51乱伦

Money, money, money

By the numbers

EIT: £10 billion over the next decade in Oxford, up to 7,000 researchers

Government: £500 million into the Oxford鈥揅ambridge Arc

UK Regional Investment Summit: £10 billion of commitments, nearly 1,000 jobs

Glasgow鈥檚 Chemify: more than $50 million Series B

London鈥檚 CoMind: £77 million to replace invasive brain monitoring

New cash boosts of £20m each for Greater Manchester, West Midlands, and Glasgow City Region

EIT鈥檚 Oxford expansion

The Ellison Institute of Technology (EIT) has outlined plans that could see up to £10 billion invested over ten years in talent and science programmes, anchored by an expanded campus at Littlemore, Oxford that is designed for up to 7,000 researchers. EIT will focus on four priority domains:

• health, medical science, and generative biology
• food security and sustainable agriculture
• climate change and atmospheric CO鈧� management
• artificial intelligence and robotics

In recent week鈥檚 EIT and the University of Oxford have announced a £120 million programme to apply AI to vaccine research, alongside a £45 million Series A funding round for Wild Bioscience. Separately, Oracle plans to invest $5 billion in the UK over the next five years to expand cloud infrastructure for AI workloads.

A critical enabler here is rail. The Cowley Branch Line project, which will connect key innovation hubs to central London, is a textbook example of public鈥損rivate cooperation unlocking investment.

The EIT investment has unsurprisingly been met with strong support, widely seen as a huge signal of confidence in the UK鈥檚 scientific strength and a catalyst for Oxford鈥檚 global profile. The presence of a world class institution should draw other companies in and also create new companies. But the scale also raises questions. Some warn that EIT鈥檚 deep resources could divert talent from universities and elsewhere. Others highlight the need for infrastructure investment to keep pace. Another concern is whether the profits and high-value jobs will stay in the UK or flow abroad. If EIT spinouts succeed and are sold or listed, Ellison鈥檚 fund could gain significantly, but policymakers will want to see reinvestment locally, not just extraction of value.

£500 million for the Arc

The government has announced £500 million for the Oxford-Cambridge Arc, including £120 million toward reopening the Cowley branch line in Oxford, alongside funding for affordable housing, infrastructure and business expansion. A new report indicates that early-stage life sciences and deep tech companies in Cambridge have raised £7.9 billion since 2015. Dealroom data places Cambridge first in Europe for deep tech VC per capita and second only to the Bay Area for unicorns per capita. The innovation ecosystem has grown by almost 80% over the past decade, with life sciences and deep tech scaling faster than any other UK region on an investment-intensity basis.

The prevailing view among industry and government commentators is that the investment demonstrates a renewed political commitment to the Oxford-Cambridge Arc as a driver of UK growth, addressing some of the infrastructure challenges blocking growth. The critical reactions largely focus on how to deliver the vision, ensuring local people benefit and scaling up investment over time.

UK regional investment

he first Regional Investment Summit in Birmingham delivered over £10 billion of commitments across life sciences, technology, and infrastructure, creating nearly 1,000 jobs. The West Midlands was one of the main beneficiaries, underscoring its position as a leading UK innovation hub.

Notable commitments

Life sciences manufacturing: Biocomposites to expand its medical materials plant at Keele. Sterling Pharmaceuticals to build a new 60,000 sq ft medicines facility in Birmingham. Together unlocking over £30 million of investment.

Technology and AI: Atos to invest £10 million in two Midlands technology centres, creating 50 high-skilled roles. Woven Capital, Toyota鈥檚 growth-stage arm, establishing a European investment team in the UK with up to £300 million for start-ups focused on AI, robotics, mobility, and automation.

Place-based R&D assets: Hines and Woodbourne Group to invest £400 million in Birmingham鈥檚 planned £4 billion Knowledge Quarter. The Crown Estate to acquire the 221-acre Harwell East site adjacent to Harwell Science and Innovation Campus.

Alongside individual investments, the summit underscored the governments ambitions to unlock growth via cutting regulatory and planning roadblocks. The Chancellor confirmed plans to cut red tape by 25%, saving businesses an estimated £6鈥痓illion a year by 2029. This includes scrapping excessive paperwork, the Regulatory Innovation Office working more closely with industry and speeding up planning approvals, making it quicker and easier to get projects out of the ground.

One concrete proposal is a cross-economy 鈥淎I sandbox鈥�, a regulatory fast-track to let companies鈥� trial new AI tools under supervision, accelerating approvals in fields like legal services, construction planning and manufacturing. Another reform will see the Civil Aviation Authority publish an investor roadmap for commercial drones by 2027, preparing the way for drone-based services from site surveying to medical deliveries.  On Drones a number of UK locations are already hosting real-world trials. These include Apian and Guy鈥檚 and St Thomas鈥� NHS Foundation Trust who partnered on a trial of drone delivery of urgent blood samples between hospitals. Transporting samples between Guy鈥檚 Hospital and the lab at St Thomas鈥� Hospital can take more than half an hour by road but takes less than two minutes by drone. Separately merger review panels will be streamlined to give investors more certainty on deal approvals. These measures aim to boost the UK鈥檚 appeal to innovators and reduce delays in commercialisation.

On the finance front domestic institutional investors are joining the effort. At the summit, 20 major pension funds and insurers launched the 鈥淪terling 20鈥� partnership to channel billions of pounds from UK savings into infrastructure and high-growth sectors like AI and fintech. The group will work with the Office for Investment to identify opportunities. The efforts of the initiative are already being seen, with Legal & General announcing a £2 billion commitment by 2030 to help drive regional growth, while Nest announced plans to provide Schroders Capital with a £100 million ringfenced fund for UK investments, as well as investing £40 million to deliver gigabit-capable fibre broadcast to remote areas in Scotland and Northern England. AustralianSuper, the largest pension fund in Australia, will also expand its UK footprint with a £500 million platform dedicated to rental housing, as part of a broader £8 billion investment plan that will raise its UK exposure to £12 billion by 2030 and there is an extended role for the British Business Bank.

Through the £500鈥痬illion Local Innovation Partnerships Fund, Greater Manchester, West Midlands, and Glasgow City Region will get a new boost of £20 million each to deliver local innovations. Now it is inviting more areas to bid for up to £20鈥痬illion each to turn research breakthroughs into local jobs and solutions.

Deep tech funding and AI meets science

In Scotland, Glasgow spin-out Chemify raised more than $50 million in Series B to scale its AI-driven automated molecular design platform. The company opened its first fully automated 鈥淐hemifarm鈥� in June 2025 and plans to expand globally with support from Wing VC and Insight Partners. Expect growing demand for next-generation labs that integrate robotics, high-performance computing, and flexible production lines. Design standards for labs will evolve as automation accelerates. Chemify has acquired more than 40,000 sq ft at Glasgow鈥檚 Health Innovation Hub (HiH). HiH is being delivered by Kadans Science Partner, in collaboration with the Living Laboratory for Precision Medicine.

Meanwhile, frontier AI and frontier science are converging. OpenAI has launched a science initiative with the high-profile hire of theoretical physicist Alex Lupsasca. Google DeepMind has partnered with a fusion energy start-up to accelerate research. Anthropic has introduced a science programme offering free cloud credits to academic researchers. This points to more hybrid facilities where wet labs sit alongside serious compute, and to locations that enable AI companies and science companies/academia to collaborate.

Boardrooms and buildings: a Novo Nordisk governance storm

Novo Nordisk will see its chairman and six independent directors step down after a dispute with its controlling shareholder, the Novo Nordisk Foundation, which plans to appoint a new board led by its chair, Lars Rebien Sørensen, a former Novo CEO. The backdrop is dramatic growth with Wegovy, followed by volatility as Eli Lilly caught up. Leadership changes have been rapid along with restructuring efforts that include 9,000 job cuts. For real estate, such corporate turbulence can have tangible impacts. Novo Nordisk鈥檚 aggressive cost-cutting and restructuring may lead to consolidation of offices and R&D sites as the company reallocates resources. Equally a recalibration could see expansion and growth elsewhere. As scientific and market cycles speed up, companies that thrived for decades can see fortunes change quickly requiring nimble decision making at the top and corporate real estate decision making that responds in an agile fashion.

Building innovation districts that last

A new World Economic Forum Innovation Ecosystems Toolkit argues that up to half of innovation ecosystems fail primarily due to governance shortcomings. Concrete lessons for districts that endure:

Three challenges to solve

1. Close the innovation impact gap so benefits reach local residents and diverse founders.
2. Lead on sustainable development with retrofit-first, nature-based solutions, and circular economy approaches.
3. Embrace advanced digital infrastructure while investing in skills and safeguarding trust and accessibility.

Eight principles to design by

Collaborative. Resilient. Sustainable. Human-centric. Efficient. Transparent. Accessible. Scalable.

• Collaborative: Foster genuine partnerships across academia, industry, government, and start-ups. Formal structures for shared decision making and resource pooling are key, so that universities, corporates, and civic leaders are actively co-creating the district鈥檚 future rather than operating in silos.
• Resilient: Plan for constant change. Flexible space design and adaptive governance ensure the district can weather technological shifts, market cycles or even global disruptions without losing momentum.
• Sustainable: Balance economic growth with environmental sustainability and social equity at every step. Use renewable energy and green building designs, aim for low-carbon transport and circular waste systems. Equally, pursue social sustainability.
• Human-centric: Remember that innovation ultimately serves people. Design public spaces, streets and buildings that are inviting, safe, and inspire creativity. Include amenities like parks, arts venues, and gathering spaces that encourage interaction. Measure success not just in IPOs or square footage, but in quality-of-life improvements.
• Efficient: Optimise use of resources and streamline bureaucratic processes. This could mean energy-efficient infrastructure and smart grid tech to cut utility costs, or one-stop permitting to accelerate lab construction.
• Transparent: Operate openly and build trust with stakeholders. Make governance decisions and development plans accessible. If taxpayer funds are involved, show exactly how they鈥檙e spent.
• Accessible: Ensure the district鈥檚 benefits and opportunities are open to all, not just an elite. This starts with physical accessibility such as inclusive design for disabled access, public transport links from low-income areas and extends to programmatic access. Have incubator grants or training workshops that reach entrepreneurs from underrepresented groups; partner with local schools so youth see pathways into the innovation economy.
• Scalable: Design the district as a launchpad for growth. Anticipate success by building infrastructure that can handle expansion. Also create mechanisms to replicate what works: if a workforce upskilling program is effective, scale it to more participants; if the district governance model proves successful, document it so it can be applied in other cities or in an expanded geography.

The bottom line is that successful innovation districts blend hard infrastructure with 鈥渟oft鈥� infrastructure. For real estate investors, that means your innovation campus needs more than fiber-optic cable and fancy architecture. It needs the right governance model and community connections. Those factors will determine occupancy and resilience just as much as specs. As the WEF report suggests, innovation ecosystems are an art as much as a science, requiring balance between advancement and inclusion. By adhering to collaborative, sustainable practices, developers can help ensure their innovation districts don鈥檛 become the next failed experiment, but rather a lasting engine of prosperity that benefits all stakeholders.

尝颈惫别谤辫辞辞濒鈥檚 shortlisting as a top three finalist for the 2026 European Capital of Innovation highlights the power of an inclusive, culture-anchored approach.

Earnings watch signal biotech bounce

Q3 reporting season is upon us and so far, it provides further evidence of biotech rebounding鈥�CRO Medpace reported Q3 new orders of $789 million, up 49% year-on-year. New order bookings moved from $611 million in Q3 2023 down to $533.7 million in Q3 2024, then rebounded. Thermo Fisher Scientific reported Q3 2025 revenue of $11.12 billion, up 5 percent year on year. Life sciences led with revenue of $2.59 billion, up from $2.39 billion.

Moving in the right direction

The Q3 Boston life sciences update from our US partner Cresa finds that demand and leasing velocity have gathered momentum since the start of the year, although the market remains in the early stage of recovery. In Q3, more than 770,000 sq ft of space was leased, double the volume recorded in Q2. Activity was driven by a mix of occupiers expanding within existing buildings or submarkets, new entrants establishing a presence in Greater Boston, and tenants extending current leases.

Other reads

• launched an AI missions blueprint focused on accelerating adoption, productivity, and skills, including £10 million for AI education and skills, a public sector innovation testbed and a partnership with a hyperscale cloud provider.
• London neuro-technology firm CoMind raised £77 million to commercialise a novel non-invasive brain monitoring device.
• unveiled a low-cost humanoid robot priced at roughly $1,370.
• BNY and Carnegie Mellon announced a five-year, $10 million AI research partnership, including a dedicated space on CMU鈥檚 Pittsburgh campus in the 2025鈥�26 academic year.
• The UK government will train and recruit more workers for the clean energy sector, targeting 400,000 additional jobs by 2030.
• Digital health company Medpal AI opened an AI-powered medicines distribution centre in Swaffham, capable of fulfilling more than 100,000 prescriptions per month.