Malcolm Parry

Malcolm Parry OBE  Chairman Managing Director of the Surrey Research Park, Dr Malcolm Parry trained as a scientist with his first degree, PhD and PGCE from The University of London. He joined The University of Surrey as a faculty member in 1977 and developed a successful commercially-funded research group over the period to 1983 and also was appointed as a senior industrial tutor, during which time he established a network of contacts with industrial research laboratories. In 1981 he was invited by the then Vice Chancellor of the University to take part-time secondment from his Department to manage the development of The Surrey Research Park from its inception as a ‘green field site’. He pulled together a team to start the project as well as raise loan finance to progress the project. The Park is now valued at over £100m, has a rent roll of £9.5m and is home to over 130 companies. Malcolm joined UKSPA in 1984 as the 7th member, has served 3 terms on the Board and was the Chair in 2003 and 2004. He has also completed a term on the Board of IASP and has sat on the IASP Advisory Council. He was asked to join a UNESCO panel as an expert on Science Parks in 2006 and is now actively engaged with this United Nations organisation, organising a number of countries on the development of Science Parks. Malcolm has written a number of papers that he has presented at both IASP and UKSPA meetings. He is also the author of a number of papers on the design, development and operation of Science Parks and Business Incubators; he has spoken widely on the subject of these developments and related aspects of economic development. This is all based on first-hand experience of founding, developing and running the Surrey Research Park. He also co-edited the first edition of the UKSPA book on the planning, development and operation of science parks, to which he contributed 5 chapters. The first edition was published in October 2000 and was subsequently translated into Chinese. The second edition was published in 2006. In 2008 he was asked by the Economic and Social Council of the UN to write a report on ‘creating a supportive environment for innovative developments’. This has been published in English and is being translated into Russian and French. Malcolm is currently the Chair of the Guildford Business Forum and sits on the Regional Council of the Chamber of Commerce for the County of Surrey in the UK. Malcolm has also started three companies, two of which spun-out from his research interests when he was a full time member of faculty. These have now all been sold and the last of which, when he was Managing Director, had a turnover of over £2 million: this was sold in February 2005. Malcolm was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list in 2006 for services to business and education. Contact details email: m.parry@surrey.ac.uk • tel: 01483 579693