The University of Bath and South Gloucestershire Council have teamed up to successfully purchase the Bristol & Bath Science Park in a joint £18 million bid.
The new owners will use their complementary strengths, expertise and networks to fully realise the Park’s potential as a centre of excellence for research and development across the region.
As a regional asset, the Science Park will provide an innovative space for businesses, helping to further strengthen the South West’s position as a hub for sustainable economic growth.
The Science Park will also be home to the Institute for Advanced Automotive Propulsion Systems (IAAPS). The University of Bath was awarded £38.9 million to develop this £60 million facility which will be a world-leading centre of excellence for research into future advanced propulsion systems. The Institute will exploit the engineering expertise of the University of Bath for the benefit of the UK’s automotive industry. IAAPS is projected to stimulate over £67 million in additional automotive research investment by 2025, creating a further turnover of £800 million for the UK automotive sector and supporting nearly 1,900 new highly productive jobs.
The University of Bath will also work closely with the University of Bristol to exploit the synergies created by the co-location of the NCC and IAAPS on the Science Park.
Vice-President (Implementation) at the University of Bath, Professor Steve Egan, said: “Purchasing the Science Park is an important step in the realisation of our University Strategy. It will enable us to increase our research activity to address global problems. It will contribute to business and technology development across our region as well as providing additional capacity and facilities to complement those on our Claverton campus, in London and in Bath city centre.”
Leader of South Gloucestershire Council, Toby Savage, said: “The Science Park in Emersons Green is a world-class centre for science and technology businesses to grow and prosper and is already home to a wide variety of innovative and inspirational start-ups.”
The University of Bath offers research and development expertise to over 700 industrial partners. It is a hub for business creation through its membership of the world-leading SET-squared business incubation consortium, which since its launch, has developed over 1,000 high tech start-ups and helped them secure over £1 billion in investment.
Shona Wright
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