Work begins on a state-of-the-art life science building, expected to create 100’s of highly skilled jobs in the city.
Contracts between BioCity Group Ltd. and Nottingham City Council have recently been signed, allowing the work to begin.
The five-storey building will accompany the current, BioCity site on Pennyfoot Street, as part of an expansion.
The development is believed to help regenerate the east side of the city and bring job opportunities during and after its construction.
Haemostatix is one of the companies to be based within the newly expanding building, which will be employing new staff.
Picture: Ben Nicols, CEO of Haemostatix believes Notingham is becoming a centre of excellence for science.
Ben Nichols, CEO of Haemostatix says: ‘We are developing a new type of product which will be used to prevent bleeding in surgery. It’s exciting as it will stop bleeding very quickly and it’s synthetic, so it doesn’t expose patients to contamination risks’.
‘The new building is a statement of the confidence of the city in the centre. I think Nottingham is becoming a centre of excellence for life science companies and the new building is an expression of that’.
The new building’s design includes a sunscreen created by acclaimed local artist Wolfgang Buttress. It will also be environmental friendly, as it’s energy needs will be provided from burning the city’s waste, using a district heating system.
“This significant development will cement our position as the UK’s fastest-growing life science community, bringing new investment and job opportunities in one of our key growth sectors.”
-Councillor Jon Collins, Leader of Nottingham City Council and Portfolio Holder for Strategic Regeneration
The facility will help to bring more life science employers to Nottingham. Around 250 specialist bioscience jobs will be created and safeguarded, with 700 more created over a 30-year period, often suitable for graduates from Nottingham’s universities.
Toby Reid, Operations Director at BioCity said: “This is a real statement of intent for Nottingham as a leader in the life sciences sector.”
“Not only have we ensured that a company of the standing of Sygnature Discovery has remained here as a beacon of excellence in the sector but we’ve also been able to create further space to accommodate our own growth and that of the next generation of innovative entrepreneurs”.
Furthermore, Sygnature Discovery, which is currently based in the Laurus building of BioCity has announced it will be part of the expansion.
The company will take up more than half of the space in the building, as part of a plan to increase numbers of Nottingham scientists and support staff by 70 before 2018.
The increase will take the number of scientists and support staff to over 200, cementing Nottingham’s reputation as a leading provider of advanced scientific expertise to the pharmaceutical and biotech industries.
The work is expected to be complete in Spring 2017.
