Everything You Need to Know About Base at Manchester Science Park

Situated in a prime location next to the University of Manchester and the Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, Bruntwood SciTech’s Base is ideally located to help foster innovation and collaboration. The 91,000 square ft. office and makerspace site, nestled in Manchester Science Park, is the ideal home for businesses from industries such as computer engineering, animation, light manufacturing, gaming, GreenTech and Industry 4.0.

The building offers flexible, secure, managed and leased workspace to tenants, who benefit from their location in the heart of Manchester's Oxford Road Corridor knowledge quarter. This allows them to benefit from physical and digital connections to a wealth of resources and partners from key academic institutions and research facilities. 

With proximity to other key Bruntwood SciTech sites and the city centre, Base offers a myriad of benefits to businesses, from collaboration opportunities to a real sense of community, making renting here a unique proposition. 

Facilities and Features at Base

Base offers a comprehensive range of high-quality and dynamic facilities that support the growth and wellbeing of businesses and their employees. The first is the office spaces' scalability from 2-80 people. This means Base can cater to all types of businesses, whether small startups or large enterprises, with the potential to scale operations based on performance. There are also meeting rooms and event spaces for up to 24 people, which companies can utilise for team meetings, client interactions and networking events. The top-floor terrace with an adjoining kitchen and communal space offers striking views across the city and social opportunities. 

One of the features that makes Base so unique is the Makerspace, an inclusive workshop environment dedicated to fostering creativity and innovation. The space, which is leasable like our office spaces, is an invaluable feature for businesses looking to build, create or prototype new products, modify existing products, engage with like-minded innovators and make their mark upon the tech community. The space can also be used as a dry lab, enabling companies to utilise computer-generated models and perform unique analyses that cannot be completed in standard laboratory conditions. 

Base is the perfect building for companies devoted to sustainability too, especially as the building operates on a net zero-carbon basis. Both the design and the management of the building are dedicated to minimising its environmental impact, whether through its energy-efficient systems or sustainable materials. The building includes an A-rated EPC, 750m2 of PV solar power, operating on a hybrid heating and cooling system that uses water to transfer heat, with power also drawn directly from solar panels. The floor of the building is also composed of 360m2 of recycled carpet, demonstrating Bruntwood SciTech’s commitment to sustainability. 

While the building spans 91,000 sq ft, Base benefits from its location in Manchester Science Park, which is set across 424,000 square feet and 10 buildings. With a range of office and lab space available, Manchester Science Park offers ample space for businesses to interconnect and thrive, with high security, high-speed 100GB fibre internet and advanced technological infrastructure available across the campus to ensure a seamless connection. 

Another key feature of the Park is the Bright Building, with its name and design reflecting the building’s status as a staple in digital innovation. However, Bright Building’s purpose transcends professional capabilities, emphasising the wellbeing of the Park’s residents, offering exciting amenities such as a studio gym space, which hosts yoga classes and other fitness activities. The space also boasts an outdoor garden space which hosts outdoor community events, wellness programmes and more. For those cycling to work, there’s also secure cycle storage, showers and a kit drying room, meaning you can be fresh and ready for the workday. 

Access to Talent & Collaboration

Base is a magnet for top talent thanks to Bruntwood SciTech’s investment into the site and the surrounding community, with the science park home to an ecosystem of 150 like-minded businesses. From computer engineering to energy technology and businesses targeting low carbon emissions, the space is a fertile ground for collaboration and innovation, honing skills of the future for science and tech, while attracting top talent. 

Customers also benefit from Bruntwood SciTech’s strong partnerships with large academic entities, including the University of Manchester and the Manchester Metropolitan University. With 54% of apprenticeship placements in Manchester situated on the nearby Oxford Road Corridor,  as well as the steady stream of graduates from the nearby universities, businesses located at Manchester Science Park benefit from close proximity to recent graduates and other top talent acquisitions.  This gives Base customers first access to 20,000 STEM graduates and apprentices per year, with an additional talent pool available from Manchester Entrepreneurs and Manchester Digital. For businesses operating in medical-adjacent industries, our connection with the Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust provides access to 6,500 expert clinicians and patients, allowing you to obtain valuable insights.  

Finally, Base customers are eligible to receive potential funding from the £32m Greater Manchester and Cheshire Life Science Fund, enabling further investment into resources. The offering ranges from seed investments of £50,000-£100,000, or early-stage venture capital of up to £3 million for any life science businesses in Greater Manchester, Cheshire and Warrington. This is combined with our 1-2-1 business support and mentoring across the Bruntwood SciTech network, demonstrating our unparalleled commitment to helping your business succeed.

The Advantages Provided by Base

Base offers a unique range of benefits that make it an ideal place to establish your business. Set amongst the most densely concentrated cluster of life science and tech businesses (49.6% of such companies in Manchester and 22.8% of the entirety of Manchester businesses), our Science Park helps promote community across synergistic industries. This concentration has supported the Oxford Road Corridor knowledge quarter in becoming an economic powerhouse, generating roughly £3.9 billion per year. Combined with its status as the largest clinical academic campus in Europe, the park has attracted notable companies, including Ricardo, Epic Games, Yourgene Health and ANS Group, whose prestige helps to attract other key players to reside in buildings such as Base. 

While there are 10 buildings on campus, our residents also gain access to facilities and communities at Citylabs and Circle Square. These similar innovation hubs provide additional resources, networking opportunities and further flexibility. They also offer access to specialised labs, allowing tenants to leverage further resources for growth, innovation and development. Our businesses, especially those in the health and life science sectors, can also capitalise on the proximity to the Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, enabling clinical trials, healthcare innovation and other projects that can drive advancements in both medical technology and patient care.

While Manchester has a reputation as an industrial city,  Base is situated near several green spaces in the city, including Symphony Park, Whitworth and Brunswick Parks. These green spaces help our customers’ employees relax and recharge, promoting wellbeing and productivity and contributing to better work-life balance. 

Base as a Catalyst for Growth and Innovation

Base is a powerhouse for growth and innovation in the North West, home to state-of-the-art facilities, a focus on community and wellbeing, and featuring cutting-edge technology that facilitates innovation across several dynamic industries. Simultaneously, the space benefits from its location in Manchester Science Park, with access to top talent from the local area and beyond, helping it to attract significant names across industries. 

From our flexible office spaces that help our customers to scale their infrastructure, to communal spaces that help businesses network, Bruntwood SciTech is constantly looking for new ways to synergise professional and personal needs. 

Anyone considering relocating their company to Base can take advantage of our augmented reality technology, allowing you to explore Base in virtual reality from the comfort of your office or home and explore the spaces and services offered by  Bruntwood Scitech. This allows prospective customers to plan their move and visualise their new life at Base.