27 Feb Booming White City Innovation District attracts best scientists in Britain

The new White City Innovation District is becoming Britain’s best destination for scientists after Hammersmith & Fulham Council helped attract more than £1.5bn in investment from businesses.

Life science firms represent a third of the £5.2bn invested locally – with White City now home to pharmaceuticals giant Novartis, Autolus, GammaDelta and Synthace.

Speaking at the recent life sciences summit at the White City Innovation District, H&F Leader Stephen Cowan (pictured), said: “As part of our commitment to turn White City into a global economic hotspot in science, tech, engineering, maths, medicine and media, we’ve attracted anchor institutions, and have had 60 life science start-ups and scale-ups move to White City.

“We’ve changed our planning rules so businesses can afford flexible office space. And we are changing our housing policies to try and prioritise whom we house locally and build things for.

“The idea is if we create a centre of gravity where excellence happens, we think that we can become the next Silicon Valley of the 21st century.”

Watch the two-minute recap of the life sciences summit on YouTube.