Why life sciences developers must retain management of their assets

COMMENT: The property sector has clearly woken up to the fact that life sciences is booming, and has strong backing of local, regional and central governments. The sector has the glamour of potential ground-breaking discoveries, changing the face of medicine as we know it, and dealing with some of the biggest health challenges of our times. Who wouldn’t want to say they are a part of that? But unlike most other asset classes, life science developments require a much bigger investment from property companies, and not just a financial one. Developing space for life sciences isn’t just a case of building a sturdy structure with fume extraction systems, and those jumping into the sector thinking that’s the case are in for a rude awakening. Understand the ecosystem As well as being behind projects such as the British Library Extension and Oxford North, Stanhope is also the developer and asset manager of White City Place, a major part of the White City Innovation District. Over the past four years, we have learned some big lessons about the sector, which has helped us lease more than 120,000 sq ft of space to eight life sciences companies, including giant Novartis. Our biggest learning is that to be successful in the life sciences sector, developers need to truly understand its ecosystem and what companies need in order to succeed in their crucial work of discovery. For start-ups, their space has a bigger role to play than just a roof over their heads, and that can only be fulfilled through asset management. Providing life sciences companies with the right support could be the difference between those that succeed and those that don’t. We might see it as mysterious and exciting, but much like in any other sector, life sciences firms rely on small, sometimes overlooked, daily things which are of crucial importance to enable their work. Take the post room. For most businesses and employees, it’s a place they visit once a day to collect their mostly unsolicited mail. But for life sciences companies, this could be where they receive the enzymes needed for their experiments, and which need to be kept at a certain temperature. Making sure you understand the intricacies of what your occupiers do and providing the right wraparound services and back-of-house provisions to enable their day-to-day work will make a massive difference to them – and therefore to the success of your scheme. Attracting talent Life sciences is a relatively new sector and, with only one mature hub globally in Boston, the race for talent is truly international. With jobs that very often need to be done onsite, offices have a major role to play in helping companies attract the talent they need. As well as offering state-of-the-art facilities and modern communal spaces, what surrounds the actual building can be make-or-break. Anyone relocating from another country, or an in-demand British graduate courted by companies abroad, would much rather be located somewhere offering leisure options, gyms, restaurants, cafés, bars and places encouraging chance encounters, than in a sanitised office development. ‘Ecosystem’ is possibly one of the most overused words in business, but it is a very accurate descriptor for how the life sciences sector operates. Start-ups work closely with universities to find people with the skills they need; with hospitals to develop and test their technology or product; with venture capital investors to fund their research; with big pharma and the business world to bring those products to market. Finding an office location and a landlord who understands how crucial this is to them, and actively acts as a convenor for the various parties, can make a major difference to organisations in the sector. But this isn’t only in their interest. For property companies, helping smooth the process and make introductions is sure to pay dividends when start-ups scale and require more space. It’s a win-win. At White City, one of our start-ups moved in with 12 employees and, thanks to successful funding rounds, reached 300 only a few months later. You cannot nurture life sciences if you don’t understand the very fast-moving nature of its world. Being able to provide businesses with the certainty that you can follow their growth will give them the confidence to lease space with you – and show that you understand their world. Claire Dawe is head of asset management at Stanhope To send feedback, e-mail newsdesk@eg.co.uk or tweet @EGPropertyNews Image © Chokniti Khongchum/Pexels