Background information – The History of the Science Park
https://www.cambridgesciencepark.co.uk/about-park/past/
The Science Park was established on the north eastern edge of the city of Cambridge on land which has belonged to Trinity College since its foundation in 1546. It was used as farmland until the Second World War. During the war, it was taken over by the U.S. Army for the preparation of tanks and other vehicles. After the war, the site was derelict until 1970.
The Science Park was established on the north eastern edge of the city of Cambridge on land which has belonged to Trinity College since its foundation in 1546. It was used as farmland until the Second World War. During the war, it was taken over by the U.S. Army for the preparation of tanks and other vehicles. After the war, the site was derelict until 1970.
Trinity College recognized the importance of the committee’s ideas. The College had a long tradition of scientific research and innovation from Sir Isaac Newton onwards and as a brown-field site was available, the College decided to apply for planning permission to develop it as a science park, an idea born during the 50s in the USA where the first science park was established by Stanford University.
Outline planning permission was granted in October 1971. Following clearance and landscaping of the derelict area, conversion of the old gravel pit into a lake, and construction of the first stretch of road, the first company, Laser-Scan, moved onto the Park in the autumn of 1973.
The growth of the Cambridge Science Park was slow in the first five years. The science park concept was an unfamiliar one. At the start of the Park, UK subsidiaries of multinational companies began to locate there. (e.g. LKB Biochrom from Sweden) The number of companies slowly grew to 25 by the end of the 70s.
During the 80s, several venture capital companies opened offices on the Park, including the regional office of 3i, the UK’s leading venture capital company. In the second half of the decade, University academics began to bring companies to the Park. They were encouraged by its success and also began to take advantage of the breaking, in the mid-80s, of BTG’s (British Technology Group) monopoly of intellectual property originating in UK universities.
The Cambridge Science Park also began to accommodate spin-outs from existing tenant companies such as Cambridge Consultants and saw the first collaborative venture formed by park companies – Qudos, which was founded by the University’s Microelectronics Laboratory (which was then located at the Park), Prelude Technology Investments and Cambridge Consultants.
The Cambridge Science Park also began to accommodate spin-outs from existing tenant companies such as Cambridge Consultants and saw the first collaborative venture formed by park companies – Qudos, which was founded by the University’s Microelectronics Laboratory (which was then located at the Park), Prelude Technology Investments and Cambridge Consultants.
Fast growing internet and telecoms-related companies, and the growth and success of a number of companies which had been at the Park for some years, altered the pattern of space occupation.
However, towards the end of the 1990s the life sciences sector started to grow and become the dominant technology sector on the Park.
There were now fewer but larger, better funded and more successful companies at the Park and more of them were launched onto the UK Stock Exchange. A biotech venture capital fund, Merlin Ventures, opened an office on the Park. That said, the origins of companies arriving were much the same as in the past: a mixture of spin-outs, developing new ventures from the Cambridge area and elsewhere in the UK, and UK subsidiaries of multinational companies. By December 1999, there were 64 companies at the Park employing some 4,000 people.
The new century brought a number of exciting developments to the Cambridge Science Park. One of these was a joint venture between Trinity College and Trinity Hall College (which owns the surrounding land) to develop the 22.5 acres of brownfield land remaining. 5 purpose-built buildings were erected. In September 2000, the Trinity Centre opened, which includes accommodation and a new Conference Centre, a restaurant and a bar. Also a new fitness centre was opened. In 2001, a child care nursery was built with space for 115 children. Other developments include new broadband services and additional bus services. Planning permission was given to erect a hotel too.
In 2005, the ' Innovation Centre ' opened. The Centre has allowed companies in their early stages to grow and flourish according to their particular circumstances. In 2010 the Park celebrated 40 years of innovation and collaboration. Now, 4 of the first buildings have been demolished and plans are in place to rejuvenate the oldest part of the Park.
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