Anchor tenant signs at Huddersfield’s Health Business Innovation Centre
Health Innovation Yorkshire & Humber has committed to the specialist R&D facility located within the Emily Siddon building on the University of Huddersfield’s campus.
Completed in December and set to officially launch in July, the Emily Siddon building forms part of the university’s wider National Health Innovation Campus, designed to accelerate health-tech across West Yorkshire.
HBIC has been developed to attract organisations seeking high-quality, specialist workspace with close links to academic and clinical expertise.
The centre will enable occupiers to develop, test, and scale products and services aimed at improving health outcomes.
Facilities include flexible office and laboratory space, meeting and event areas, a dedicated Health and Wellbeing Innovation Maker Space, and access to a wider community of innovators.
Health Innovation Yorkshire & Humber, the NHS’s regional innovation arm, works to connect healthcare, academia, and industry to drive the development and adoption of new health technologies.
The HBIC is a sister site to the 3M Buckley Innovation Centre, a separate innovation facility on campus.
Once complete, the University’s seven-acre National Health Innovation Campus will become the UK’s only ‘WELL At Scale’ site.
The Daphne Steele building – the first of seven planned developments – was delivered by BAM and designed by AHR Architects to the Platinum WELL Building Standard.
Named after the NHS’s first black matron, the £75m facility was conceived as a model hospital to support the training of nurses, midwives, paramedics and other health professionals.
The Emily Siddon building, the campus’s second major development, was delivered by Kier and AHR. It is named after the Kirklees-born suffragette and children’s health advocate.
Overall, the campus has been designed to explore the relationship between health and economic prosperity, with a focus on how improving wellbeing can support regional growth.
Commenting on the move, Richard Stubbs, chief executive of Health Innovation Yorkshire & Humber, said: “We are thrilled to have moved into the Emily Siddon Building, part of the University’s National Health Innovation Campus.
“It creates perfect alignment with our mission to accelerate innovation in health and life sciences and I am really looking forward to generating new opportunities through our closer collaboration.”
Prof Tim Thornton, Deputy Vice Chancellor at the University of Huddersfield, added: “Health Innovation Yorkshire & Humber joining us as our anchor tenant sets a really positive foundation for the new centre.
“Their move signals the start of a growing community here, with more office and lab space ready for others ahead of our official opening in July.
“The new Health Business Innovation Centre will play an important role in strengthening Huddersfield’s and West Yorkshire’s reputation as a place where health innovation thrives – helping local businesses grow, creating new opportunities, and supporting our regional economy.”
