CHAP partner Rothamsted Research is creating a hub for high-growth agri and food tech businesses and entrepreneurs by repurposing the Russell Building, which has been unused since 2014.
The renowned agri-science research centre’s Russell Building building, which was the base for the scientists who created the first pyrethroid insecticides, is known as the spiritual home of UK agricultural science. Thanks to a £1.7 million joint Local Growth Fund investment from Hertfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) and Hertfordshire Innovation Quarter the site is being renovated to provide much-needed grow-on and start-up space for agri- and food-tech businesses
The prime office space will be launched this summer. The renovated building, with 22 offices, will enable high-growth, high-tech companies to join a thriving ecosystem of agri-tech, food tech and innovation businesses based on site.
Facilities will include an open plan innovation space, where early-start entrepreneurs can work together before prototyping their ideas and testing on site, to grow-on spaces and offices for these early start-ups and related businesses.
“We are delighted by this development,” said Angela Karp, Rothamsted Research Interim Institute Director and CEO. “Bringing together entrepreneurs on campus with our world-class scientists, I am confident we can look forward to a new era of ground-breaking innovation in agricultural science and technology at Rothamsted.”
For more information:
www.rothamsted.ac.uk
chap-solutions.co.uk