Bruntwood SciTech's Head of Life Sciences joins 'Science Cities' forum at Cambridge

Dr Kath Mackay (Image courtesy Bruntwood SciTech)

Future Cities Forum is delighted that Dr Kath Mackay will join our 'Science Cities, Cambridge and the Arc' event at Newnham College this week. Dr Kath Mackay is Director of Life Sciences for Bruntwood SciTech - the UK’s leading property provider dedicated to driving the growth of the UK science and technology sector. She has a keen interest in growing the life science industry, and businesses and infrastructure within the sector, ensuring the UK is the best place to establish and scale a life science organisation.

As Director of Life Sciences, Kath is responsible for developing the life science vision and strategy for Bruntwood SciTech, external affairs, and developing sector specific innovation services and investment support for the life sciences business across the network of campuses. Kath also oversees Alderley Park - the UK’s largest single- site life science campus - the new £210m Birmingham Health Innovation Campus, and Citylabs in Manchester, the world-leading health innovation and precision medicine campus in partnership with Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust.

Kath joined Bruntwood SciTech from the executive board of Innovate UK where she led the team responsible for growing and scaling businesses working in the biomedical, health, agriculture and food sectors, creating and delivering a £700m portfolio of infrastructure, Catapults, grant and loan investments. Kath is also Non-Executive Director of the Northern Health Science Alliance, the North of England’s health partnership, UKRI’s National Biofilms Innovation Centre, and Cheshire and Warrington Local Enterprise Partnership.

In March 2020 Bruntwood SciTech, which is a 50:50 joint venture between Bruntwood and Legal & General - announced the acquisition of Melbourn Science Park near Cambridge for £46.2 million, in order to develop a new masterplan for the 16.4 acre site; creating a long term vision for the growth of the science park as a leading science and technology cluster in Cambridge.

The new strategic partnership will see Bruntwood SciTech and TTP, which has many years of experience of working in life sciences, combine forces to support the further growth and development of the Park and establish a new Innovation Services programme which will provide Bruntwood SciTech’s wider community of over 500 science and technology businesses based in their other business parks and buildings with additional access to venture capital, new markets, products and prototyping opportunities.

Bruntwood say this will complement the Park’s new life sciences incubator, further leveraging TTP’s expertise in science and engineering innovation and helping to create new exclusive links across Bruntwood SciTech’s network of innovation districts.

Located nine miles south of Cambridge city centre, Melbourn Science Park is currently home to the Park’s freeholder TTP, as well as companies including AstraZeneca, SPT Labtech, Cellular Highways and LEX Diagnostics.

Kate Lawlor, chief executive, Bruntwood SciTech, said: “Establishing a presence in Cambridge creates a vital new connection between the Golden Triangle and some of the UK’s other leading innovation districts in Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool and Birmingham. It further enables us to support the levelling up the UK economy, building our network to increase the flow of investment, talent and capital into the UK science and tech sector.