Citylabs

Citylabs represents a pivotal health innovation campus situated in Manchester, UK, operating as a joint venture between Bruntwood SciTech and the Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust (MFT). This entity is not a singular startup but a specialized property and business support provider that offers laboratory and office space to companies in the life sciences sector. The business model revolves around leasing high-specification, flexible lab and office spaces to a range of clients, from startups and scale-ups to large global corporations. These clients are active in fields such as diagnostics, medtech, digital health, genomics, and precision medicine.

The campus is strategically located within the largest clinical-academic campus in Europe, on the Oxford Road Corridor in Manchester. This positioning provides tenant businesses with direct access to the UK's largest NHS Trust, facilitating unique opportunities for clinical collaboration, trials, and accelerated pathways for product adoption into the healthcare system. The campus itself has seen phased development, with Citylabs 1.0 being established, followed by Citylabs 2.0, and the most recent £42 million, 125,000 sq ft expansion, Citylabs 4.0, which launched in March 2025. The entire development is designed to foster a cluster of pioneering health and life science businesses, which already includes notable tenants like the global molecular diagnostics company Qiagen.

The service offering extends beyond physical space. Citylabs provides a comprehensive business support program which includes access to finance and funding opportunities, such as the Greater Manchester and Cheshire Life Science Fund, and facilitates connections to talent from the city's universities. The facilities are tailored to the specific needs of science-based companies, featuring infrastructure for CL1 and CL2 biology and chemistry labs, enhanced cooling systems, increased floor loading capabilities, and robust digital connectivity. By creating this integrated ecosystem, Citylabs aims to drive the future of healthcare by bringing together academic, clinical, and commercial partners.

Keywords: health innovation campus, life sciences real estate, laboratory space, office leasing, Manchester medtech, clinical academic campus, Bruntwood SciTech, Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, precision medicine hub, genomics cluster, diagnostics companies, digital health, biotech facilities, UK life science, Oxford Road Corridor, clinical trials access, healthcare innovation, scientific workspace, medtech cluster, corporate life science, health tech real estate, research and development facilities