Bosses at Sandwich's Discovery Park say they are expecting to have welcomed 45 new tenants to the site by the end of the year.

Despite the challenges of the last 18 months, the life sciences complex has already seen 36 firms take up a total of more than 50.000sq ft of office and laboratory space during 2021.

Mayer Schreiber, chief executive officer at Discovery Park, said: “Against the backdrop of the economic fallout from the pandemic we’re delighted that the populace of resourceful businesses has continued to grow on site.

“Our recent results clearly show that what Discovery Park offers ambitious companies is hitting the mark and we are optimistic that by the end of the year we will have welcomed 45 new organisations to our community.”

Jane Kennedy, chief business officer at Discovery Park, added: “It has been great to see the growth of the new start up businesses who have joined us. We offer the all-important support needed to give them every opportunity to flourish, whether it be through accessing finance and skills, or the space and facilities to expand.”

Work will shortly get under way on a multi-million pound incubator offering 50,000 sq ft of laboratory and office space for start-ups and early stage companies, including drug discovery, cell and gene therapy, digital health, manufacturing and medtech firms.

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