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£5M BOOST TO HELP NORWICH BECOME CENTRE OF SCIENTIFIC EXCELLENCE

More than 30 new offices and laboratories will be built in the first phase of the expansion

Norwich's bid to become an international centre of scientific excellence last night received a boost after a £5m expansion package was confirmed.

More than 30 new offices and laboratories will be built in the first phase of the expansion of the Norwich Research Park in Colney Lane. The facility, which should be completed by July, will accommodate the growing community of world-class scientists and researchers being attracted to the city.

Up to 300 new jobs will be created and the facilities are planned to be the first of a number of new buildings to be erected which could eventually create up to 5,000 new jobs in science and scientific research by 2021.

Paul May, executive director of innovation at EEDA which is providing £1.4m of the funding, said: "The future prosperity of our region will depend on the continued success of our knowledge-based industries.

"Companies on the Norwich Research Park have managed to buck the economic trend by continuing to prosper during the tough economic times.

"The international markets they serve, for high-end products and services in the fields of health and environmental science, are rapidly expanding."

The park, an international centre for research on plants, micro-organisms, food, environment, health and information and communication technology, is already home to the John Innes Centre, the Institute of Food Research, the Sainsbury Laboratory and The Genome Analysis Centre.

It also includes the Norwich Bio-Incubator, which houses award-winning entrepreneurs and start-up companies. These businesses are supported by a network of business, scientific, financial and legal advisors.

The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council will provide £500,000 as well as the land and buildings to host the new facilities, £1 million will come from the Greater Norwich Development Partnership (GNDP), £500,000 from the University of East Anglia, and the remainder from other research park partners.

John Fuller, leader of South Norfolk Council and chair of the GNDP, said: "This investment, which is testament to the strong partnership between the GNDP and EEDA, is a huge advance for the future of science in Norwich."

The new units will provide the opportunity to expand the number of companies setting up at or moving to the research park and provide space for existing bio-tech and other science-related companies that need to expand.

David Parfrey, BBSRC director of finance and director of Colney Innovations which will manage the facility, said: "Norfolk is a world-class location and this new and exciting development reflects Norfolk's growing status on the world stage.

"Within one kilometre of this facility, there are today no fewer than 2,700 research scientists focussed on health, food and environmental sciences, a unique resource in this country. By 2021, we plan to create the facilities for 5,000 new science-related jobs on the NRP which will make Norfolk one of the world's largest single-site scientific research centres."

Courtesy of EDP - www.edp.co.uk