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Goodman aims for innovation in Harwell science park venture
20.03.09
By Christine Eade

Campus to neighbour prestigious start-up space at Milton Park

Oxfordshire life has always been bound up with the defence industries. The legacy they left is tracts of land ranging from RAF stations to atomic energy research areas.

The illustrious name of the University of Oxford has been a stimulus to use the military land for science parks and innovation centres.

This trend is set to continue even in unpromising economic times.

The latest developer in this high-tech county is Goodman, which is drawing up a masterplan for Harwell Science and Innovation Campus.

In 2006, Research Sites Restoration completed its largest ever decommissioning process by cleaning up more than 17 acres at the eastern end of the Harwell campus before handing it over to Goodman for masterplanning.

Goodman is in a joint venture with public sector bodies the UK Atomic Energy Authority and the Science Technologies Facilities Company. The campus is already a flagship location for technology companies and 120 are based at the existing site at Harwell.

Goodman intends to build on the area’s reputation for science.

‘Our vision is of an open innovation campus where we have multinational companies and start-ups all on the one site,’ says Sally Ann Forsyth, director of science parks at Goodman.

‘One of the great things about Harwell is that we will have room for all sizes of businesses because we have so much space here. We want to create a supportive campus where companies can come to us at a start-up stage but then don’t need to move away from the area. They will be able to grow and stay on site.’