Scale Space has delivered more than 1,000 jobs and attracted some of the UK’s fastest-growing tech firms to the borough’s booming tech district in White City.
The new 200,000sqft facility, from Hammersmith firm Blenheim Chalcot and the world-leading Imperial College London, is providing innovative new life science start-ups with the lab and office space, as well as the expert guidance they need to grow faster and stronger.
Located in Imperial’s ever-expanding White City Campus in Wood Lane, Scale Space is the latest addition to the borough’s thriving tech hub driven by H&F Council’s Industrial Strategy. In partnership with Imperial College, the council’s ambitious strategy has helped attract pioneering firms like pharmaceutical giant Novartis, bio-tech pioneer Synthace and Airbus to the borough.
Read our Industrial Strategy (pdf 2.6MB)
It has also led to White City becoming the UK’s new innovation capital for life sciences - more than 60 businesses in the sector have been established, grown or moved to the borough since 2017, when the strategy was launched.
“We are offering local residents some of the best career and start-up opportunities in the world thanks to the exciting firms we are attracting to the borough with the support of our local partners like Imperial College London and Blenheim Chalcot,” said Cllr Andrew Jones, H&F Cabinet Member for the Economy.
“With a fantastic local skills base and worldwide connections, we want to make H&F the next global hotspot for the STEM, digital and creative industries.”
No.1 for life sciences
Executive Chairman of Scale Space, Mark Sanders, said: “Scale Space is part of the exciting regeneration of White City supported by Imperial College and Hammersmith & Fulham Council to make the area a great destination for business, including the life-sciences community.
"London’s life sciences industry is growing fast, and over the next four to five years, we know demand for lab space is expected to increase by up to 4m sqft in the capital. White City is a smart choice for this sector with an emerging cluster of businesses close to Imperial College London’s new campus taking advantage of more affordable space in the Innovation District. Scale Space is a popular and highly effective solution to the pressing shortage of flexible lab and office space.”
Some of the new companies at Scale Space include:
- DNAe is developing a platform that performs DNA sequencing on a microchip to provide rapid information to clinicians.
- Clinical Trials Laboratory Services (CTLS) is a subsidiary of BioIVT, which is a leading provider of research models and services for drug development.
- Second Nature has raised £10m of series A funding for its digital behavioural change programme for weight loss.
- Modulr is a fintech business created by Blenheim Chalcot that has raised a total of £63m, including a recent £9m investment from PayPal Ventures.
- Agilisys is a leading provider of cloud, IT, and digital transformation services in the UK, as well as the technology partner for the States of Guernsey.
CTLS General Manager, Kelly Sapsford, added: “Companies like ours thrive when they’re at the heart of a vibrant life science and innovation community, and this is what Scale Space provides. It will enable us to connect directly into the thinking and teaching at Imperial College as well as life science businesses already on site and at Imperial’s Translation and Innovation Hub (I-HUB).”
Imperial College Business School has also started teaching sessions at Scale Space with MBA and Master's degree programmes set to hold sessions with students at the new building.
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