Occupier update: FPCR expands!

 

It’s been an eventful few years for leading design and environmental practice, FPCR, since they came to York Biotech Campus (YBC) back in 2017. Since we last spoke with them in 2022 the team at York has hired new team members, expanded its services and has been working on some varied and exciting new projects.

Let’s find out what they’ve been up to…

Welcoming new faces

When FPCR first joined us, it had a team of four ecologists based at YBC. As of May 2023, the total FPCR staff count is at seventeen, with five team members recruited in the past year. As the company has grown, naturally so has the business’ requirements for office space. FPCR has recently taken on further space on campus to create a new multipurpose breakout and collaboration space. FPCR’s growth in the region has seen a second Yorkshire based office open in Sheffield.

Expanding its services

As the business has grown onsite, its meant that FPCR has been able to add a wider mix of multi-disciplinary expertise into its YBC based team. New hires include arboriculturists, which means the FPCR team has been able to broaden its offering of services in the region.

FPCR’s arboriculturists work on tasks ranging from assessing the health and conditions of trees, to providing the treatment recommendations for them, and even small-scale forestry. FPCR always takes a pragmatic and proactive approach, looking at innovative solutions to any project.

Exciting new projects

In recent years FPCR has been collaborating to help develop biodiversity net gain (BNG), which is a government strategy to contribute to the recovery of nature while developing land, ensuring that the habitat for wildlife is in a better state than it was prior to any development. Failing this, developers must contribute to biodiversity offsetting. BNG will be mandated in November this year, and it will apply to all new developments in England.

FPCR were heavily involved in the development of the BNG metrics, which was led by fellow occupier Defra. It also conducts the initial ecology surveys for some of these developers and are integral in setting up biobanks for them to contribute to if the land managers, developers and LPA don’t meet the BNG criteria.

It’s always fantastic to see our occupiers thrive, to watch cross-organisational collaboration within our community and the positive contribution it has, to both the region and the UK bioscience industry.

To learn more about FPCR visit here.

To discover who else is based onsite, visit here.