Companies based at the Sci-Tech Daresbury science campus in Cheshire have experienced a further rise in annual sales, according to new research.

A survey of 84 companies based at the campus has found that they collectively posted more than £95m of sales in 2016, with annual growth of 24 per cent. The average sales growth over the past four years has been 30 per cent.

Sci-Tech Daresbury is currently home to 114 businesses including IBM, HCD Economics, Flexera Software, X-Cellr8 and Global Lifecycle Solutions EMEA, with 34 new companies locating to the site in 2016.

The survey also revealed that a total of 22 companies on the campus now have sales of more than £1m per year, with five of these having annual sales greater than £5m. In addition, more than £17m in investment was raised in 2016 up from £15m in 2015 via a range of sources including venture capital funds, grant funding bodies, business angels and private investors.

Meanwhile, the average headcount of companies based at Sci-Tech Daresbury increased from 6.7 to 7.3 employees. This resulted in 76 more full-time jobs becoming available at the campus in 2016.

Companies at the campus currently employ around 680 staff, 85 per cent of which are full-time roles.

Sci-Tech Daresbury is a private-public joint-venture partnership between developer Langtree, the Science and Technology Facilities Council and Halton Borough Council.

John Downes, group managing director of Langtree and chairman of the Sci-Tech Daresbury joint venture company, said: "Many companies are maturing in business and their work of recent years is beginning to pay dividends as they take their products to market resulting in excellent sales.

"The campus offers many financial and collaborative benefits for tenants and we're pleased that this has been reflected in the growth of the site and the growth of the companies based here. We are confident that the excellent results reported in the latest survey will be further boosted in the coming year.

"At the same time, Sci-Tech Daresbury continues to cement its position as a world-class hub for innovation with the versatile laboratory facilities and first-class office space, attracting interest from a diverse range of sectors like biomedical, engineering, material science, instrumentation and clean technology."

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