WIREDGOV

James Wharton, Minister for the Northern Powerhouse has praised Sci-Tech Daresbury’s world class capability in science and innovation.

He said yesterday: “This Government remains committed to rebalancing the economy through creating a Northern Powerhouse - and playing to our strengths in science and technology will have a key role.

The new facilities I’ve seen today will further boost this globally-recognised science and enterprise destination, helping to attract more jobs and investment to the North.”

His comments came as he toured the latest developments at Sci-Tech Daresbury, including Techspace, a brand new, state-of-the-art office and laboratory complex for SMEs, and learnt about the full extent of the Campus masterplan.

The visit provided an opportunity to explain and showcase the campus. More than 120 science and research organisations and high-tech businesses are currently located at the campus and have already developed strong clusters in several fields including Advanced engineering & materials, Biomedicine, Digital/ICT, Energy, Environment and Security.

John Downes, Managing Director of Langtree and Chairman of the Sci-Tech Daresbury Joint Venture, said: “It’s clear that centres of innovation and enterprise such as that here at Daresbury can play a critical part in ambitions to rebalance the UK economy and drive forward the Powerhouse vision.“

Much of the strength of Sci-Tech Daresbury is rooted in the facilities and capabilities based at STFC’s Daresbury Laboratory – a key component of the campus. These include the Hartree Centre, a world-class centre of excellence in high performance computing; and the Accelerator Science and Technology Centre (ASTeC), the UK’s centre of expertise for accelerator science and technology, to name a few.

Tim Bestwick, Executive Director of Business and Innovation at STFC, said: “We welcome the Government’s commitment to the long-term growth and success of Sci-Tech Daresbury, which is true recognition of its ever growing success as a vibrant melting pot of enterprise and innovation, underpinned by scientific excellence on a global scale.”