The announcement was made during a visit by Sir Malcolm Grant, Chair of NHS England, to mark the start of construction work on Sheffield Hallam University’s Advanced Wellbeing Research Centre (AWRC).
The rapidly expanding Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park will feature two further world-class research and innovation centres in healthcare – the Centre for Child Health Technology (CCHT) led by Sheffield Children’s Hospital and the Orthopaedic and Rehabilitation Research and Innovation Centre (ORRIC) led by Sheffield Teaching Hospitals.
The Rt Hon Richard Caborn, Project Lead for Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park and former Minister of Sport, said: “We were very proud to welcome Sir Malcom Grant to mark the start of building work on the AWRC – this is a hugely important step for us in realising our ambition to create a world-leading environment for collaborative research and innovation in health and wellbeing.
“As the AWRC starts to take shape, we’re now excited to look ahead to the next research centres planned for the site and further development opportunities.
“We’re seeing a great deal of private sector interest in these and we’re in discussions with a number of major organisations – about which we’ll be announcing more in the next six months.”
The first phase of Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park will create 900 jobs with new skills in the digital clinical sector. It is estimated that the next phase will create a further 3,000 jobs and a total of £1.7bn in GVA benefits to the economy by 2042.
Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park is an internationally-recognised innovation district for health and wellbeing research, new skills and learning. The 60-acre site, stretching from Broughton Lane to Worksop Road, is acting as a catalyst for regeneration and high-value private sector growth in Sheffield City Region.
Following Chancellor Philip Hammond’s announcement in the 2017 Budget that the government is allocating a further £2.3bn to investment in research and development, Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park was recognised in the Life Sciences Sector Deal document.
The document, published in response to the Industrial Strategy White Paper, states that: “Experts in academia, industry and health are coming together at Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park to deliver two pioneering projects: The Orthopaedic and Rehabilitation Research and Innovation Centre (ORRIC); and The Centre for Child Health Technology (CCHT).”
Richard continued: “Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park has a growing reputation as an international cluster of collaborative research centres, focused on improving health and wellbeing.
“The Park offers a wide range of opportunities for businesses to invest and locate alongside other world-leading organisations working on collaborative research projects.
“Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park has excellent public transport links and is just minutes from the M1 motorway, 10 minutes from Sheffield train station and within 90 minutes of five international airports, making it ideally located for businesses wanting to work collaboratively within the health and wellbeing hub of Sheffield’s Innovation District.”
Canon Medical Systems, parkrun and Westfield Health are already confirmed as private sector partners of the AWRC which is set to become the most advanced research centre in the world for developing innovations that will improve population health and physical activity levels.
Professor Chris Husbands, Vice-Chancellor of Sheffield Hallam University, said: “Apart from providing outstanding healthcare solutions on a regional, national and international scale, our plans will attract investment and new jobs, building on the inward investment we have already secured.
“Co-locating research and innovation alongside education, health, leisure and business will help to contribute to economic growth and the quality of life in and beyond the region.”
Director of Culture & Environment at Sheffield City Council, Paul Billington, said: “We are a key partner in this major redevelopment project and welcome this latest news of further progress. Alongside the planned research centres, we also look forward to working with Scarborough Group as they start construction on the community stadium later this year. This will further complement the existing world-class sports facilities on Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park.”
