Brookfield Asset Management has appointed Bidwells partner David Williams as commercial director for its 5m sq ft Harwell science campus masterplan.
Williams previously led Bidwells’ science and technology group and the commercial agency team in Oxford, where he advised developer and investor clients on 23 Golden Triangle campuses.
These include the Harwell campus (pictured), Westcott Venture Park, Howbery Park, Heyford Park, Oxford Technology Park, Bicester Gateway and Oxford’s West End regeneration.
He also led the team retained to advise Oxford Sciences Innovation, which is thought to be the world’s largest university fund.
In his new role, Williams will drive the continued expansion of Harwell’s real estate portfolio and fast-track the delivery of the masterplan. He will work with the business development team to identify and attract large “knowledge economy” occupiers to sit alongside its existing 200 life sciences, energy, space and quantum tenants.
Harwell said the site has more than 1.5m sq ft of active enquiries. Some 200,000 sq ft of development is due to be delivered by the end of this year, with a further 1.5m sq ft of new lab, advanced manufacturing and office space set for completion by the mid 2020s.
Stuart Grant, chief executive at Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, said Williams’ “wealth of market experience built over a 30-year career and in-depth knowledge of the Arc region” will allow it to “realise” its “ambitious growth plans”.
The news comes as the campus’s £105m National Satellite Test Facility, built by STFC’s RAL Space on behalf of the UK government, expects to be operational from 2022. Its National Quantum Computing Centre is due for completion in 2023.
Brookfield bought a 50% stake in the campus in April last year.
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