‘Hundreds of jobs’ at £5m medicines hub
A£5M investment has the potential to generate hundreds of new jobs for Macclesfied, the council leader has claimed.
Chancellor George Osborne visited Redx pharmaceuticals at Alderley science park to announce a new fund for a medicines technology centre on Monday.
The money will be used to create a ‘catapult’ centre, which would see scientists and businesses working together to bring drugs to market more quickly.
Cheshire East council leader Michael Jones said the new centre would create about 50 jobs, growing to many hundreds into the future.
He said: “It’s brilliant news. The centre will be a conglomerate of quality experts in the field, work- ing together to make a leap forward in drug development.
“That benefits everyone in the country. It allows us to continue to develop the Biohub at Alderley Park.
“Cheshire East is the gateway to the northern powerhouse.
“This will lead to more jobs and growth and we are determined to achieve our ambition to create 7,000 new jobs in the coming years.
“Two years ago some were in the depths of despondency after AstraZeneca announced its withdrawal from Alderley Park.
“Now we can smile again and look forward to a bright future on the world stage.”
Mr Osborne said the move helps put Alderley Park at the centre of his ‘Northern Powerhouse’ – a term he uses to describe the government bid to boost the economy in the north.
Catapult centres were launched in 2011 to bring businesses and researchers together, with the aim of helping start-ups bring ideas to market that might struggle because of a lack of funding, expertise or facilities.
Mr Osborne said: “It’s a real vote of confidence in the north west. The Northern Powerhouse is the best place for it.”
The Tatton MP added: “The day AstraZeneca told me they were thinking of moving hundreds of jobs away from Alderley Park was one of my most difficult days as an MP and chancellor.
“I couldn’t have imagined then that out of that piece of bad news would come so much good news.”
In March 2013 AstraZeneca announced its plans to stop research and development at the site.
Since then the 400-acre site has been taken over by Manchester Science Partnerships – with a 10 per cent stake owned by Cheshire East – to create a new bioscience hub.