty becomes the new order of the day? The Government will likely have little choice. We are very likely to see rising inflation, higher levels of unemployment a spate of Company closures and a continuance of some Covid measures as public sympathy for Government turns to enmity. We will require structured tendering from Regions once more as the political blame game starts again and Government hastens its departure from their previous decisions.

Business as usual following the release of pent up demand will return with vengeance and it will fall to businesses across the land to foot the eventual bill for the necessary profligacy that the pandemic has incurred. It’s time to create the action plan wherever you sit in all of this and make the right play in what will be a new way of operating for us all.

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