The golden triangle of Oxford, Cambridge and London is recognised as the most advanced UK life sciences ecosystem forming part of a UK wide industry. The sector employs 255,000 people. New developments and investment in AI, digital health and cell and gene therapy has driven demand for research and development laboratory space and, increasingly, GMP manufacturing.
Our Life Sciences and Innovation team have real estate experience in this specialist sector. Their advisory roles are diverse. Capital markets, development consultancy, leasing, and marketing - we work with our clients, in tandem with their other consultants, transacting, designing and delivering research/laboratory enabled projects. By understanding how science ecosystems most effectively operate we can ensure experience-based advice is given for your asset or opportunity.
We also assemble teams to advise occupiers looking to acquire laboratory and office space and can support the whole relocation process.
Our specialist services include:
Occupier Advisory
Tenant Representation
Our tenant representation teams work with life science occupiers to understand drivers for their real estate needs and identify and secure solutions. With geospatial mapping and market data and intelligence we can analyse different markets to identify the location best suited to the specific requirement. This may involve analysis of demographics, funding availability, academic and hospital/medical adjacencies, connectivity, and power.
Occupier clients include GSK, Astellas Pharma, Gilead, Bayer, Takeda.
Strategic Occupier Consulting
Led by Neil McLocklin, our strategic occupier consulting team provides worldwide knowledge into labour markets to ensure our clients can establish themselves in sustainable and scalable markets. Our clients include start-ups and prominent life science companies, who we help establish and grow in the UK. Our expertise includes labour costs, attrition rates, competition for specific skill sets, and the broader ecosystem to support life science business. We also have expertise in evaluating and understanding grants and incentives across the UK, and worldwide and can help our clients to maximise their value. We offer a workplace strategy capability to help our clients develop their office and lab space requirements, optimising process flows, workplace effectiveness and experience.
Our consultants have supported Shionogi, Bayer, Takeda, GSK, Pure Spring, Novartis, Sanofi, Novo Nordisk, and UCB amongst others.
Global Portfolio Solutions
GPS advise corporate clients in considerations connected with the strategic direction of their portfolio. They devise solutions to improve efficiency and cost while ensuring operational excellence, an alignment with ESG ambition and a focus on talent attraction.
Leasing and the occupational market
The Knight Frank team provides life sciences advice in London, Oxford, and Cambridge, partnering with colleagues across our global network. Services include marketing, leasing, and development consulting to ensure the right building is suitable for the life sciences occupier. We use the extensive network of connections developed through our residential and commercial operations to add value to client projects.
Our network of 10 UK Cities includes Manchester, Edinburgh, Birmingham, and Cardiff which have vibrant and growing science sectors.
Capital Markets
This team is led by Mark Routledge and provides life sciences sector-specific advice on sales and acquisitions. The potential to secure higher rental values has driven prime yields to sub 4%. Since 2017 £5.2bn has been invested into the sector in the UK, with £2.3bn in 2021 and £1.2bn in the first half of the 2022 financial year deployed in the prime golden triangle markets. We have advised on the largest portfolio purchase in the last 24 months, Brookfield’s acquisition of the Atom Portfolio for £714m.
Our client services cover an extensive range of strategic transactions. Our real estate and science expertise, combined with innovative capital solutions, enable us to have detailed knowledge and insight into this dynamic sector.
We work closely with our occupational, leasing and research colleagues to ensure an integrated and collaborative approach.
Clients include Stanhope, Cadillac Fairview, RLAM, Brookfield, Brockton Everlast, Kadans Science Partners.
Valuation and Advisory
Led by Mike Crowe, Partner in Valuation and Advisory, we have valued £4bn in the sector since mid-2021. Our life sciences team provides specialised valuation services in this rapidly evolving market.
We operate globally, advising corporate entities, academic institutions, and developers. Our team offers detailed knowledge of the complexities surrounding life science valuation.
Services include:
- Valuation and advisory
- Development appraisals
- Secured lending valuation
- Regulated purpose valuation
We utilise our extensive in-house experience, data and global network, and market-leading research and technology to provide best-in-class service.
Knowledge through Research
Led by Research partner Jennifer Townsend, our dedicated Research capability combined with bespoke geospatial analytics, allows interrogation of specific locations, analysis of occupier activity, capital flows and research advances - all informing client advice. Our ACE platform also allows us to interrogate locations identifying strong science clusters and ecosystems.
We are advising a range of clients including institutional, REIT and Private equity investors, developers, and occupiers. Our clients include Brockton Everlast, RLAM, Bruntwood SciTech, Kadans Science partners and occupiers including GSK, Astellas Pharma, Gilead, Bayer, Takeda.
Our Partner in the US - Cresa
Knight Frank have a strategic partnership with Cresa. The US markets, Cresa provide an occupier only advisory service. Their Life Sciences practice group connects offices in the prime sciences cities- Boston, New York, Washington, San Francisco, San Diego and Seattle. Clients include Altos labs and AbCam. The maturity of the US life Sciences market provides important learnings for our UK and wider global operations and connections to occupiers with a global reach.