Essar completes Thornton Science Park acquisition

The old hospital’s final building, an 11-storey ward block, has been razed by DSM Demolition, priming the plot off Mount Vernon Street for its large-scale healthcare-led regeneration.

The widespread adoption of hybrid working has sparked a rise in the requirement for flexible workspace in secondary towns and cities, according to Paul Rowe, senior account executive at Yardi.

With sites in Oxford and Cambridge already operational, the life sciences and diagnostics firm has opted to open a 6,000 sq ft lab at the Cheshire campus.

Investor requirements for more and better data on their residential assets are putting increasing pressure on operators to adopt tech solutions, according to Chloe Sachikonye at Yardi.

Team Barrow, chaired by Simon Case, the former head of the civil service, launched its 10-year regeneration strategy at UKREiiF off the back of a £220m funding package from central government, which centres around a bid to drastically increase the UK’s defence industry’s output.

The government’s 1.5m homes target is “a stretch” but presents an exciting opportunity for the country’s development industry, according to Justin Hartley, regional director at Yardi.

Spanning 35,000 sq ft across its three floors, the site within Manchester’s Birley Fields is 90% let.

Seven companies have signed for 9,000 sq ft at the Copperas Hill building in Liverpool, which has opened today.

Bruntwood SciTech and construction firm Willmott Dixon are on track to hand over UK Biobank’s new HQ at Manchester Science Park in summer 2026.

The UK is amid a political and digital revolution. With more localised decision-making, Labour’s new plans for devolution open further opportunity for transformative technological initiatives across the North West, writes Dave Ferry of ITS.

Sciontec has let just shy of 5,000 sq ft of lab space to Pierian Biosciences, ReNewVax, and an unnamed University of Liverpool spin-out.

Gwynedd Council has voted to defer an application submitted by Cadnant Planning detailing the reset of a former brickworks into a 62,400 sq ft recycling plant for soils, construction, and demolition waste, after it was recommended for refusal.

Located in the St John’s district of Manchester, Allied London’s campus is billed as a central workspace for companies at the intersection of the creative and tech industries.

The Chester-based ecology consultancy said bringing in Ed Day as chief technology officer will help it harness Artificial Intelligence for industry clients.

An additional £100m package from Barclays, HSBC UK, Lloyds, NatWest and Santander UK has taken the group’s total facilities to £580m.

Blackpool Council plans to dispose of land close to the airport for industrial, office, or warehousing use.

The 450-acre innovation district has revealed further plans and is seeking investment for the development of Health Innovation Liverpool, a £550m collaboration with NHS University Hospitals of Liverpool Group, as well as its Artificial Intelligence Materials Hub for Innovation, or AIM-HI venture.

Formerly billed as Sensor City, the 27,000 sq ft Copperas Hill building has been acquired by the development vehicle from University of Liverpool and Liverpool John Moores University.

The joint venture development vehicle has chosen its preferred contractor for the 117,000 sq ft lab and workspace project in Liverpool’s Knowledge Quarter.