Oxford Science Enterprises joins Future Cities Forum's January 'Science Cities'

Image: The offices of Oxford Science Enterprises on the Banbury Road - part of Keble College's newly developed H B Allen Centre, designed by MICA Architects (courtesy MICA)

Future Cities Forum is delighted that Pete Wilder, Head of Property and Operations at Oxford Science Enterprises (OSE), will be contributing to our 'Science Cities' discussion event at Jesus College, Oxford this January.

Pete leads on property strategy at Oxford Science Enterprises, managing OSE’s own portfolio of lab and office space and advising portfolio companies on real estate needs – covering availability, spec, programme and budget.

He also contributes to OSE’s internal operations, co-leads the Diversity & Inclusion team, and is part of the ESG working group.

Before joining in 2019, Pete was a Partner at Bidwells and held senior roles at Jones Lang LaSalle and BNP Paribas Real Estate.

In May 2024, OSE announced that the site of the former Debenhams in Oxford would be transformed into a c.100,000 sq ft life sciences, technology and innovation space in the heart of the city. It stated that The Crown Estate partnership with Oxford Science Enterprises and Pioneer Group would provide vital lab space in the region:

'The project represents an initial investment of c.£125 million by The Crown Estate, marking the start of a partnership that has a long-term ambition to invest up to £1.5 billion to support the UK’s science, technology and innovation sectors.

'A lack of available and suitable real estate, especially for early-stage businesses, has been identified as a key barrier to growth for the UK’s science, technology and innovation industries, especially in supply-constrained locations such as Oxford.

This partnership presents a significant opportunity for the UK to build on its growing reputation as a tech ecosystem - already ranked as the third largest in the world, and largest in Europe.

'Oxford is the third most intensive science and innovation cluster in the world and is ranked second globally for Life Sciences Research. Its university is the leading academic institution in the world for university spinouts, with 210 founded since 2011, adding to the pool of successful UK start-ups that secured more VC funds than France and Germany combined in 2023.

'In order to seize this opportunity for Oxford and the wider country, the three partners bring together the industry-specific expertise and capabilities that underpin their collective ambition: to deliver the real estate needed to support the growth of the UK’s next generation of innovative companies.

'Oxford Science Enterprises (OSE) is one of the world’s leading builders of university spinouts, having worked alongside academic founders to found, fund and build over 80 transformational companies created from the University of Oxford’s ground-breaking research. OSE brings access to a cohort of the country’s most exciting science and technology businesses and a deep understanding of their requirements as they scale.

OSE is supporting spin-out companies to progress commercially across a range of life sciences and DeepTech areas.

The current portfolio includes Oxford Ionics which is re-imagining quantum computing. Founded by Dr Chris Ballance (CEO) and Dr Tom Harty (CTO), Oxford Ionics is delivering some of the highest performing quantum systems on the market – and it’s now a $1bn business.

OSE describes the Oxford Ionics journey:

'It’s a story of cutting-edge science, bold ambition, and patient capital turning breakthrough research into world-changing potential. Backed early by OSE, Chris and Tom have broken new ground in the use of ‘trapped-ion qubits’ – atoms suspended a hair’s width above a microchip. Their work enables quantum states with unprecedented stability, scalability, and precision, produced on a chip that’s manufactured in the same labs as the chips inside our laptops and cell phones.

'Oxford Ionics has grown to a team of more than 100 people, built deep technical and commercial capabilities, and secured the funding needed to scale – with the support of OSE at every stage of the company’s journey.

'In June 2025, the company hit a major milestone: it agreed to be acquired by IonQ, a leading US quantum firm, in a $1.065bn deal –the biggest exit in UK quantum history.

'This isn’t just a win for Oxford Ionics. It’s proof that UK deep tech, with the right belief and backing, can lead the world.

Oxford Ionics will become the global R&D centre for the combined companies, located in its home city of Oxford.'