Government Building Fund Invests in Birmingham Health Innovation Campus

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10 August 2020

£10.8 million of investment has been allocated to Birmingham Health Innovation Campus, an upcoming development which will create high-quality lab, office, incubation and innovation facilities for businesses. 

Birmingham Health Innovation Campus (BHIC) is one of eight "shovel ready" projects in the West Midlands which will benefit from a combined £66 million of government funding. BHIC is part of a strategic alliance between the University of Birmingham and two co-located NHS Foundation Trusts, led by Birmingham Health Partners (BHP).

The money from the Government’s Getting Building Fund (GGBF) is aimed at projects which can be started quickly and completed within 18 months. 

“At a difficult time for the West Midlands’ economy brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, it is great to see the government putting further cash on the table to help aid our recovery.”

–Andy Street

Mayor, West Midlands  

Eight “Shovel Ready” Projects in the West Midlands Will Benefit From a Combined £66 Million of Funding

The West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) – working with the Greater Birmingham and Solihull LEP, the Black Country LEP and the Coventry and Warwickshire LEP – delivered the region’s prioritised list of projects to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), which was confirmed this week

The projects are:

• £10.8m to provide innovation spaces and research laboratories at the Birmingham Health Innovation Campus.
• £15.1m towards the redevelopment of University Station at the University of Birmingham in Edgbaston.
• £1m towards WM5G’s work with small and medium-sized business to develop groundbreaking apps.
• £12.4m for the Very Light Rail Innovation Centre in Dudley where new modes of transport which are both green and cheaper and quicker to deliver than traditional tram or rail are being developed.
• The National Brownfield Land Institute, at the University of Wolverhampton, will receive £14.9m. It will research and develop new construction methods and ways of regenerating contaminated land.
• £6m towards Coventry City of Culture to support various initiatives to make the most of the opportunities presented by 2021 – including the creation of a new heritage park.
• Coventry’s Very Light Rail project to receive £1.8m.
• £3.9m towards improved facilities at the Ricoh Arena, Coventry as part of the Commonwealth Games legacy scheme.

Combined the projects will create about 2,110 jobs, as well as support 1,419 construction jobs during development.

Post-COVID Recovery

Professor Tim Jones, Provost and Vice-Principal of the University of Birmingham – which owns the land on which BHIC will sit – commented: “Our vision of creating a thriving, diverse community of health and life sciences businesses, working in partnership with academic and clinical leaders, is now closer to reality thanks to this significant investment.

“By developing an environment specifically designed to help life science businesses to form, scale, collaborate and grow, BHIC is set to create 3,000 jobs in the first ten years, along with adding more than £180m Gross Added Value (GVA) to our local economy.”

Mayor of the West Midlands Andy Street added: “At a difficult time for the West Midlands’ economy brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, it is great to see the government putting further cash on the table to help aid our recovery.

“This £66m from the Get Britain Building Fund will go towards exciting, “shovel-ready”, projects across the region that will make an immediate difference by helping to create and secure local jobs for local people.

“As well as an immediate investment to re-boot our local economy, the £66m is also an investment in our future, to secure the West Midlands’ place as a global leader in green and clean technology, life sciences, and the transport of the future.”

Picture: Artists impression of Birmingham Life Sciences Park. Image Credit: University of Birmingham 

Article written by Ella Tansley | Published 10 August 2020

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