Home of Innovation
Cell and gene therapy facility
The Government is investing £100 million into a state-of-the-art vaccine and gene therapy facility in Braintree.
The Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult facility will have the capacity to produce millions of doses of coronavirus vaccine a month when it opens in December 2021.
Through cutting-edge therapies, the centre will increase the UK’s ability to respond to diseases and pandemics, while creating new, high-skilled jobs to fuel the economic recovery.
I-Construct - A centre of excellence for construction innovation
Building work is progressing well on the I-Construct project - a £2.3 million centre of excellence for construction innovation in Braintree.
The two-storey hub - consisting of workshop and demonstration spaces, a technology lab and conference facilities - will become home to a team offering one-to-one mentoring, grant schemes and advice to small and medium sized firms connected to the construction industry.
Driving up productivity in the sector is expected to create hundreds of quality jobs needed to get our economy back on track and motoring again.
For more on the business opportunities available at I-Construct, visit the I-Construct website
Horizon 120 – A sustainable place to work
We are investing £24.3 million into Horizon 120 – the new 65 acre business and innovation park being built at Great Notley in Braintree.
This new business park is set to be an exemplar site offering modern, flexible business accommodation, state-of-the-art energy efficient buildings, best in class fibre optic connectivity and electric vehicle charging points.
The site is attracting the attention of several well-established firms keen to relocate their growing businesses to the future-proofed site. It has the potential to create up to 2,000 jobs.
For more information visit the Horizon 120 website
UK electric charging first for Braintree
GRIDSERVE announced the opening of the Electric Forecourt® in December 2020, representing a major breakthrough for massive expansion of electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure in the UK.
The Electric Forecourt® is part of GRIDSERVE’s wider ‘sun-to-wheel’ initiative, built to deliver low cost, net zero carbon energy to every vehicle that uses one of GRIDSERVE’s chargers. Electricity is generated from both the solar power canopies above the chargers, and a network of hybrid solar farms, also operated by GRIDSERVE.
The site is the first of more than 100 Electric Forecourts® being built by GRIDSERVE over the next five years, providing people with the confidence that the UK will have the charging infrastructure required for mass EV adoption well ahead of the 2030 ban on petrol and diesel cars.