Back to the drawing board for Alderley Park project
A PROMISED £5m grant from the Regional Growth Fund for a bioscience hub at AstraZeneca’s Alderley Park research base is now off the agenda after the drugs giant said it was moving to Cambridge.
Funding was approved in October to support a bioscience cluster that would back spin-outs and innovative biomedical enterprises, and give them access to AstraZeneca’s facilities, “know-how and human capital”.
Cheshire East Council leader Michael Jones told TheBusinessDesk.com the cash was now “no longer necessary” because the changes meant there should now be a “different conversation”. “Alderley Park needs to be redefined,” he said.
Last month AstraZeneca said it would close its longstanding Cheshire research base and move 1,600 jobs, with most of them going to a new research site in Cambridge. Around 700 jobs will stay at Alderley Park, near Alderley Edge, although these will not be involved in research and development.
“RGF won’t now be necessary but we are now looking at other funding from government,” said Mr Jones. “Now it’s a different conversation, it’s not about £5m. Alderley Park needs to be redefined.”
David Willetts, minster for universities and science, has set up a taskforce to coordinate work to support Alderley Park staff and the local economy during the transition. It will be jointly led by Chris Brinsmead, the government’s life sciences Champion, and Clive Morris, a vice president of AstraZeneca, alongside local partners.
“If the government believes in supporting business here is a multi-billion pound opportunity for UK plc,” said Mr Jones. “We’ll see how strong they want to be. I think this can be a powerhouse.”
He added: “I can see the logic of it [AstraZeneca’s decision], I’m disappointed, but I think we can turn this around and have the best of both worlds with AstraZeneca’s molecular research in Cambridge and bioscience at Alderley Park. That’s the opportunity. They get what they want and UK plc get what it wants.”
Mr Jones said several companies that considered moving to the planned bioscience hub before before the decision was announced are still interested, and they could bring more than 100 jobs.
He said the council was given a week’s notice of AstraZeneca’s intentions and was not involved in discussions to keep the company in the region, which were led by Chancellor George Osborne who is also the area’s MP.
