Riverlabs is a new and exciting 28-acre life sciences campus in Ware, UK. It sits at the heart of the Golden Triangle within a 45-minute radius of London, Cambridge and the established Cell and Gene Therapy cluster in Stevenage. A key strategic site for GSK’s UK R&D for over 50 years, Riverlabs was acquired by European and US real estate asset manager and investor Global Mutual in 2022. Today the sitecomprises 333,197 sq ft of existing high specification CL2/CL4 wet laboratory space in two buildings.
Global Mutual engaged Limewash soon after acquiring the site to help position it as an exciting campus for life science organisations. To capitalise on the current lack of supply of affordable, readily available laboratory space within the Golden Triangle the re-positioning needed to be swift and efficient. We joined an experienced professional team which included HOK, Creative Places and JLL, working collaboratively with them to bring the new campus to life and to market.
Strategy / Branding / Print & Digital Marketing / Social Media / Photography / Web Design
Graphic Design / Steve Edwards / Natasha Alker
Photography / Ian Cummings / Steve Edwards
Social Media / Sarah Brereton / Leanne or Linzee?
Strategy / Sarah Brereton / Lewis Robinson
Web Build / Banjo Bray
Our first task was to define the target audiences, uncover and understand what factors set the campus apart and come up with a name and brand that could be used to launch to market within a matter of weeks. The results of this work were summarised in a vision for the campus:
To intelligently upgrade a ready-made location for scale-up life sciences, contract research and manufacturing companies into a vibrant, edgy, sustainable campus and community, with a unique natural waterfront at the most affordable price point in the Golden Triangle.
Part of the uniqueness of the campus is its natural waterfront on to the River Lea - a key strategic waterway in the UK across the centuries. The river, its pathways and surrounding nature reserves also provide a tangible benefit for potential occupiers focused on the well-being of their teams given the close proximity of the water and vast green spaces of the campus.
We had to get out of the blocks within weeks and developed a high impact go to market strategy for Riverlabs to quickly raise awareness of the campus and support Global Mutual and the agents in securing interest against the backdrop of chronic undersupply in the market.
A press release announcing the purchase and positioning of Riverlabs marked the beginning of our campaign and was picked up by the major commercial outlets including React News, Costar, Property Week and Business Weekly . Our wider collateral development armed the the agents and Global Mutual team with brochures, technical specs, an engaging website, CGI animations and more to use in their contact strategies with scale-up life science companies, CROs and CMOs.
In addition, we continue to run organic and paid social campaigns, which have built over 800 on target followers in a matter of weeks. These channels succinctly articulate the story of the campus and communicate the opportunity in toin an engaging and highly digestible way, focusing on elements including the sustainability of the retrofit development; the unique natural setting and on campus amenities; the legacy of science and access to talent in Ware; the existing infrastructure and high specification of the available lab facilities the convenient proximity to the London, Cambridge and Stevenage clusters, and the genuine affordability of the Riverlabs space when compared to these locations.
