Science Parks
Where research and business meet: how commercial property expertise can help science parks find the right chemistry
Two words lie at the heart of the UK’s science parks: ‘incubation’ and ‘innovation’. Those two words define the focus of each and every park, regardless of their geographic locations, academic affiliations and scientific endeavours.
‘Incubation’ describes the commercial nursery that science
parks can provide for fledgling businesses to develop into major companies, especially those start-ups devised or energised by scientists emerging from university and looking to take their talents into the market.
Without that space to incubate their ideas and business,
there’s a stifling of the innovation that science parks can inspire through bespoke state-of-the-art facilities, collaboration, and mixing with fellow scientists and entrepreneurs.
It’s a process that is crucial for regional economies to retain generations of skilled people – and more widely for UK plc as a nation battling to stay at the forefront of scientific endeavour.
Science parks are all the more significant in the face of the national science, engineering, technology and maths (STEM) skills shortage and all the implications this brings for the UK’s competitiveness in the world.
The significance of building these strong foundations bestows a huge importance on taking seriously the underlying management of the commercial property and facilities that science parks provide. Without decent, well-run facilities, progress is impossible.
Fortunately, science parks are united in their commitment to nurturing home-grown talent: providing the perfect environment for the creation and evolution of new businesses from research and development.
But while that centre-for-excellence spirit may unite all parks,
arguably only a few recognise that this meeting point of academia and business needs sound professional advice when it comes to managing and maximising their premises.
Not many science parks have yet seen how drawing on
property expertise can sharpen focus on their core operations of cultivating their tenants’ scientific growth and business success, making them more nimble and less susceptible to the brakes of bureaucracy.
To reach that optimum level, however, requires a particular commercial chemistry that is different for every science park. It varies depending on tenants upon the park, type of specialist accommodation available, and flexible lease terms.
And it takes a property consultancy with direct experience of working with science parks to understand their specialist
18 requirements and offer a highly bespoke suite of services.
Such services can span a wide spectrum, but each part can be crucial to the success of a science park – and its tenants. It might include facilities management to comprise of the day-to- day running of the park, assistance with fit-out works for new tenants and dilapidations at the end of a tenant’s lease.
Support for treasury management enables flexibility, which is important due to occupiers needing to relocate on a frequent basis, while advice can be crucial too on the legal terms of occupation, covering such aspects as short leases, breaks, service charges, alienations, etc.
Professional expertise might extend to the provision of building consultancy – particularly for large projects or dilapidations – and business space for larger lettings or purchase, and rating. By its very nature, such advice needs to be flexible and fully scaleable, as well as specialist: recognising and responding to the fast-changing needs for both ‘hub’ and ‘wheel’.
Ideally, the consultant will have direct experience of facilities management in a scientific area, and for a multiple-serviced location. Ultimately it means relevant and transferable knowledge from working with other similar properties.
At a glance: property services for science parks Land acquisition – from site identification, negotiation,
through to purchase
Rating advice and support Refit and refurbishment on existing properties, including CDM expertise
Dilapidations Valuation Treasury management Facilities management Business space letting General property consultancy Supporting marketing campaigns
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