Cambridge Biomedical Campus joins Future Cities Forum this month

Image: Ed Watson - courtesy of Cambridge Biomedical Campus

Future Cities Forum is delighted that Ed Watson, interim Managing Director of the Cambridge Biomedical Campus Ltd will be speaking at our 'New model science and innovation districts' forum this month, hosted by the Wellcome Genome Campus.

Cambridge Biomedical Campus Ltd represents some of the major businesses located on the campus. including AstraZeneca, the University of Cambridge, Abcam (Danaher), the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and the Royal Papworth Hospital.

Ed's career was built in Local Government as a Corporate Director of Planning and Regeneration at Camden and Westminster before founding his consultancy EW&A building on the relationships he has built across the development industry.

At Camden he led on the negotiations to secure the arrival of the Francis Crick Institute to the Knowledge Quarter which he also helped create and worked with Argent to develop their exemplar development at Kings Cross.

The Department for Transport has announced the opening date for Cambridge South station, which is considered to be transformative for the Campus when the first passengers arrive at the end of June 2026

Cambridge South train station is on the western edge of the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, next to the Laboratory of Molecular Biology, AstraZeneca’s Discovery Centre and the Royal Papworth Hospital. It is projected to welcome 1.8 million passengers annually and is the first Great British Railways (GBR) branded station in the country.

Over a million patients a year are treated on the Campus, which sees approximately 40,000 visitors a day, including 23,000 employees. The new train station is expected to help ease pressures on local roads and enable people to come from further afield sustainably to access treatment, employment and training and skills opportunities. 

Ed said: 

“We know that 4 in 10 people who work on the Biomedical Campus are struggling with the cost of housing in Cambridge. This train station can be transformative, allowing many more to come to work quickly from further afield, where housing costs are lower, as well as giving the 40,000 daily campus commuters and visitors a greener alternative to get here and cutting congestion on local roads.”

“It’s also going to directly connect our Campus with key hubs including Kings Cross, Manchester and Stansted, enabling even closer collaboration which will accelerate innovation and drive scientific discoveries which makes a difference to patients globally.” 

Image: CGI of Cambridge South station courtesy of Cambridge Biomedical Campus / Network Rail

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