The Future of the Oxford to Cambridge Region Conference; In partnership with Bidwells

East West Rail – Beth West, Chief Executive

East West Rail is a proposed new rail link between Oxford, Milton Keynes, Cambridge and potentially beyond. The new railway will improve local connectivity and serve as a catalyst for economic development, including the creation of more high skilled jobs and new homes as well as reducing existing commuting and travel times. Phase 1 is well underway, with Phase 2 and Phase 3 projected to be completed by 2028. An updated route plan was recently released, which included a new station at Tempsford, which will connect with the East West Rail Line.

Homes England – Peter Freeman, Chair

Homes England Chair Peter Freeman has been appointed by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities to lead the Cambridge Delivery Group which will develop a strategy to create integrated neighbourhoods and healthy communities which will in turn allow growth in Cambridge’s science and innovation sectors. Peter joins us to deliver a keynote setting out the vision for the city and how it will progress in the coming years.

Oxford University Development – Anna Strongman, Chief Executive

Oxford University Development is a joint venture partnership bringing together the land, vision and opportunities of Oxford University with the investment and development management skills of Legal & General, who are investing £4bn. OUD has three consented projects worth £300m, including an expansion of Begbroke Science Park, new homes for graduate students and a new world class facility for life and mind sciences. There are a number of other projects in earlier stages including Begbroke Innovation District, which will deliver a range of research and development facilities, new homes and associated social and physical infrastructure, including schools, community centres, space for leisure and recreation, and excellent sustainable transport links to Oxford on a 190 acre site.

Oxford to Cambridge Partnership – Dr Richard Hutchins, Managing Director

A group of leaders from local government, Local Enterprise Partnerships, the Arc Universities Group and England’s Economic Heartland have formed a new partnership for the Oxford to Cambridge area.  The Partnership’s role is champion the region as world leader in innovation and business, acting to achieve environmentally sustainable and inclusive growth. It will be a strong convening force, strengthening cross-boundary collaboration among its partners, to accelerate solutions to tackle the most pressing economic and environment challenges.

Thomas White Oxford – Victoria Collett, Development Director

Thomas White Oxford is the development company of St John’s College, Oxford and is responsible for delivering Oxford North, the £700m global innovation district. Oxford North will deliver one million sq ft of laboratory and workspace, 480 new homes, a hotel, nursery, cafes, bars, three public parks and infrastructure. Phase one of the project is underway, with Phase two due to commence at the end of 2023 for completion in 2025.

Socius – Steve Eccles, Director

Socius have partnered with Railpen, the £35bn railways pension scheme IM to deliver Botanic Place, a major office development in Cambridge city centre. The project, worth £500m will see the development of 500,000 sq ft of office space and set a new benchmark for sustainability. It is the second collaboration between the two in the Arc, with the £160m Devonshire Gardens mixed use development set to begin later this year. Steve will discuss the exciting Botanic Place project as well as their future plans within the Arc.

Mission Street – Colin Brown, Development Director

Mission Street are a specialist investor, operator and developer focused on the delivery of creative solutions for the evolving Science and Innovation sector and have a rapidly growing development portfolio, with in excess of 1,000,000 sq ft of committed projects in strategic locations within Oxford, Cambridge and Bristol. They are bringing forward proposals to redevelop an underused site close to Oxford city centre and deliver 182,000 sq ft of R&D workspace. The £100m scheme will help meet the need for science and tech workspace in the city and being integrated into the wider city centre will put ‘science on show’.

South Cambridgeshire District Council – Cllr Bridget Smith, Leader

Cllr Smith is a key leader in the Oxford to Cambridge Region and is a strong backer of regional collaboration. She is a key voice behind the need to balance environmental and sustainability priorities with the need to solve the regional housing crisis and enable responsible development which will drive economic growth and job creation.

CALA Homes – Neil Farnsworth, Head of Planning

Cala Group is a major UK home builder focused on building well-designed, high-quality homes in prime locations throughout the South of England, the Cotswolds and Scotland. The Cala Group is a subsidiary of Legal & General, and employs over 1,300 people across 10 offices, with 75 live developments at any time ongoing.

Cala has significant planning and development expertise, including brownfield and greenfield sites, mixed-use schemes, and larger strategic sites that may require more complex planning.  Neil Farnsworth was appointed Head of Planning for Cala Homes’ North Home Counties business in January 2023, having been with the business since 2017.

Cala’s North Home Counties team has extensive local knowledge throughout Cambridgeshire, Essex, West and South Suffolk, and East London Boroughs, where they have a strong track record for delivering exceptionally designed, high-quality and sustainable new communities.

Water Resources East – Daniel Johns, Managing Director

Water Resources East is working in partnership to safeguard a sustainable supply of water for Eastern England, resilient to future challenges, to enable the area’s communities, environment, and economy to reach their full potential. They specialise in working with water users to plan and implement water resource management plans; inform government policy; research emerging approaches; and act as a forum to bring together all water users through discussion and debate.

Advanced Oxford – Sarah Haywood, Managing Director

Advanced Oxford represents major knowledge-intensive businesses and organisations in the Oxford region. They are research-led, providing insight, analysis and a united voice on the key issues affecting the development of the innovation ecosystem in the Oxford region. The organisation works to support the long-term development of the Oxford region as a dynamic and prosperous place to work and live, using knowledge-intensive industries as a catalyst for long term and sustainable economic growth.

Legal & General – Adam Burney, Head of BtR Annuity

Legal & General’s retirement institutional business is looking to deploy £500m into BtR projects across the UK this year after a pause in investment into the sector. They are actively looking at investing in new cities, including Oxford and Cambridge and will share details of their aims and requirements as they continue to expand their reach.

OX Place – Helen Horne, Managing Director

OxPlace is Oxford City Council’s housing company, established in 2016 to create high-quality, genuinely affordable homes in the City. They build homes for sale, shared ownership and council rent and are building over 2,000 new homes in and around Oxford over the coming decade, with a strong commitment to building net-zero homes.

Milton Keynes Development Partnership – Adam Sciberras, Special Projects Director

Having joined the Milton Keynes Development Partnership (MKDP) in 2022 Adam is focused on delivering a number of strategically important sites across the city – including the Station Square and Open Market schemes in the city centre and the regeneration of Bletchley. The MKDP is a council owned development partnership looking to develop its portfolio of land assets to advance the city’s objectives to regeneration and develop to create an even better place to live, social, work and do business. They’re currently seeking a development partner to bring forward the Open Market scheme, whilst a 7.3-acre site at Shenley Wood is also being brought forward. Other projects include the transformation of Bletchley and the 1,500 home Campbell Park Northwide project with Urban Splash.

Oxford-Cambridge Supercluster Board – Dr Andy Williams, Chair

The Oxford-Cambridge Supercluster Board is an industry led partnership working with government to create the UK’s first science and innovation supercluster. The Supercluster Board comprises globally recognised scientific enterprises, investors and world-leading universities alongside the local enterprise partnerships, all of whom have a vested interest in the region and are fully aligned with Government’s ambition for the Oxford-Cambridge Supercluster. Andy will discuss how connecting world leading clusters in Oxford and Cambridge will lead to further opportunities and a higher potential for the attraction of R&D funding.

Atkins, member of the SNC-Lavalin Group – Zoe Metcalfe, Director, Connected Thriving Places

With over 20 years’ experience of working with clients to help unlock urban challenges that deliver transformational development projects. Zoe is one of the driving forces behind ‘Creating thriving places for nature and people’ which is a place-based regenerative methodology to deliver better quality of life outcomes for all, alongside net zero pathways, climate resilience and nature positive solutions. Through this approach Zoe has been working closely with Local and Combined Authorities to support the identification and delivery of major infrastructure, built environment and nature-based programmes. Underpinned by credible data and digitally enabled, aligned to investment priorities, deliver value and credible outcomes that build a better future for people and nature.

Greater Cambridge Shared Planning – John Cornell, Natural Environment Leader

The Greater Cambridge Shared Planning Service is a strategic partnership between Cambridge City and South Cambridgeshire District Councils to ensure that development leaves Greater Cambridge better than before, for future generations. It is one of the busiest planning teams in the country, processing over 6,000 applications every year, across a huge range of different sites and projects. John will talk about the work that is underway in Greater Cambridge as they seek to balance development and nature as it relates to the theme of supporting biodiversity and clean growth to deliver thriving places for people and nature.

Bidwells – Emily Slupek, Partner

Emily Slupek is a Partner at Bidwells, working in the Building Consultancy team, with a focus on the science and tech research sector. Currently, she is working with Harwell Campus to deliver their first life sciences building at its Innovation Quarter. Prior to joining Bidwells, Emily spearheaded Buro Four’s Science & Technology division, helping clients to deliver complex projects. Emily was project lead on two schemes at Cambridge BioMedical Campus, as well as project director for the construction of two new laboratory buildings at Begbroke Science Park in Oxford. She also has experience in leading repurposing projects, as well as working with developers and funders to deliver large commercial offices and mixed-use developments. With significant experience across science and tech development, Emily is a recognised figure within the innovation sector, regularly moderating panels and chairing round table discussions to explore future trends within the sector.

ARC – Jenny Gardner, Development & Construction Director

Harwell Science and Innovation Campus has secured £300m of financing to help it expand and build out new laboratory, advanced manufacturing, and office space. Over the next two years Harwell will use the additional funding secured to build 440,000 sq. ft of new Laboratory and R&D buildings across the campus.

This will include Tech Foundry, 220,000 sq. ft of Advanced Manufacturing space, and the Linear Accelerator Building, L^B, a landmark laboratory building for starting and scaling science organisations, alongside a number of further developments across the campus. The investment and development facility has been provided by a consortium comprising Deutsche Bank, BNP Paribas and AXA.

Packaged Living – Ed Ellerington, Founder & Chief Executive Officer

Packaged Living is a bespoke Build to Rent developer and operator which works across the residential property lifecycle: acquiring land, gaining planning, building out and ultimately managing homes within the Private Rented Sector. They have a major presence in Milton Keynes with their JV partner, Affinius Capital and recently purchased a former multi-storey car park site in central MK where they are planning to deliver 250 BtR homes.

Countryside Partnerships – Verity MacMahon, Managing Director, Northern Home Counties

Countryside Partnership are the leading regeneration specialist within the UK- specialising in delivering homes and community regeneration. With recent plans to develop Barton Park in Oxford City, consisting of 885 homes, a community hub, additional facilities, a primary school and retail space which is due for completion in 2027. Verity – Managing director will be joining the session to discuss upcoming development plans, the challenges of accelerating the housing stock and developing inclusive communities.

Prologis – Jason Longhurst, UK Head of Sustainable Investment and Partnerships

In his dual role of UK investment lead for Prologis and Chair of the UK Business Council for Sustainable Development, Jason is actively working across the region to deliver sustainable solutions to regeneration having being part of the initial team that conceptualised the OxCam Corridor nearly 10 years ago. He joins the event to discuss how organisations like Prologis can help deliver on public sector priorities.

LandsecU+I – Sarah Chitty, Senior Development Manager

LandsecU+I are behind the 47 hectare Hartree project, which will transform a former water recycling centre into a new quarter in Cambridge’s northern fringe. The site will be redeveloped into 5,000 homes and 500,000 sq. ft. of office/ lab and employment space. A new district centre will include a mix of retail, hotel, community and leisure, education and public space.

Bidwells – Mike Derbyshire, Head of Planning

Mike leads Bidwells’ planning practice, and advocates for thoughtful, well-designed development across the Oxford-Cambridge Arc. He is actively advising on plans for 7 million sq. ft of R&D / Life Science space across the Cambridge region, approaching challenges with a blend of strategic and political instinct and forensic knowledge of planning.

Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates (KPF) – Elie Gamburg, Director

KPF is an international architecture practice with expertise across multiple typologies including innovation districts, labs and academic buildings. They bring global experience and best practice in architecture and urbanism to their work, which focusses on the potential for architecture to improve the wider city and create opportunities to foster cross-discipline collaboration and innovation. KPF has particular expertise in vertically-oriented laboratories, such as One North Quay in Canary Wharf. The 23-storey building, which was granted planning approval in July 2023, is set to become Europe’s largest and most technologically advanced commercial health and life sciences building. The vertical campus supports cross-discipline collaboration, sets ambitious sustainability targets and will become an iconic presence at the heart of North Quay. Also in London, KPF are the architects for Vinegar Yard, a life-sciences led, mixed-use development that will lead the new SC1 Life Science and Innovation District at London Bridge, deliver significant public realm improvements, and meet ambitious full lifecycle carbon targets.