A dearth of lab space in the UK? It's much more complicated than that.

by Rob Burborough , Partner at 3PM

There is a widely held view in the real estate part of the life sciences industry that there is a lack of supply of lab spaces and that this is threatening the ability of the UK to harness its potential, such is the dearth of space at the incubator to spin out end of the market.?The reality is the situation is much more complicated than that.

We must not forget that the majority of real estate players in UK life sciences are relatively new to this subject matter and that many developers, operators and consultants aren’t fluent in where to look or what to look for when it comes to science habitats and ecosystems.

Wet labs - for example - are a very small proportion of life sciences requirements and even then, each business is different and?will have various other needs for activities such as data and analysis, meetings and breakout or amenity space.?In addition, how far along each business is in their commercialisation process will determine?the type of space it needs. This could range from initial research and development, to?patent deployment and scale up, to large scale GMP compliant manufacturing space.

Demand also changes over time. Developers right now are catering for immediate demand,?producing much the same space no matter the geography, rather than taking a longer-term?view on how space needs to evolve as a pharmaceutical business develops. A much better?approach would be to consider a portfolio with a flexible range of spaces in the same location, offering choice for those at different points in their evolution or simply with?different needs.

Another common mistake is to model future demand and thus development on very established markets such as Boston in North America. Life Sciences is not a ‘one size fits all’?industry and the UK has a very different set of fundamentals to those of the US. As a less?mature market, we need to find our own way, taking note of the differences in planning and?tax for example, and applying it to what companies over here want and need. Again,?flexibility is key.

The UK has a very real opportunity to be a superpower on the global life sciences stage and?to some it might appear we are already there. But we are at the very beginning of our?journey and success will only truly be long-term if we build the right ecosystems that will?support its evolution. That's what we should be focussing on - the whole ecosystem, not just the 'here and now'. Yes – the Golden Triangle may not?seem?viable for new development but even there lies opportunities for the right kind of occupier and an eye for conversion.?

So what should Sunak do? In my view he (and we) need to educate the industry on life sciences and focus on the development of ecosystems which will help the long-term structure of the market while encouraging partnerships and knowledge sharing in the meantime.

I have already written about the seven stages crucial to developing a successful life sciences ecosystem: https://www.dhirubhai.net/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7084890998937411585

And, on the topic of a lack of understanding coupled with data and taking it at face value: https://www.dhirubhai.net/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7087021963390394368

Get in touch if you'd like to discuss further.