British Land : establishes Innovation Advisory Council to support continued growth in life science and innovation sectors

31 May 2023

British Land has established an Innovation Advisory Council to support its continued growth in the life science and innovation sectors. The Council is formed of five leading academics and executives, and British Land will benefit from their expertise and networks as it delivers 1.9 million sq ft of lab and innovation space.

Lynn Gladden, Shell Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Cambridge and Non-Executive Director at British Land, will chair the Council providing her unique insight to support British Land in this space.

Lynn will be joined by Sam Barrell, Deputy Chief Executive of The Francis Crick Institute; Ian Campbell, Executive Director at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology; Bernard Taylor, member of the Advisory Board of the Royal Society and a Director of the ERA Foundation; and Tim Whitley, MD of Applied Research at BT. Between them, the Council has experience across life sciences, healthcare, energy transition technologies, future telecomms and venture capital. Full biographies are provided below.

British Land is focused on delivering best in class space for customers in high growth life science and innovation sectors in London and across the Golden Triangle (London, Oxford and Cambridge) where supply is constrained. In addition to lab enabled space already delivered at Regent's Place and Canada Water, we have a significant pipeline of 1.9 million sq ft of lab and innovation space within our existing portfolio and expect to deliver around 200,000 sq ft by the end of this financial year.

Simon Carter, Chief Executive of British Land said: "As we expand in this area, we are privileged to have some of the best and brightest minds across the life science and innovation sectors to advise and guide us on our journey. Our portfolio of high quality assets across Regent's Place, Canada Water and Cambridge, combined with our expertise in asset management, development and campuses, means we are uniquely positioned to meet demand for well-located, well-connected and highly sustainable work and lab space for these growing sectors."

Lynn Gladden, Shell Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Cambridge and Non-Executive Director at British Land, said "The Council will be instrumental in supporting British Land's continued growth in life sciences and innovation sectors. We believe that British Land has the right assets in the right places as well as the operational capabilities to meet the demand for high quality and well-managed space that provides the flexibility for businesses to grow and interact with one another. The Council members have deep knowledge and practical experience of the needs and aspirations of the life sciences and innovation communities. They also bring experience of creating, and attracting investment into, research and innovation ecosystems across the Golden Triangle and insights into innovation ecosystems at the national and international scale."

Located at the heart of London's Knowledge Quarter, Regent's Place is uniquely positioned to support the growth of life science and innovation businesses given the importance of proximity to research and education organisations. The Campus is located moments from the Crick Institute, University College London Hospital, Great Ormond Street Hospital, The Wellcome Trust and the Alan Turing Institute. It is home to Meta, information technology business Atos, biology and machine learning firm Relation Therapeutics and biotech business FabricNano.

At Canada Water we are attracting customers from across the innovation sectors. Alongside TEDI-London, a new engineering higher education enterprise co-founded by King's College London, Arizona State University and UNSW Sydney, we are delivering 33,000 sq ft of modular lab space known as The Paper Yard, built in just nine months. In addition, architects Stanton Williams were recently appointed to design 300,000 sq ft of workspace for life science and innovation businesses at the campus.

At the Peterhouse Technology Park in Cambridge we recently received planning permission for a lab enabled building in the next phase of the campus, which we expect to commence in the summer. This year we signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Cambridge Biomedical Campus Ltd to be a Partner in Masterplanning at the campus.

We are also on site with an 83,000 sq ft life sciences development at The Priestley Centre in Guildford which will be a mix of office and lab space.

Members of the Council have been appointed for an initial term of two years and on a remunerated basis.

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Media Enquiries:

Charlotte Whitley, British Land - 07887 802 535

Giles Barrie, FTI Consulting - 07798 926 814

British Land Innovation Advisory Board - Member Biographies

Lynn Gladden is recognised as an authority in working at the interface of advanced technology and industry. She is Shell Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Cambridge and was Pro-Vice Chancellor for Research at Cambridge 2010-2015. In 2018 she was appointed Executive Chair of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, one of the funding agencies within UKRI. She is also a fellow of the Royal Society and Royal Academy of Engineering, and a member of the US National Academy of Engineering. She has been a Non-Executive Director at British Land since 2014 and has also been a Non-Executive Director at IP Group plc.

Sam Barrell is the Deputy Chief Executive Officer of The Francis Crick Institute and is responsible for leading the operational management and running of the organisation. She joined the Crick in September 2017 from a career in the NHS as a noted healthcare leader. She is a Non-Executive Director for Assura plc and York Health Economics Consortium. Sam was previously Chief Executive of the Taunton and Somerset NHS Foundation Trust. Before that, she was the Accountable Officer and led the formation of the South Devon and Torbay Clinical Commissioning Group. Sam was awarded the CBE in 2014 for services to healthcare.

Ian Campbell is Executive Director at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, a Non-Executive Director at Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult and an advisor to Cumulus Neuroscience. Previously, Ian was Interim Executive Chair for Innovate UK and Director of the Health and Life Sciences Ageing Society. Ian led the initiative to secure Covid-19 response packages from the British government in 2020 to support thousands of UK businesses to survive and thrive through the pandemic.

Bernard Taylor has over 40 years of experience in managing and providing corporate finance advice to major international companies. He was previously Vice Chairman of JP Morgan Chase and CEO of Evercore. He is a retired member of the Council of the University of Oxford (trustee) and a current member of the University's Remuneration Committee, Finance Committee, Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences Division Board, Medical Sciences Division Board and a Director of Oxford University Endowment Management. Bernard holds an MA in Chemistry and Doctorate in Civil Law, honoris causa, from the University of Oxford, and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry.

Tim Whitley is MD of Research and Network Strategy at BT and with over 40 years of experience in telecommunications research and strategy is a recognised leader in the world of telecommunication. A visiting Professor with the University of Essex and BT William Pitt Fellow at Pembroke college Cambridge, he also serves on the Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council helping to guide the UK governments investments in research. Tim has also headed BT's global innovation campus, Adastral Park, for over a decade guiding BT's R&D investments and helping to build a thriving innovation campus in the East of England, driving the development of critical communications technologies.

About British Land

Our portfolio of high quality UK commercial property is focused on London Campuses and Retail & London Urban Logistics assets throughout the UK. We own or manage a portfolio valued at £13.0bn (British Land share: £8.9bn) as at 31 March 2023 making us one of Europe's largest listed real estate investment companies.

We create Places People Prefer, delivering the best, most sustainable places for our customers and communities. Our strategy is to leverage our best in class platform and proven expertise in development, repositioning and active management, investing behind two key themes: Campuses and Retail & London Urban Logistics.

Our three Campuses at Broadgate, Paddington Central and Regent's Place are dynamic neighbourhoods, attracting growth customers and sectors, and offering some of the best connected, highest quality and most sustainable space in London. We are delivering our fourth Campus at Canada Water, where we have planning consent to deliver 5m sq ft of residential, commercial, retail and community space over 53 acres. Our Campuses account for 63% of our portfolio.

Retail & London Urban Logistics accounts for 37% of the portfolio and is focused on retail parks which are aligned to the growth of convenience, online and last mile fulfilment. We are complementing this with urban logistics primarily in London, focused on development-led opportunities.

Sustainability is embedded throughout our business. Our approach is focused on three key pillars where British Land can create the most benefit: Greener Spaces, making our whole portfolio net zero carbon by 2030, Thriving Places, partnering to grow social value and wellbeing in the communities where we operate and Responsible Choices, advocating responsible business practices across British Land and throughout our supply chain, and maintaining robust governance structures. Further details can be found on the British Land website at www.britishland.com.