Meet our Life Sciences and Innovation team
Our UK network of offices is aligned to the Life Sciences and Innovation sector, operating across London, the Golden Triangle, and the UK Cities markets where innovation and research ecosystems thrive. Our team of sector experts can support your real estate requirements, both in the UK and globally within our Knight Frank platform.
Our team of advisors include:
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Nicholas Blevins
Partner - Head of Life Sciences and Innovation Agency
Nick brings extensive experience in the UK life sciences sector, supporting some of the most innovative science and technology businesses, from sourcing land for GMP facilities to securing specialised R&D lab spaces. With a track record advising major occupiers in Cambridge and assisting global companies expanding into Oxford, Nick has developed a nuanced understanding of the critical factors driving their strategic decisions.
Nick also has a proven history of working with landlords across the Golden Triangle, providing insights that elevate their market position and creating compelling propositions for prospective occupiers. His deep industry knowledge and ability to integrate within dynamic life sciences businesses make him a trusted advisor for both tenants and property owners.
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Nicholas Blevins
Partner - Head of Life Sciences and Innovation Agency
Nick brings extensive experience in the UK life sciences sector, supporting some of the most innovative science and technology businesses, from sourcing land for GMP facilities to securing specialised R&D lab spaces. With a track record advising major occupiers in Cambridge and assisting global companies expanding into Oxford, Nick has developed a nuanced understanding of the critical factors driving their strategic decisions.
Nick also has a proven history of working with landlords across the Golden Triangle, providing insights that elevate their market position and creating compelling propositions for prospective occupiers. His deep industry knowledge and ability to integrate within dynamic life sciences businesses make him a trusted advisor for both tenants and property owners.
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Iain Keys
Partner, Office Head, Cambridge – UK Life Sciences and Innovation
Iain has been working in the life science sector for the last four years, focusing on development consultancy and investment. Based in Cambridge, Iain is embedded in the market and has a deep understanding of user requirements, provision of space and the ecosystem across the Arc. Iain has provided development consultancy advice on Howbery Park, near Oxford, a £200m opportunity to create the UK’s first cluster focused on water, climate change and the environment, chaired a government advisory panel to assist the government on shaping policy to develop the Cambridge Oxford Arc as well as investment advice and winning asset management instructions for life science space.
Iain also has extensive experience in advising on the creation of joint ventures, long term strategic advice, working with overseas investors and sustainability/green energy initiatives. Having worked as a consultant and client, he has a valuable understanding of client requirements and fund management. Over the last three years he has also worked on film studio development and is seen as a leading consultant in the sector. Clients include Biomed, IQHQ, TusPark, HR Wallingford.
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Iain Keys
Partner, Office Head, Cambridge – UK Life Sciences and Innovation
Iain has been working in the life science sector for the last four years, focusing on development consultancy and investment. Based in Cambridge, Iain is embedded in the market and has a deep understanding of user requirements, provision of space and the ecosystem across the Arc. Iain has provided development consultancy advice on Howbery Park, near Oxford, a £200m opportunity to create the UK’s first cluster focused on water, climate change and the environment, chaired a government advisory panel to assist the government on shaping policy to develop the Cambridge Oxford Arc as well as investment advice and winning asset management instructions for life science space.
Iain also has extensive experience in advising on the creation of joint ventures, long term strategic advice, working with overseas investors and sustainability/green energy initiatives. Having worked as a consultant and client, he has a valuable understanding of client requirements and fund management. Over the last three years he has also worked on film studio development and is seen as a leading consultant in the sector. Clients include Biomed, IQHQ, TusPark, HR Wallingford.
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Jennifer Townsend
Partner - Research Life Sciences
Jennifer is the author of the quarterly Life Sciences and Innovation Insight Report which tracks sector performance, events shaping the sector and leasing, development and investment activity. She also evaluates occupier demand across core life sciences clusters. This involves identifying emergent sub-sectors, proactively finding the most relevant occupiers for schemes and developing an in-depth understanding of occupiers through profiling.
Jennifer is also responsible for thematic research focused on getting ahead of the macro and occupier trends shaping the sector and its real estate requirements.
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Jennifer Townsend
Partner - Research Life Sciences
Jennifer is the author of the quarterly Life Sciences and Innovation Insight Report which tracks sector performance, events shaping the sector and leasing, development and investment activity. She also evaluates occupier demand across core life sciences clusters. This involves identifying emergent sub-sectors, proactively finding the most relevant occupiers for schemes and developing an in-depth understanding of occupiers through profiling.
Jennifer is also responsible for thematic research focused on getting ahead of the macro and occupier trends shaping the sector and its real estate requirements.
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Neil Mclocklin
Partner - Occupier Consultancy - Life Sciences and Innovation
Neil is responsible for Strategic Consulting within Knight Frank, working with businesses to align real estate to strategy. He has over 30 years of consultancy expertise, mainly focused on occupier portfolio, location and workplace strategies, across all sectors and with a strong focus on Life Sciences, where clients include Bayer, Cambridge Science Park – UK, Hydro-genics, London Watford Innovation and Incubation hub, Monheim Science Park - Germany, Novartis, Oxford - Harwell Science Campus, Plus X Innovation Hub - Brighton, RINA, Roche, Socotec, Shionogi, Takeda, Teva, UCB, AstraZeneca and GSK.
Over the last 10 years, he has been increasingly asked to turn his occupier lens around to help developers and investors re-position their assets or develop market strategies, particularly focus on tech and innovation. He has Master's degrees that span business strategy, technology, real estate and change management, at Universities that include UCL, Cass Business School and University of Southern California.
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Neil Mclocklin
Partner - Occupier Consultancy - Life Sciences and Innovation
Neil is responsible for Strategic Consulting within Knight Frank, working with businesses to align real estate to strategy. He has over 30 years of consultancy expertise, mainly focused on occupier portfolio, location and workplace strategies, across all sectors and with a strong focus on Life Sciences, where clients include Bayer, Cambridge Science Park – UK, Hydro-genics, London Watford Innovation and Incubation hub, Monheim Science Park - Germany, Novartis, Oxford - Harwell Science Campus, Plus X Innovation Hub - Brighton, RINA, Roche, Socotec, Shionogi, Takeda, Teva, UCB, AstraZeneca and GSK.
Over the last 10 years, he has been increasingly asked to turn his occupier lens around to help developers and investors re-position their assets or develop market strategies, particularly focus on tech and innovation. He has Master's degrees that span business strategy, technology, real estate and change management, at Universities that include UCL, Cass Business School and University of Southern California.
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Mark Routledge
Partner - Life Sciences and Capital Markets
Mark advised Brookfield Asset Management on the purchase of the Atom Portfolio in 2021, which comprised 5 science and innovation parks for £714m - the largest transaction in the sector in the last 24 months. Other assets Mark has advised on include Colworth Science Park, Granta Park, Chesterford Research Park, Oxford Business Park, Cambridge Science Park and Cambridge Research Park.
As well as living in Cambridge, Mark previously worked for MEPC and was involved in the inception and master planning of Granta Park still widely regarded as one of the best Life Science Park’s in the UK. Mark’s experience covers leasing, development, asset management, pre-purchase underwriting and strategic long-term advice and therefore is uniquely positioned to advise on the sector. A selection of clients Mark has worked with include Stanhope, Cadillac Fairview, Brookfield Asset Management, RLAM, Napp Pharmaceuticals, GSK, Blackstone, Aviva Investors and Columbia Threadneedle.
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Mark Routledge
Partner - Life Sciences and Capital Markets
Mark advised Brookfield Asset Management on the purchase of the Atom Portfolio in 2021, which comprised 5 science and innovation parks for £714m - the largest transaction in the sector in the last 24 months. Other assets Mark has advised on include Colworth Science Park, Granta Park, Chesterford Research Park, Oxford Business Park, Cambridge Science Park and Cambridge Research Park.
As well as living in Cambridge, Mark previously worked for MEPC and was involved in the inception and master planning of Granta Park still widely regarded as one of the best Life Science Park’s in the UK. Mark’s experience covers leasing, development, asset management, pre-purchase underwriting and strategic long-term advice and therefore is uniquely positioned to advise on the sector. A selection of clients Mark has worked with include Stanhope, Cadillac Fairview, Brookfield Asset Management, RLAM, Napp Pharmaceuticals, GSK, Blackstone, Aviva Investors and Columbia Threadneedle.
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Knight Frank Cresa Partnership
Across the US, Knight Frank and Cresa have come together to create something different, a streamlined service where client-focused outcomes are the only focus. The Knight Frank Cresa Life Sciences practice group operates in all key markets from Boston, to San Francisco and Seattle. Meet our Americas counterpart Matt Elmquist, Managing Principal, San Francisco, CA, Simon Terry Lloyd, Managing Principal, San Diego, CA, John Oakley, Principal, Boston, MA.