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New laboratories and offices open for business at world class science centre

Issued on behalf of the NRP Innovation Centre
Date:  4 August 2010

The NRP Innovation Centre at the Norwich Research Park (NRP) in Norfolk (UK) opened for business today (4th August 2010) following a £5m investment in brand new laboratory and office facilities for expanding science and innovation businesses.

The NRP Innovation Centre is the first phase of the Norwich Research Park’s ambitious plans to create 5000 jobs in the next 10 years. Over 30 office and laboratory units have been constructed and fitted out in a totally refurbished and customised 4,215 sq m (43,000 sq ft) three-storey building, located on the NRP. The facilities have been designed to attract businesses working in science and science-related disciplines looking to grow in a world class science cluster.

The Norwich Research Park is Europe’s leading centre for research in food, health and environmental sciences. Nearly 3000 scientists are already based on the NRP in science research institutes, which include the John Innes Centre, Institute of Food Research, the Sainsbury Laboratory, the Genome Analysis Centre and the University of East Anglia, as well as a number of science and innovation businesses.

NRP Innovation Centre project chairman, Alan Giles, said: “The NRP Innovation Centre provides a first class working environment in one of Europe’s top science parks and we are looking to attract tenants from all areas of science throughout the UK, Europe and further afield. This investment underlines the economic value of research to the Norfolk and East of England economy.”

This month, the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is to move its microbiology service to the NRP Innovation Centre, in a development that strengthens the city’s European expertise in microbiology.

Anna Dugdale, Chief Executive of NNUH said;  “Medical microbiology is a vital part of our hospital service as a provider of secondary and tertiary acute care.  The diagnosis, prevention and care of patients with infectious diseases, acquired both in and out of our hospital, is a very high priority.  The new laboratory reflects the importance we attach to this specialty and will allow us to continue to attract the very best technicians, scientists and clinicians.”

Medical director Krishna Sethia said: "The Norwich Research Park is already home to Europe's largest concentration of microbiologists but a missing part of the jigsaw has been expertise in medical microbiology. We are pleased and excited about the possibilities this move to the NRP Innovation Centre brings in terms of not only providing a continued high quality microbiology service for the hospital but also fostering more combined research and development that will unlock benefits to patients."

The NRP Innovation Centre complements the NRP-based Norwich Bio-Incubator (NorBio), a modern, world-class facility that already provides laboratory and office facilities for start up businesses, including national award winning companies, in a number of disciplines including forensics, ecology consulting, pharmaceuticals, genetics, science related publishing and other supporting services.  

NRP Innovation Centre project co-ordinator, John Irving, added: “NorBio provides facilities for start up organisations. With the NRP Innovation Centre we can now offer larger premises for businesses at the next stage of their development. It will provide us with the strong foundations for positioning the Norwich Research Park as one of Europe’s first choice science parks for science entrepreneurs. There are already nearly 3000 scientists working on the NRP within a radius of just one kilometre, which demonstrates the concentration of expertise, underlined by the NRP’s world leading position in health, food and environmental science.”

Funding for the NRP Innovation Centre was provided by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), the East of England Development Agency (EEDA), The Greater Norwich Development Partnership, the University of East Anglia and the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

David Parfrey, BBSRC Director of Finance and director of CIL said: “Norfolk is home to world-class science and is growing in reputation as a key location for researchers and science based industries.”

The NRP Innovation Centre’s website is at www.nrpic.com.

ends

Press contacts:
NRP Innovation Centre
Peter Treglown | FOUR public relations | E: peter@fouragency.co.uk |
T: 01603 627294 | M: 07768 176622

 

Notes for editors:

The NRP Innovation Centre is managed by Colney Innovations Limited (CIL), a company jointly owned by BBSRC, University of East Anglia, John Innes Centre and the Institute of Food Research, formed to manage the new facilities with the objective of providing ‘follow-on’ space on commercial terms for science related companies based on the Norwich Research Park. CIL will also manage the existing Norwich Bio-Incubator business, also based on the NRP, and owned by the John Innes Foundation. 

The Norwich Research Park is a partnership between the University of East Anglia, the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, and four research centres: the John Innes Centre, the Institute of Food Research, the Sainsbury Laboratory and The Genome Analysis Centre. For further information visit www.nrp.org.uk.

The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) is the UK funding agency for research in the life sciences. Sponsored by Government, BBSRC annually invests around £470 million in a wide range of research that makes a significant contribution to the quality of life in the UK and beyond and supports a number of important industrial stakeholders, including the agriculture, food, chemical, healthcare and pharmaceutical sectors.

BBSRC provides institute strategic research grants to the following:

The Babraham Institute, Institute for Animal Health, Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Studies (Aberystwyth University), Institute of Food Research, John Innes Centre, Rothamsted Research, The Genome Analysis Centre and The Roslin Institute (University of Edinburgh). The Institutes conduct long-term, mission-oriented research using specialist facilities. They have strong interactions with industry, Government departments and other end-users of their research. For further information visit www.bbsrc.ac.uk.

The East of England Development Agency (EEDA) is the driving force behind sustainable economic regeneration in the East of England: Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk. EEDA’s vision is for the East of England to be an ideas driven region that is internationally competitive, harnesses the talent of all and is at the forefront of the low carbon economy. For further information visit www.eeda.org.uk.

Broadland District Council, Norwich City Council, South Norfolk Council, and Norfolk County Council have been working together with the Broads Authority as the Greater Norwich Development Partnership (GNDP) to help manage growth plans for the three districts. For further information visit www.gndp.org.uk.

The Institute of Food Research (IFR) is a world leader in research into harnessing food for health and controlling food-related diseases. It is an Institute of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC). For further information visit www.ifr.ac.uk.

John Innes Centre (JIC). The core of JIC's mission is to conduct leading-edge fundamental and strategic research relating to the understanding and exploitation of plants and microbes. It is an Institute of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC). For further information visit www.jic.ac.uk.

John Innes Foundation (JIF) is an independent charity formed in 1910 following a bequest from John Innes, a merchant in the City of London.  In 1910 the Foundation founded the John Innes Horticultural Institution at Merton, London, moving to Bayfordbury, Hertfordshire in 1945, and then, in 1966-67 to its present site in Colney, Norfolk.  In April 1994 the John Innes Institute, Cambridge Laboratory and Nitrogen Fixation Laboratory were merged to form the John Innes Centre (JIC). As part of the arrangements for the merger, JIF gifted the assets of the John Innes Institute to JIC and leased the Norwich site to JIC for 50 years at an annual rental of one tree.

The University of East Anglia, founded in 1963, directly employs around 3000 full-time staff, has over 14,000 students and an annual income of some £170 million. It is estimated to be responsible for indirect employment of some 3300 people outside the institution and generates direct and indirect economic impact of around £420 million. The University has a longstanding reputation for world-class research, particularly in the environmental sciences. In a survey of geosciences papers over the last decade, UEA came third after Harvard and Princeton for the number of papers produced, number of citations and citations per paper. (Thomson Reuters Essential Science Indicators 2009, reported in Times Higher Education, 19 November 2009).
For further information visit www.uea.ac.uk.