A FORTY-THREE thousand square foot centre will be built at a county science, technology and business campus, a Government minister has announced.

Universities and science minister David Willetts announced that the Government would contribute £7m towards the so-called open innovation hub at Harwell Oxford, Didcot.

Mr Willetts said: “This will be a physical space in which the many different exciting organisations and people can come together and share ideas and information.

“The whole point of a cluster such as this must be that office walls and organisational boundaries don’t get in the way of innovation.”

The building “will offer support for new start-ups and provide meeting, conference and innovation space” he said.

Mr Willetts said: “It will provide a crucial focal point that is currently lacking at Harwell.”

He made the announcement when speaking at the campus’ STFC Appleton Space Conference.

Mr Willetts’ visit also marked the start of work on Harwell’s European Space Agency’s European Centre for Space Applications and Telecommunications, to be completed by 2015.

Mr Willetts said last week: “I have high hopes that this centre will allow us to maximise the potential of space for future economic growth.”