Japanese and French companies have further internationalised the Cambridge UK business community with moves into the science & technology heartland in recent months.

Property consultancy Savills says Cambridge has seen a surge of incoming businesses – notably in technology – throughout the summer. It says any post Brexit vote blues have been banished in the cluster.

Will Clarke at Savills said that in the last two months there had been a number of transactions that have seen international occupiers commit to the region – “rubber-stamping the city’s reputation as a world-class centre for R & D, innovation and technology.”

Examples cited are Enplas Corporation, a Japanese life sciences and engineering firm, which has recently taken 1,515 sq ft at Chesterford Research Park and French-owned SBM Life Science UK Ltd.

The French company, SBM, recently acquired part of Bayer Environmental Science and will be focusing on biologics, soils and fertiliser products from its new 4,571 sq ft UK and Ireland headquarters at Technopark.

Clarke said Cambridge had also attracted a number of newcomers, mostly in the tech sector.

“These businesses have continued to migrate towards the city centre, adding to the growing cluster of incumbent occupiers. Bateman House, for instance, located on Hills Road, has almost reached full occupation in the past 12 months, welcoming five new tech companies to the area.

“These include Genestack, Intrasonics, Docker, Electric Imp and Malin Life Sciences. They have joined established businesses such as Raspberry Pi, which took more than 7,000 sq ft at 30 Station Road and AstraZeneca, which now occupy a total of circa 59,000 sq ft at Academy House and City House, also on Hills Road, cementing the city centre’s status as a growing tech and pharmaceutical hub.”

According to Savills, take-up in the Cambridge office market hit circa 200,000 sq ft in July and August alone, reflecting a 21 per cent increase on the the first-half total of 165,000 sq ft.

“Despite a slow start to 2016, figures suggest it is now business as usual for Cambridge post-Brexit. As a result, we remain confident that businesses are taking their finger off of the pause button and are starting to look for new space in the city.

“Existing occupiers, mostly startups that have outgrown incubator space in the business and innovation parks, are now looking to move into bigger and more central premises.

“The amount of space currently under offer almost certainly signifies an end to the period of indecision that occurred in the first six months of the year prior to the referendum.

“This latest activity is a testament to the underlying strength of the Cambridge market. Whilst there is undoubtedly some uncertainty still to come, we are confident that Cambridge will continue to weather the storm well.

“Overall, supply still remains low, however there is  hope that this positive sentiment will encourage further development in the city, which in turn should have a good impact on the market as a whole.”