Bruntwood SciTech, the Legal & General and Bruntwood 50-50 joint venture specialist property platform focussed on the UK’s life science and tech industries, announced that it has reported its “best results to date.”

Bruntwood SciTech said its profits grew significantly in 2022, hitting £114 million, up from £17.1 million in 2021, “following the completion and successful letting-up of several key assets and the growing recognition of life sciences as a distinct real estate asset class, all of which contributed to significant revaluation gains.”

This included the first two phases of Circle Square, Manchester, that completed and are now fully let, and an expansion and 100% letting of a building to existing customer and international molecular diagnostics group Yourgene Health at Manchester Science Park.

It also included the contribution of Alderley Park, the UK’s largest life sciences campus and now a growing tech hub, “which has become income generative following a sustained period of investment and redevelopment activity.”

Net asset value grew by more than a third to £321.1 million (2021: £235.3m) with the value of its portfolio also rising substantially, hitting £858.44 million (2021: £647.4m).

“Both are owed to significant on-going investment activity and strengthening market sentiment towards science and technology focussed real estate assets,” said Bruntwood SciTech.

Bruntwood SciTech said it made a record £91 million of capital investment last year including major acquisitions, new development activity and improvements to its portfolio and support services.

It unveiled a £76.2 million plan for the purchase and regeneration of Glasgow’s famous Met Tower, to create a new tech and digital campus and marking Bruntwood SciTech’s first footprint in Scotland.

“Sustainability is at the heart of its redevelopment and will see as much of its existing fabric as possible retained, significantly reducing the embedded carbon impact of the works,” said Bruntwood SciTech.

“It will also be net zero carbon in operation.

“Elsewhere, Birmingham’s first ‘smart-enabled’ building, Enterprise Wharf, topped out in the Spring while No.1 Birmingham Health Innovation Campus, the first building at the £210m scheme that shares its name, reached the same milestone in September.

“The High Value Manufacturing Catapult selected Bruntwood SciTech’s Innovation Birmingham campus for its new HQ and a secondary hub at Circle Square, while the former location continues to play a role in supporting the legacy of the Commonwealth Games by providing soft-landing space and support for innovative foreign direct investor companies, in partnership with the West Midlands Growth Company.

“At Circle Square, the £87m, 264,000 sq ft development of No.3 Circle Square took a major step forward following planning approval, and a £20m investment into 86,000 sq ft of new high-specification biology and chemistry containment labs was launched at Alderley Park in September.

“Also in Manchester, the £21m 91,000 sq ft development of Base finished, marking the completion of the second phase of Manchester Science Park’s masterplan to grow the campus to 1m sq ft.

“The net zero operational tech hub will become home to high growth, Industry 4.0 tech businesses, including those working in low carbon, light manufacturing, computer and energy technology, gaming, and animation, and features a purpose built makerspace for customers to prototype their products.

“Beyond property, Bruntwood SciTech increased its support for businesses operating in the innovation economy, adding two new partners to its Serendip corporate innovation challenge programme – BNP Paribas and SuperTech West Midlands, joining the LegalTech in Leeds initiative, launching a Female Founders Incubator, and investing in several companies directly, via funds such as the GMC Life Sciences Fund in partnership with Greater Manchester Combined Authority, Cheshire and Warrington LEP and Praetura Ventures, to bolster the region’s flourishing life sciences sector, support innovation, create more skilled jobs, and help businesses to expand internationally.”