Event Partners
Drinks Reception and Conference Dinner sponsors
UKSPA members and stakeholders will gather at Rothamsted Enterprises on Thursday 3rd and Friday 4th July, for the UKSPA Summer Conference 2025. The Conference will have keynote and plenary sessions taking place at their dedicated conferencing facilities. There will also be opportunities to tour their state-of-the-art facilities.
Throughout the two days, leading speakers from the UKSPA network and key partners and stakeholders will discuss in-depth the challenges, opportunities, and innovative ways the sector continues to engage, inspire, and grow through a series of plenary and best practice sessions.
In addition to hearing from numerous key stakeholders in the South East and nationally, the Summer Conference will be looking at subjects including, Innovation, Science Parks and BBSRC, Life Sciences, Balancing Supply and Demand Innovation, Local Growth and Devolution, Public attitudes to R&D Investment, Talent, Skills & The Innovation sector and much more!
About Our Hosts
Rothamsted Enterprises, Harpenden, is located on the historic Rothamsted Campus, the world leading agricultural research institute. It provides an exceptional environment where business, science, and innovation converge. Rothamsted Enterprises is dedicated to promoting collaboration and driving global impact by offering a range of facilities that cater to the needs of the ever-expanding Agri-tech sector.
The campus boasts office and lab spaces designed to support the growth of innovative businesses. These spaces are tailored to meet the specific needs of companies working in agriculture, technology, and life sciences. The office spaces are equipped with modern amenities that create an ideal environment for productivity and collaboration. The lab facilities are cutting-edge, providing businesses with the tools and infrastructure necessary to conduct high-level scientific research. These labs are designed to accommodate a range of scientific activities, ensuring businesses have access to everything they need to advance their research and development efforts. The campus also boasts a modern Conference Centre and Grade 1 listed Manor House, and all profits return to world-leading agricultural innovation at Rothamsted Research.
Tours: Exploring Rothamsted Enterprises
Sample Archive: the historic heart of Rothamsted, the archive is a unique scientific resource containing over a third of a million plant and soil samples collected from our long term experiments, shedding light on the impacts of farming over decades of studies. Find out why mining the DNA in these samples is giving us new insights into soil health, whether older crop varieties were more nutritious and why Victorian scientists were putting bullock blood on farm fields.
Scanalyser and national insect survey: The world’s first field crop analytics facility, the robotic field scanalyzer comprises of a gantry that supports a motorised measuring platform with multiple sensors. Crops within a 15m x 120m area can be monitored throughout the season with a high degree of resolution and reproducibility, turbocharging the plant breeding programme we will need to combat a changing climate. Next to it are the traps and vertical radar for the long-running national insect survey which is enabling scientists to better understand the dynamics of insect decline.
No registration is required for the tours, however do please note places are on a first come first served basis and availability.
Current Agenda:
Thursday 3rd July
11.00 – 12.30 Registration and Tours.
12.30 – 13.30 Lunch, Networking and Exhibition
13.30 – 13.45 UKSPA Welcome – Dr Sally Basker, UKSPA Chair
13.45 – 14.00
Welcome from the Hosts:
Speaker: Nicole Sadd, CEO, Rothamsted Enterprises
14.00 – 14.30
The Entrepreneurs Journey
Franklin Keck, CEO, RemePhy Technologies
Dr. Marine. Valton, CEO and Co-Founder, Nourisol
14.30 – 15.30
Innovation, Science Park and BBSRC
The five BBSRC campuses are each distinct and at a different stage of development. CEOs from each campus reflect on their individual campus’ journey
Chair: Nick Bassett, Associate Director – Innovation, BBSRC
Panellists:
Nicole Sadd, CEO, Rothamsted Enterprises
Rhian Hayward MBE, Chief Executive Officer, AberInnovation
Val Hughes-White, RIC & Agritech Innovation Director, Roslin Innovation Centre
Stuart Hay, Chief Operating Officer, Babraham Research Campus
Dr Nick Goodwin, Chief Operating Officer, Anglia Innovation Partnership, Norwich Research Park
15.30 – 16.00 – Coffee/Networking and Exhibition
16.00 – 17.00
Life Sciences, Balancing Supply and Demand- panel discussion
Panellists:
Miranda Knaggs, Corporate Development Director, Pioneer Group
Suketu Shah, Head of Life Sciences -Property Asset Management, JLL
Oliver King, Development & Leasing Director, Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst
Duncan May, Partner, Bidwells
17.00 – 21.00 Drinks Reception and BBQ at Rothamsted Enterprises.
Drinks Reception and Dinner kindly sponsored by Communicate Technology
Please note that we will be arranging coaches to transport delegates back to Aubrey Park Hotel after the BBQ and arranging a return to Rothamsted Enterprises on the Friday morning. Do please indicate when registering if you wished to use the coach service. You can also leave your Car at Rothamsted Enterprises overnight should you wish.
Friday 4th July
8.30 – 9.00 Registration
9.00 – 10.00
Driving Regional Growth
This session brings together key regional stakeholders sharing their latest initiatives, collaborations, and visions.
Councillor Paul De Kort, Leader of St Albans City and District Council
University of Hertfordshire
10.00 – 10.30 Coffee/Networking and Exhibition
10.30 – 11.30
Net Zero – Science Parks and Tenant collaboration – Effective strategies, Challenges and Opportunities, fundamental to achieving net zero will be collaboration between landlords and tenants.
Chair: Liz Sparrow, Partner, Ridge and Partners LLP
Panellists:
Emmanuel Deschamps, Associate Director – Sustainability, Harwell Campus
Luke Laverty, Associate, NBBJ
Debbie Jones, Low Carbon Innovation Manager, Menai Science Park
11.30 – 12.00
Speakers TBC
12.00–13.00
Keynotes
People and Places: How to put R&D on the map?
Dr Ben Bleasdale, Director of Public Opinion, Campaign for Science and Engineering
Greg Wade, Head of Innovation Policy, Universities UK
13.00 – 14.00 Lunch, Networking, Exhibition
TOURS
CLOSE
Directions by Car and Train
Serviced by excellent transport links, Rothamsted is just 10 minutes from London Luton International Airport and 25 minutes from London St Pancras International.
Travelling by Car: Harpenden is about 7 miles north of the M25 London Orbital Motorway and close to Junctions 9/10 of the M1.
From the M1:
– Take J9, follow the signs to Redbourn
– Go past the Hertfordshire County Showground on your right
– At the roundabout take the first exit (left) and follow the B487 until the next roundabout
– At the roundabout take the first exit (left) onto the A1081, Rothamsted
Rothamsted is signposted on your left.
Visitor Parking:
There is a large car park available on-site to all visitors signposted Conference Parking. However vehicles are left on the premises at the owner’s risk. Rothamsted Enterprises accepts no responsibility for loss, theft, or damage to vehicles or their contents while parked on campus, including overnight stays. You can leave your Car at Rothamsted Enterprises overnight should you wish.
Venue Address:
Rothamsted Enterprises, West Common, Harpenden, Hertfordshire,AL5 2JQ
Travelling by Train:
Harpenden is 28 mins by train from London St Pancras International (adjoined with London Kings Cross).
Taxis are available on arrival at Harpenden station.
Rothamsted is approximately 10 minutes’ walk from the station.
Travelling by Air
The closest international airports are Luton, Heathrow and Stansted.
From Luton, take the coach to Luton Airport Parkway train station and take the train line direct to Harpenden. From Heathrow take a Piccadilly Line underground train towards Cockfosters to St Pancras International and take the train line direct to Harpenden. From Stansted, travel by train into London and then onto St Pancras International. Alternatively, take the coach from Stansted to Luton Airport, take the bus to Luton Airport Parkway train station, then take the train to Harpenden.
Luton Airport is 20 mins from Rothamsted Enterprises.
London Gatwick Airport is a 1-hour 15mins train journey from Harpenden station.
London Heathrow and London Stansted airports are approximately an hour’s drive from Rothamsted Enterprises (dependent on traffic conditions).
Drinks Reception and Summer BBQ
A networking drinks reception and informal BBQ will be held on the evening of the 3rd July at Rothamsted Enterprises. Please note that we will be arranging coaches to transport delegates back to Aubrey Park Hotel after the BBQ, and arranging a return to Rothamsted Enterprises on the Friday morning. Do please indicate when registering if you wished to use the coach service. You can also leave your Car at Rothamsted Enterprises overnight should you wish.
Hotels
Accommodation will be available at the Aubrey Park Hotel, Hemel Hempstead Rd, Redbourn, St Albans AL3 7AF. We have reserved 60 rooms at a preferential conference rate.
Hotel: Aubrey Park Hotel
Booking: Please email reservations@aubreypark.co.uk with your arrival and departure dates, and any bedroom requirements or preferences. Please quote UKS030725 to receive the conference rate.
Arrival Date: 3rd July, 2025
Departure Date: 4th July 2025
Room Type: Standard
Single Occupancy B&B: £93 per night
Other hotels you may wish to consider:
- Premier Inn Luton South (M1, J9) – 9 min drive
- Holiday Inn Luton South (M1, J9) – 11 min drive
- Holiday Inn Hemel Hempstead (M1, J8) – 15 min drive
- Premier Inn Dunstable South – 15 min drive
- Holiday Inn Express Dunstable – 16 min drive
- Courtyard by Marriot, Luton Airport- 15 min drive
Sponsorship and Exhibition
We have a number of sponsorship and exhibition opportunities available, please contact Adrian Sell for more details.
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