Expanding into STEM Kent Science Park enjoys dramatic growth under commercial property management
T
he Kent Science Park (KSP), which evolved out of the Shell Sittingbourne Research Centre where Sir John Carnforth won a Nobel Prize in the 1970s, changed ownership in 2016. Now managed by MJ Mapp Limited on behalf of the new owner, Trinity Investment Management, KSP is starting to demonstrate the benefits of having an owner with a vision for investment and expansion in the STEM area. So far, the most obvious manifestation of this is the construction of a new £2m Hub, combining a cafeteria, meeting rooms and a conference facility on the edge of KSP’s iconic (and beautiful) Japanese
Garden. This should complete in September. Less obvious is the investment in infrastructure, particularly the district heating system and an increasingly active refurbishment programme of space.
ACTIVE REFURBISHMENT
“We have strong demand for both office and laboratory spaces,” explains Site Director Patrick BenhamCrosswell. “In the year that I have been here, the number of tenant companies has risen by almost 30%, so we are bringing more space back into service. It is wonderful to be part of
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bringing Kent Science Park back to what it should be; a preeminent scientific facility for the UK.” “The hub is not the only construction project,” continues Patrick, “One tenant is more than doubling the size of his facility here, which is especially pleasing as that company started here 15 or so years ago with just two people; now it employs over 500. We have several more tenants on that journey, which is very much the core of what we are here to do; provide facilities, space to grow and an environment for success.”
BUS ON DEMAND SERVICE
As well as buildings, KSP was the global launch site for the ArrivaClick bus on demand service. Algorithms and tweaks developed in Sittingbourne are now being used as far away as New York. The luxury minibuses, which can be summoned on demand via a mobile app, are based on KSP and make it possible to get from the front gate to St Pancras in under 70 minutes. ■
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