Socius to develop Sutton cancer campus

The planned London Cancer Hub will consist of a one million square foot life sciences district on a five hectare site.It is a partnership between the London Borough of Sutton, which owns the land, the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR), the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust and Epsom & St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust.Socius managing director Barry Jessup said: “This is a once in a generation opportunity to deliver a sustainable campus for excellence in cancer research. Our vision is to build on the ground breaking facilities already provided by Institute for Cancer Research and Royal Marsden Hospital with a new eco-system of labs, R&D and commercial facilities in a campus setting that will attract researchers and scientists from around the world and accelerate the development of ground-breaking cancer treatments. We look forward to working with Aviva, London Borough of Sutton and key local stakeholders to develop our plans for the site.”Charlotte Jones, Aviva’s chief financial officer, said: “Aviva is investing significantly in critical areas of the UK economy such as housing, green energy and healthcare. We are using our capital to generate long term income for our customers and help the UK to grow. The London Cancer Hub will provide world-class cancer research and bolster the UK’s ambition to be a leader in the life sciences sector.”Socius has a £1.5bn pipeline of projects including a mixed-use neighbourhood and a work/live campus in Cambridge city centre, the redevelopment of the former Amex House in Brighton, the £215m regeneration of Soapworks in Bristol, and the MK Gateway development in Milton Keynes.