Sci-Tech Daresbury: The Business of Success

SCI-TECH DARESBURY 1

THE BUSINESS OF SUCCESS:OUR STRATEGY FOR SCIENCE & INNOVATION

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WORLD-CLASS SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

DYNAMIC INNOVATION

BUSINESS ENTERPRISE

Can they be integrated successfully to drive discovery, open up new commercial opportunities and deliver economic growth?

That is our mission at Sci-Tech Daresbury – and this is the strategy designed to ensure we realise our goal.

Our strategy includes five complementary but distinctive components:

07 — Sustaining scientific excellence

08 — Developing a world-class science campus

11 — Transforming innovation into business

12 — Succeeding through effective partnerships

15 — Attracting and developing the very best talent


We have a far-reaching vision: to develop our campus as a national centre for large-scale science investments and a place where science, innovation and entrepreneurship deliver business growth and high quality jobs, regionally in North West England and nationally across the UK.

We understand though that aspirations are just the starting point. Even more critical is the ability to make them reality. That demands a clear-sighted appreciation of the actions and steps required – distilled into a clear, comprehensive strategy providing a secure platform for progress.

By implementing the strategy set out here, we are confident that Sci-Tech Daresbury will grow in stature as an internationally recognised centre of excellence in science and technology: a global leader in the business of transforming science into increased economic activity and turning innovation into life-changing benefits. In other words, the business of success.

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SCI-TECH DARESBURY FACTFILEEstablished: 2006 (rebranded as Sci-Tech Daresbury in 2012)Description: national science and innovation campusCurrent status: Enterprise Zone (awarded 2012)High-growth SMEs and other companies on-site: over 100 and risingScientific and technical staff on-site: nearly 500 and risingBusiness employees on-site: nearly 500 and risingAverage sales growth for campus companies: 30% p.a. (2009-2013)Key strategic partnerships: IBM, Unilever, BAE Systems Examples of flagship facilities: the UK’s most powerful supercomputer dedicated to industrial engagement and a world-leading scanning transmission electron microscope


AMBITIOUS, EXPANSIVE, ACHIEVABLE Outstanding scientific collaboration does not happen by accident. To provide the perfect environment for converting science and innovation into successful businesses, we offer an essential blend of:

• Facilities• Skills• Experience

The array of business and innovation networks that characterise the campus not only help bind it into one coherent innovation community but also furnish companies located here with a springboard to success.

As a result, we are already making our mark as one of the UK’s national science and innovation campuses – a success reinforced by our Enterprise Zone status. Above all, we have established an enviable track record in enabling success among high-growth SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises).

One key reason is that we offer an extra dimension over similar UK locations. Large-scale research initiatives and world-renowned science facilities sit side-by-side with proven business development capabilities and infrastructure, mutually strengthening each other. With a genuine critical mass of high-tech businesses from the UK and overseas now established here, the result is a unique ‘ecosystem’ conducive to:

• Leading-edge innovation• Impressive business growth

• Creation of high value jobs • Development of thriving technology-based businesses

We see it as the high-tech economy doing what it does best.

A STRATEGY FOR GROWTH

Our aim now is to make Sci-Tech Daresbury the world’s outstanding example of a fully integrated, partnership-driven approach to science and innovation – a campus that sets the agenda internationally as well as nationally.

This determination underpins a strategy to help us further scale the breadth and depth of world-class capabilities on site and capitalise on existing momentum, to the benefit of our stakeholders in:

• Government

• Business

• Academia

• The local community

On the following pages we explore what this strategy involves and highlight how Sci-Tech Daresbury is already generating a non-stop stream of success stories.


IN BRIEFOur strategy is to keep on investing effectively in supercomputing and other cutting-edge technical facilities, and to provide a home for facilities of the same calibre developed and/or funded by other organisations.


SUSTAINING SCIENTIFIC EXCELLENCEResearch capabilities at Sci-Tech Daresbury centre on three key strengths:

• Scientific computing• Accelerator science• Nuclear physics

Each of these world-leading specialisms is managed and underpinned by the UK’s Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC). The aim is to further extend them so that, individually and in synergy, they go on delivering extraordinary research outcomes, scientific insights and business-relevant innovation.

These strengths will continue to be complemented by other on-site resources such as SuperSTEM, a state-of-the-art national scanning transmission electron microscope funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).

But in a fast-moving world, scientific excellence can only survive and flourish if sustained through effective investment. Our top priorities include:

• Further upgrades to the Hartree Centre (see p8), providing key scientific computing facilities with a special focus on additional computer systems in diverse architectures

• Construction of CLARA (Compact Linear Accelerator for Research and Applications), a unique free electron laser facility that will equip the UK with next-generation light source capability

• Attraction of ‘mid-range’ science facilities, establishing Sci-Tech Daresbury as the location of choice for universities (individually or in consortia) when siting capital-intensive equipment usually of limited availability to UK researchers and innovative companies

A CLEAR CASE OF ENLIGHTENMENT - CASE STUDYPriceless advances in early detection and effective treatment of common cancers are set to be secured, thanks to a remarkable facility shaping the future of accelerator science.

Originally a prototype for new generations of particle accelerators, ALICE (Accelerators and Lasers in Combined Experiments) generates light beams of unprecedented brilliance to help explore matter’s deepest recesses. Now a user facility, ALICE makes Sci-Tech Daresbury the only place in the world where the effects of terahertz rays on cancer cells can be observed.

With EPSRC funding, four UK universities and three NHS trusts are now harnessing ALICE to shed new light on the characteristics and chemical behaviour of prostate, cervical and oesophageal cancer cells.

It is anticipated that this pioneering work will trigger the development of new diagnosis and treatment techniques – a perfect illustration of how Sci-Tech Daresbury’s remarkable research facilities can help deliver significant breakthroughs impacting each and every one of us.


DEVELOPING A WORLD-CLASS SCIENCE CAMPUS• National-scale science facilities and capabilities• Incubation centres for small businesses• Space for growing enterprises • Partnerships with universities, blue-chip companies and international

organisations

Through mechanisms and resources like these, Sci-Tech Daresbury contributes to priority areas in the Government’s industrial strategy, such as high-value manufacturing, healthcare and the digital economy. We are also reinforcing established regional strengths in chemicals, aerospace, health and nuclear energy.

But sustained success depends on continuous investment in the physical environment we provide. Our plans to develop and grow the campus are:

• Short-term: investment of £20 to £30 million in:

- new laboratory and office facilities for businesses

- land acquisition

- power infrastructure upgrades

- improved site connectivity and roads infrastructure

• Long-term: delivery of around 1 million square feet of new development, providing capacity for between 10,000 and 15,000 jobs

This will enable us to optimise, strengthen and extend our portfolio of research, skills, technologies and facilities, and develop a world-class offering built around existing, evolving centres of excellence that include:

• The Cockcroft Institute, a national centre of excellence in accelerator science. Healthcare is just one area where we will seek to maximise the impact of its capabilities, through advances such as the major new investment at the Christie Hospital in Manchester enabling particle accelerator technology to be harnessed in cancer treatment

• The Hartree Centre, which received £70 million in Government investment to establish it as a major centre for data-intensive science and business. Complemented by the Virtual Engineering Centre, it will play a key role in helping the campus (and North West England generally) become a destination of choice for global expertise in big data and computationally intensive science.

• A wide-ranging portfolio of laboratory, workshop and office facilities for businesses on site, delivered through the Innovation Centre, Vanguard House and the Innovations Technology Access Centre (I-TAC). Two additional buildings will open in 2015. Collectively, this portfolio provides scalability as companies grow and ensures we meet our commitment to providing them with a ‘home for life’.

OUTCOMPETING BY OUTCOMPUTING - CASE STUDYFor world-leading multinationals dealing in hundreds of global brands, time-to-market is a critical commercial consideration. It poses challenges that today’s increasingly sophisticated supercomputers are uniquely positioned to meet, slicing weeks or months off product discovery and development cycles.

This explains why Unilever has established a base at the Hartree Centre, whose high-performance computing capabilities and state-of-the-art visualisation suite are helping revolutionise R&D underpinning the company’s homecare and personal care products.

Using the Hartree’s extraordinary array of equipment and expertise, Unilever scientists can model key product ingredients and their behaviour with phenomenal accuracy – and without the time and expense involved in ‘traditional’ lab-based tests.

Some intricate procedures that once took between 8 and 12 weeks can, through supercomputing, take under an hour, so that products reach shelves worldwide and start generating profit much quicker than ever before.


IN BRIEFOur strategy is to make a multi-million pound investment in improving the physical environment at Sci-Tech Daresbury in order to ensure the full potential of our world-class facilities and centres of excellence can be unleashed.


IN BRIEFOur strategy is to provide innovative businesses of all sizes with the facilities and the access to knowledge, skills, markets and funding opportunities they need in order to grow and succeed.


TRANSFORMING INNOVATION INTO BUSINESSThe cluster of high-tech companies already established on campus plays a critical role in the successful commercialisation of new science and technology and in our ambition of delivering an additional 10,000 to 15,000 jobs. Our focus is therefore to:

• Support SMEs on their growth journey and provide them with a secure home for life at Sci-Tech Daresbury

• Attract additional mid-size and blue-chip companies• Increase the proportion of overseas companies represented on site

Meeting the needs of SMEsIn targeting high-growth SMEs, our proactive approach will concentrate on six interlocking priorities:

• Implementation of a plan to deliver scalability of space and infrastructure

• Support to improve access to new markets and customers

• Access to a wider range of funding and investment options, particularly in the £2-20 million range

• Maximising growth by helping companies access the best talent

• Increased procurement and consortia opportunities with STFC and partners

• Improved access to specialist technologies and expertise within STFC and partners

Working closely with corporatesWe recognise that long-term partnerships with big international businesses are critical to our evolution and future strength. Engaging companies such as IBM, Unilever, BAE Systems and Jaguar Land Rover has helped us attract new investment, expertise and businesses to the campus.

We now aim to build further strategic links across four key sectors:

• Advanced engineering and materials

• Biomedical

• Digital and ICT

• Financial services

STICKING TO PLAN FOR GROWTH - CASE STUDYWorld-class experimental facilities and outstanding opportunities for collaboration – these key ingredients have helped the Arcis:Altos Group launch innovative products and break into international markets from its home at Sci-Tech Daresbury.

Formed in 2012 when existing campus tenant Arcis Biotechnology acquired US-based Altos Medical, this enterprising SME has successfully developed a pipeline of novel bug-killing products that stick to surfaces and so protect users for longer.

As well as taking advantage of STFC’s I-TAC, this success has been founded on: equipped laboratory facilities driving R&D forward; access to shared facilities (e.g. spectrophotometers) on campus; and close team-working with fellow tenants to turn concepts with commercial potential into sales.

From cruise ship companies to major healthcare providers, Arcis:Altos has secured an impressive global client roster and plans to move into areas such as agriculture and DNA extraction – all made possible by the unique environment for growth in place at Sci-Tech Daresbury.


SUCCEEDING THROUGH EFFECTIVE PARTNERSHIPSWe understand the unique value that a partnership approach can deliver. We recognise that working as closely as possible with as wide a range of organisations as possible offers an outstanding route to the achievement of our strategic goals.

The proven effectiveness of this delivery model is underlined by the many successful campus-based partnerships that have already been established here, including:

• The Cockcroft Institute – a partnership involving the Universities of Lancaster, Liverpool and Manchester and STFC’s Accelerator Science and Technology Centre (ASTeC)

• The Hartree Centre – based on a major partnership between STFC and IBM

• The Virtual Engineering Centre – a partnership between the University of Liverpool and the Hartree that is at the vanguard of the innovative use of virtual engineering technologies in industry and commerce

• The STFC CERN Business Incubation Centre – the world’s only centre dedicated to growing small businesses using business support, intellectual property and technical expertise from STFC and CERN (the European Organization for Nuclear Research), home of the Large Hadron Collider

• The Technology Strategy Board Materials and Manufacturing North-West Launchpad – an initiative centred at Sci-Tech Daresbury and the Heath Technical & Business Park in Runcorn to provide funding for R&D in this cluster

We are committed to pursuing further partnership opportunities and pinpointing potential to replicate this tried and tested approach in new spheres.

This will include working to develop new partnerships with government, businesses, universities, local enterprise partnerships, local authorities and others to promote growth, business investment, skills development and job creation.

We will also ensure Sci-Tech Daresbury can respond quickly and flexibly to additional opportunities that contribute towards our overarching vision.

PARTNERS IN VISION - CASE STUDYIn 2011, Optis UK was a one-man business with a £350,000 turnover. Now, after three years based on the Sci-Tech Daresbury campus, it is a globally competitive UK-registered company with eight staff.

But this successful incubation has done more than see Optis UK win market share for its innovative software that enables simulation of light and vision in virtual reality environments. It is also a perfect example of a mutually productive relationship delivering a flow of benefits in both directions. As well as profiting from close proximity to North West England’s aerospace industry, the company has derived maximum value from the easy access it enjoys to the Hartree Centre and the Virtual Engineering Centre on campus. For example, it makes extensive use of facilities to provide existing and prospective clients with high-quality visualisations of its products.

With Optis UK now established as a key member of the select group of Hartree Centre partners, the company also contributes directly to the Hartree’s operations and the continuous enhancement of its world-leading capabilities in high-performance computing.


IN BRIEFOur strategy is to consolidate existing partnerships and build new ones, with a range of private and public sector organisations, as a proven means of facilitating innovation and business success.


IN BRIEFOur strategy is to develop, attract and retain the range of skills and expertise essential to establishing Sci-Tech Daresbury as a global beacon of science-focused innovation and entrepreneurship.


ATTRACTING AND DEVELOPING THE BEST TALENTSkills and expertise are the bedrock of scientific excellence. They are also a key component in the quest for economic growth, competitiveness and productivity. Attracting and developing the best talent is therefore a centrepiece of our strategy.

Sci-Tech Daresbury already offers many attractive training opportunities. But the development and implementation of a specific skills strategy will deliver an environment that:

• Attracts high-class talent

• Supports sustainable, high-growth SMEs and other businesses

• Underpins the development of key skills in the local area

Specifically, our skills strategy aims to:

• Explore a ‘Skills Factory’ concept focused on ‘growing our own’

• Prepare a ‘People Plan’ to help further develop and retain a talented workforce

• Promote the Halton Employment Partnership within the campus to:

- support provision of apprenticeships

- deliver work experience opportunities for young people

• Develop and utilise the Halton skills research databank to maximise engagement with entrepreneurs

• Understand the skills shortages affecting campus businesses and work closely with educational establishments to tackle these gaps

• Harness opportunities from local enterprise partnerships in North West England, e.g utilisation of the Skills for Growth Bank programme

TRAINING TO PROVIDE THE BEST MEDICINE - CASE STUDYNuclear medicine harnesses techniques originating in nuclear physics and transforms them into life-changing, life-saving healthcare procedures. To maximise the benefits, it is essential to embed the right expertise in the healthcare sector – a goal underpinning the new Medical Teaching and Research Laboratory (MTRL) located at Sci-Tech Daresbury.

Targeted at MSc students specialising in medical physics and bioinformatics, the MTRL delivers hands-on training in medical imaging that uses SPECT (single-photon emission computed tomography). It is also geared to providing continuous professional development (CPD) training that is effective in enhancing the skills of those already working in the sector.

A unique facility in UK terms and also positioned at the leading edge of international capabilities in nuclear medicine, the MTRL is a collaboration involving the University of Liverpool, Royal Liverpool University Hospital and STFC. It aims to foster and enable all kinds of collaboration between organisations committed to driving nuclear medicine forward.


To find out more, please contact:

Sci-Tech Daresbury Keckwick LaneDaresbury, Cheshire, WA4 4FS, UK T +44 (0)1925 607 000E [email protected]

A joint venture between

Situated between Manchester and Liverpool, and no more than half an hour’s drive from either airport (between them serving over 250 destinations worldwide), Sci-Tech Daresbury provides easy access for delegates from the region, the UK and beyond.

Sci-Tech Daresbury: The Business of Success

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