A new building for small and medium-sized enterprises in the science, technology, engineering, maths and medical sectors is being developed at Exeter Science Park on the outskirts of the city.
The 1275 square metre three storey building is being constructed to BREEAM Excellent standards and will provide a combination of office, production, lab and meeting space in eleven units ranging from 65 to 335 square metres.
It is intended to cater for developing businesses which are out-growing accommodation in the science park’s incubator building as well as new tenants.
£5 million of its £5.3 million cost has been met from the £900 million national Getting Building Fund, which was targeted at areas facing the biggest economic challenges as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
The fund was distributed across the UK via Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) to invest in “shovel ready” infrastructure projects which are intended to increase growth and create new jobs.
Heart of the South West LEP was allocated £35.4 million from the fund, £21 million of which was distributed between twelve projects across Devon, Somerset, Plymouth and Torbay, including the new Exeter Science Park building.
Dr Sally Basker, Exeter Science Park CEO, said: “The grow-out building is a much-needed stepping stone between the science park centre’s incubation space for small, fast-growth companies and the Lamarr, Newton, Turing and Lovelace buildings for larger, steady growth companies.
“All of these buildings have been partly funded by the Heart of the South West LEP as part of its Growth Deal programme and we have worked in partnership with it to provide businesses with the space to grow and thrive.”
Work on the building is scheduled for completion in November 2021. Work on another twelve projects that received the remaining £14.4 million from the fund is expected to begin shortly.
