Wellcome appoints Executive Chair to lead expanded genomics and biodata campus
Phil Clark has taken up the role of Executive Chair of the management company Wellcome is setting up to operate its expanded Cambridgeshire science campus.
4-minute read
4-minute read
Wellcome is investing in a major expansion of the site, creating new lab space and community amenities.
Wellcome’s expansion of the Wellcome Genome Campus near Cambridge will provide new, globally significant science facilities alongside homes for campus staff and a broad range of new amenities including shops, a leisure centre, and green spaces for the local area.
The expansion’s first phase will be part of Wellcome’s investment portfolio, representing a sustainable, long-term investment that will in time deliver a financial return to support Wellcome’s charitable mission.
Urban&Civic, the specialist master developer acquired by Wellcome in 2021, is the development manager for the expansion of the campus. Phil is an experienced investment leader with a background in sustainable property development.
The Wellcome Genome Campus is an internationally renowned site for genomics and biodata research, currently home to the Wellcome Sanger Institute, the European Molecular Biology Laboratory’s European Bioinformatics Institute, and the BioData Innovation Centre, which houses genomics and biodata companies from start-ups to established businesses.
The expanded campus will run as a commercial subsidiary company of Wellcome, led by Phil.
Wellcome has allocated hundreds of millions from its investment portfolio for the first phase of the 315-acre expansion of the site, representing one of the largest contemporary investments in the UK’s life sciences infrastructure. It will add much-needed capacity for biosciences at a time when the UK is facing a shortage of laboratory space.
The campus will continue to focus on genomics and biodata, with high quality amenities that will further enhance its reputation as a world-leading centre for cutting-edge research. The new facilities will accommodate a range of occupiers from start-ups and scale-ups to mature organisations. Phil will be responsible for appointing an executive team and board and curating a mix of new occupiers that add to the thriving local scientific community.
Read more about the development: Genomics campus expansion to boost science in UK and health globally.
A qualified surveyor, Phil started his career in the public sector before moving to Aviva Investors, where he established and led its specialist property investment funds team, followed by 14 years at Aegon Asset Management leading public and private global real estate investments. In 2000, he established the Igloo Regeneration Partnership, believed to be the first property investment fund to be focused on sustainable regeneration.
Phil is now a non-executive director for several businesses and also chairs the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors’ Commercial Property Forum. He is chair of the Academy of Real Assets, a social enterprise which partners with schools in disadvantaged areas and the estate industry to provide opportunities for young people and increase socioeconomic diversity in the real asset management sector. He was until recently a member of the Board of Trustees and chair of the University of London estates committee and continues to be an independent member of University College London’s governing body.
Phil started his role at Wellcome last week.
Nick Moakes, Chief Investment Officer at Wellcome, said:
“In Phil we have found a highly experienced real estate investment leader who is committed to high-quality and sustainable development. He is equally commercially minded and determined to create a campus we can be proud of for its contribution to life sciences in the UK. Like us, he believes the route to maximising long-term value is curating a thriving scientific community. This will be a place where cutting-edge enterprises want to locate and where researchers enjoy working and collaborating in best-in-class buildings with the benefit of excellent amenities.”
Phil Clark said:
“This is rare opportunity to expand the existing Genome Campus into a world-class life science destination, building on the global profile of the organisations already on the campus. I am hugely excited to be involved in such a unique project and to be working alongside fantastic colleagues from Wellcome’s master developer, Urban&Civic.”
