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Norman Molyneux [email protected] 0161 850 0156 Norman Molyneux is the founder and CEO of Acceleris and has been putting together technology deals since 2000. DEDICATION AND KNOWLEDGE INVESTING IN SCIENCE - A GUIDED TOUR AROUND ALDERLEY PARK, THE CENTRE FOR SCIENCE IN THE NORTH I f you look around the world at successful scientific clusters you see a pleasant working environment amidst world class laboratory facilities, access to a major international hub airport and that blend of smart financial capital working in and around the businesses there. Alderley Park is an exciting development because it has all those elements. “The challenge is to build that critical mass around the businesses that are already there, like Redx, and make it a thriving cluster at the very centre of the North of England’s scientific strategy.” Norman Molyneux is speaking during a tour of Alderley Park, a thriving hub of science and innovation in the midst of Cheshire’s most prosperous postcode. Since founding Acceleris in 2000 he has known where to find good businesses and link them up with the right kind of investment. Places like Alderley Park. It seemed like a bitter blow to the North’s science strategy when pharma giant AstraZeneca scaled back it’s presence at Alderley Park in Cheshire. But the move proved to be the catalyst for Manchester Science Partnerships (MSP) to step in and they have revealed plans for the first phase of development at their flagship 400-acre life science campus. In a session, titled ‘Translating Science into Place’, at MIPIM, a French real-estate exhibition, MSP were presented as a key part of Manchester’s plans for innovation and growth for the UK and a key part of Manchester’s future host city status as ‘European City of Science 2016’. The plans signal the first major step for MSP’s vision to transform Alderley Park, AstraZeneca’s former research hub, into an open community for life science businesses, with over 7,000 high-value jobs planned on-site in the next decade. 13