Between 2015 and 2024, knowledge-intensive employment across these three campuses rose by 60%, from 5,621 to 8,940 employees, according to analysis by Cambridge Business Research on behalf of the Greater Cambridge Partnership. Over the same period, the share of knowledge-intensive roles in total regional employment also grew from 13% to 24%.
These numbers reflect what many in the sector already recognise: the southern Cambridge cluster has become one of the most productive concentrations of life sciences innovation anywhere in the world.
The depth of innovation embedded here is remarkable. Some of the world’s highest-grossing medicines trace their origins to this corner of South Cambridgeshire. The density of scientific excellence, entrepreneurial ambition and long-term capital commitment is exceptional by global standards, with patent activity per capita among the highest in the United Kingdom. This is a place where discovery, development and commercial scale-up happen in proximity, and the combination is proving enormously powerful.
Granta Park offers a clear illustration of what this ecosystem can achieve. A recent impact study, commissioned in collaboration with Cambridge Economic Associates, Cambridge Business Research and Savills, found that businesses based at the park contribute more than £1.4 billion annually to the UK economy.
In 2024 alone, tenants invested over £1 billion in research and development. That level of investment speaks not only to the intensity of innovation here, but also to the long-term commitment companies are making to the Cambridge region. The economic benefits also extend beyond the campus itself, with the supply chains sustained by Granta Park companies reaching across the wider Cambridge city Region.
The environment that has made Granta Park an attractive destination to life science companies is distinctive. State-of-the-art laboratory and office facilities, world-class amenities including the Apiary and Clubhouse, flexible leasing structures, and the ability for organisations to scale seamlessly on site, have proven highly attractive to ambitious, high-growth companies seeking long-term stability within a collaborative setting. Similar momentum is also evident across the southern cluster, including at Babraham Research Campus.
Yet for all its successes, the cluster has grown despite, rather than because of, the infrastructure that serves it.
Transport connectivity remains a persistent constraint. Most campuses operate independent shuttle services to manage peak-time access, a workaround that speaks to the inadequacy of wider provision. The Cambridge South East Transport scheme – first proposed in 2016 and taken to public consultation in 2018 – was designed to address exactly this gap. The project would provide a sustainable, off-road connection between a proposed travel hub near the A11/A1307 junction and the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, adjacent to the new Cambridge South station due to open this year.
However, progress has been slow. Delays, local opposition and rising costs have tempered what was initially strong cross-party and cross-tier government support.
Housing supply presents another challenge. Affordability pressures are increasingly cited by employers as a barrier to recruitment, particularly for early-career and technical roles that are vital to sustaining the innovation pipeline.
Put simply, the region has outgrown the infrastructure designed to support it. This matters because the cluster represents not only a local success story, but is an asset of national significance.
Encouragingly, stakeholders across the ecosystem remain engaged. Long-term investors with deep conviction in the cluster’s future continue to participate actively in the forums that bring together campus operators, occupiers, policymakers and investors to address shared challenges. There is a strong collective will to see the region thrive, and although not always visible from the outside, it is unmistakable when you are in the room.
What is needed now is clarity and delivery. A firm and visible commitment to critical infrastructure – on transport, housing and utilities – would send a powerful signal of confidence to the companies already here, and to those considering a presence. Certainty of delivery translates directly into investment decisions. And clarity on timelines removes a risk factor that, for many businesses weighing long-term capital commitments, currently sits unresolved.
The southern cluster has achieved world-leading status on its own terms. With more coordinated infrastructure delivery and clearer long-term commitment from government, it could evolve from one of Europe’s foremost innovation environments into a truly global leader of scale and significance.
Cambridge has already built something exceptional. The question now is whether the infrastructure around it will keep pace.
• Orestis Tzortzoglou is Vice President and Head of the UK Market at BioMed Realty, which operated 17 million square feet of real estate for the life science and technology industries across the US and UK.
Article credit - Business Weekly