It was thrilling to attend last week’s Bisnow UK #LifeSciences conference co-hosted by Stanhope, Cadillac Fairview and Imperial College London at the amazing I-Hub building in the White City Innovation District. The overwhelming message was one of collaboration and growth. My executive summary for you - #TommorowIsMadeHere

• This is still a nascent market, but with incredible underlying demand. Last year saw the 2nd highest number of incorporations of new science based companies ever.
• The best life science developments will provide a collaborative eco-system, with educational/academic facilities alongside “incubator” and “growth/accelerator” spaces.
• Interestingly, “computation and analysis” is often outsourced by deep-tech, lab and R&D heavy users – hopefully developers can provide flexible enough developments so as to not lose such occupier needs from the UK market.
• The occupiers are not immune to costs inflation and supply chain issues, but any current dampening of ambitions are more of a blip in an otherwise upwards market trajectory. ESG and other occupier needs are likely more pertinent to users than current macro-economics.
• There remains a chronic lack of lab and R&B space in the UK. In the last 3 years only 0.5m sqft of such space have been developed. While there is currently 3m sqft of development in the pipeline (and approx. 4m sqft working itself through the planning system), that is miniscule compared to the around 40m sqft of pure lab space across Boston and San Francisco in the US.
• Speculative development is not without difficulties, particularly in understanding what future demands of occupiers will be – the debate of providing shell & core vs fully-fitted space rages on.
• Life Science companies, by the very nature of their work and the way they are funded, don’t grow in linear fashion but exponentially. Therefore, scale has got to be the goal for any life science cluster development – it takes vision, investment and patience, but once you get to true scale there is an undeniably positive cycle. The collaboration between landowners at the White City Innovation District are testament to this.
• Access to talent remains the most pressing issue, and life science eco-systems need to be underpinned by educational/academic institutions. Also, a big focus on housing is necessary, to provide (affordable) accommodation to these talented people, as well as wider support/infrastructure to keep them there in the long run (e.g. nurseries and schools). The “S” in ESG is therefore crucial.
• The race for talent is not just a domestic challenge, but a global one. The occupiers/users of the spaces are multi-generational, neuro-diverse, have psychological and emotional needs, and take sustainability very seriously.  Understanding all these needs and building around them is key for asset management.
• The potential role the NHS can play needs to be further unlocked – it has access to the clinicians (needed for research), access to the patients (and therefore testing) and access to the all-important data.