Dear colleagues,
It was reassuring to see the Government’s commitment to research and development, along with continued financial support for UK inclusion in Horizon Europe, in the recent Budget — both of which signal the importance of universities to the Government’s growth agenda.
At Imperial, we are also focused on growth. In recent weeks, we have announced two major investments to drive the development of the Imperial WestTech Corridor, a new globally competitive deep tech innovation ecosystem across West London.
Through the acquisition of a prime industrial site in the London Borough of Ealing, announced last month, we will be able to provide commercial science innovation facilities to early-stage companies with interests aligned with our academic mission. Access to development land at White City is already providing us with significant opportunities to advance Imperial, and acquiring the Victoria Industrial Estate will afford the same to others in the future.
Our new life sciences joint venture with Bruntwood SciTech, announced last week, will enable a significant expansion of our life sciences capacity at our White City Deep Tech Campus. This includes the development of a new innovation facility offering world-class labs and workspaces, where deep-tech startups, scale-ups, and global businesses can co-locate, collaborate, and grow alongside Imperial’s world-leading academics, clinicians, and researchers. My thanks to Sarah Cary (Chief Development Officer White City) for bringing the joint venture to life.
Thank you to Maggie Dallman (Associate Provost, Societal Engagement) for sharing an update on the Centre for Societal Engagement at Tuesday's event, which builds on the strong foundations of engagement across the organisation and will have a part to play in achieving all our strategic priorities.
My thanks to Consul Professor Miriam Moffat for chairing our discussion, and to all who attended for your insightful questions. We will follow up on your questions in the Staff Briefing newsletter on Friday 13 December. You can watch the recording online.
I look forward to talking to you all again at our next In Conversation with the President event on Thursday 12 December, 10.30-11.30.
In the meantime, I encourage you to find out more about the events and activities taking place for Disability History Month and to take part in the next Professional Services Discussion event on Wednesday 4 December, which will focus on the Great People pillar of the Enabling roadmap.
Best wishes,
Hugh
Professor Hugh Brady, President