What’s coming up in 2022
We’re now well into the new year and gearing up for what’s set to be an exciting year for both the campus and the businesses onsite. Here’s what’s coming up in 2022…
We don’t need to point out that the world has changed immensely over the past two years, and we’re making sure we develop our campus in line with changes in demand, whether that’s from our tenants, the local business community and bioscience sector, or event hosts.
From launching a brand new co-working facility, to building on our sustainability credentials as a campus, there’s certainly a lot to look forward to. We’re giving you a sneak peek into some of what’s to come…
YBC introduces co-working space
The pandemic has changed the way many of us work – some no longer have full time offices, or those that had been used to working remotely in the past are simply after a more collaborative environment after being kept at home for long periods of time.
We’ve noticed a drive in demand for flexible, working spaces from the likes of solo-workers, start-ups and entrepreneurs in the bioscience sector who want to benefit from being part of an innovative and inspirational community, whilst being surrounded by other leading science organisations.
Our response – we’re in the process of creating around 40 workstations at a new co-working facility here on campus. Get in touch to find out more.
Lakeside Conference Centre officially opens its doors again
Uncertainty and constant changes to restrictions has meant our Lakeside Conference Centre hasn’t been running at full capacity for nearly two years. But we’re pleased to say that it’s now back and is taking bookings once more, with all events to be held in conjunction with government guidelines at the time.
We have already hosted our first hybrid event in November (a mixture of both in-person and virtual sessions) for Raft Solutions Ltd’s Precision Livestock event, and we have other interesting conferences, workshops and meetings in the pipeline.
What’s more, we’re investing in our video conferencing technology to make hybrid meetings easier to set up and facilitate.
More growth from tenants, including a first of its kind facility
The pandemic put even more emphasis on bioscience businesses, meaning that many of our tenants have gone from strength to strength in the past two years as they helped in the fight against Covid-19. In line with this, we’ve seen tenants including Labskin and Abingdon Health expand onsite.
And it doesn’t stop there for 2022. Long-standing occupier Fera Science is investing around £1m to transform a disused storage facility on campus into a bespoke insect research unit which will mean the leading science and research business can conduct studies demonstrating the environmental and economic benefits of industrial farming of insects. The expansion will not only support Fera’s own research, but will also enable collaborations with university partners and other organisations relating to the government. It’s going to be the first of its kind and will be a significant new facility for the bioscience sector in the region.
With Labskin and FPCR gearing up to expand onsite too, we know it’s going to be an exciting year for our tenants!
Let’s go greener!
Finally, as more attention is placed on sustainability, we’re exploring how the campus can further do its bit for the environment. We’ve always had green ambition and so far this has involved investing heavily in updating our infrastructure and making the site more energy efficient.
What we’re now looking at is how we can invest in renewable energy sources and newer forms of technology, such as solar power, to reduce our energy consumption even further, to future-proof not only the campus but play a part in helping the planet.
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