The venture has acquired 1 Temple Way in Bristol, with plans to develop a 135,000 sq ft life sciences real estate facility. The scheme will be delivered speculatively. The building is located at the core of Bristol’s tech and science district, near Bristol University’s new enterprise campus.

Bristol has a burgeoning life sciences scene. It's home to 94 life science companies while the broader South West region is home to 352 life science companies and employs 5% of the national life sciences workforce.

Bristol is the base for successful life science companies like Ziylo, who were acquired by Novo Nordisk in 2018 for $800mn, and KWS BioTest who were acquired by Charles River Laboratories International for $25mn, also in 2018.

A few reasons why Bristol is an attractive life sciences cluster

It's recognised as a leader in innovation

Knight Frank’s UK Cities 2022 report found that Bristol ranked seventh out of 28 regional UK cities for innovation. It was ranked third for its innovation infrastructure. This was based on the quality of Bristol’s universities, research institutions, start-up accelerators and funding bodies.

The University of Bristol is ranked 5th in the UK for the strength and impact of its research. It operates, or is a key partner, in a number of research institutes and specialist facilities including:

• BrisSynBio, a £13.6m BBSRC/EPSRC-funded synthetic biology centre
• The £10mn MRC-funded Integrative Epidemiology Unit
• The Wolfson Bioimaging facility
• The Max Planck centre for minimal biology.

UWE is home to a robotics innovation facility and lab which is the largest facility of its kind in the UK. It is also home to the health tech hub that provides lab space and facilities for businesses to develop health technologies in collaboration with the university. 

It has a strong and growing talent pool

According to Oxford Economics, by 2030 the number of people employed in professional, scientific or tech-based roles is set to grow by 15%.

It's well-placed to capitalise on the convergence between tech and life sciences

A recent report using data from Dealroom named the city among the top 20 European tech hubs for venture capital funding, with its tech firms raising £220mn in the first five months of the year. The city is home to 430 tech companies which employ over 8,000 people.

Bristol is the best UK university for spin-out success

The University of Bristol is very successful at spinning-out successful companies, generating higher average returns on investment than those of any other UK university. They offer a number of different funding options along with affordable space.

It's a good place to engage with the NHS

University Hospitals Bristol NHS Trust is one of the largest NHS Trusts in the UK, made up of 8 hospitals. It's also the major teaching and research centre for the South West of England. The North Bristol NHS Trust has over 7,000 patients engaged in research each year.

A number of networks bring the NHS together with industry and academia to collaborate on research, clinical trials and the commercialisation of ideas. These include the Bristol Health Partners, The West of England Academic Health Science Network and the NIRH Bristol Biomedical Research Centre (one of only 20 in the UK). 

For more information on Bristol’s life science sector contact Andy Smith. For more information on the UK’s growing life sciences sector contact Emma Goodford.