New centres that give UK businesses access to cutting-edge scientific equipment and laboratory space for high-tech r&d work have opened at STFC Daresbury Laboratory, part of the Daresbury Science and Innovation Campus in Cheshire.
The Innovations Technology Access Centres offer more than £3m of cutting-edge equipment in fully equipped biological, imaging, materials and physical science laboratories.
The centres, made available by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), provide purpose-built research accommodation to suit the needs of a range of businesses from "lock and leave" exclusive use laboratories to multi-user facilities available on an hourly basis.
Businesses also have the opportunity to work alongside STFC's own scientists and academic institutions as they carry out their research.
In addition, Daresbury Science and Innovation Campus offers offices and leasable space for businesses wishing to set up their own laboratory.
The Campus is already home to 90 high-tech small businesses employing more than 300 people with specialist expertise in instrumentation, control engineering, medical devices and diagnostics, mobile telecoms technologies and software development.
Professor Keith Mason, STFC's chief executive, said: "These centres are great news for businesses and for Daresbury Science and Innovation Campus. In the current economic climate it can be difficult for innovative businesses to access affordable, ready to use, high specification laboratory space to carry out the much-needed research and development to make them competitive."
The centres have been made possible by re-using the high-end equipment that once formed part of Daresbury's Synchrotron Radiation Source.
Daresbury Science and Innovation Campus opened in 2006.