Cambridge Design Partnership takes on new premises as it doubles in size

Exciting times for local innovation company as it announces major expansion and move to new state-of-the-art headquarters in Cambridgeshire.

Cambridge Design Partnership (CDP) is expanding to new premises, capping years of growth with a doubling of turnover over the last 12 months. The company, which creates breakthrough products and technologies for leading companies and brands, is moving from its base in Toft, Cambridgeshire to a state-of-the-art, purpose-built facility in nearby Bourn. The move will be completed in 2022.

“This is a great marker of our success and especially pleasing as 2021 is CDP’s 25th anniversary year,” said CDP’s founding partner Mike Beadman. “In just the last 12 months, we’ve served more clients than ever before and grown our headcount by over 50%. Our new headquarters will be more than twice the size of our current base, with a range of product and technology development facilities to compare with any in the world,” he added.

The new CDP headquarters will have 7,500 square metres of space, including labs, workshops, a manufacturing facility and 200-seat auditorium. It will be sited at Bourn Quarter, part of a 25-acre site previously occupied by Thyssen Krupp. Planning permission to start the net-zero-carbon-ready industrial development was secured from South Cambridgeshire District Council by Savills Investment Management. Developed by Aitchison Developments, construction of the new facility began in May 2021. CDP will be the anchor tenant within this prestigious redevelopment which is set to bring the region’s dynamic research and technology cluster to the brownfield site. The move confirms the company’s commitment to the Cambridge area, where it’s able to access the best talent at every level.

Founded in 1996, CDP is an end-to-end innovation partner, delivering market-defining technologies and extraordinary commercial returns for clients in the consumer, healthcare and industrial markets. In 2018, CDP joined a small number of pioneering companies that are 100% owned by their employees. This ensures that CDP’s growing workforce of employee owners is fully committed to client success and to the long-term vision of improving lives through innovation. Alongside strong growth in the UK, CDP recently announced the opening of its new US headquarters, a state-of-the-art R&D centre in Raleigh, North Carolina, and an ambitious recruitment programme in North America.

Among the new facilities will be a world-class consumer research facility for consumer and healthcare insights research and innovation workshops. This will be equipped with observation suites and one-way mirrors for physical focus groups and consumer trials and networked to enable global client participation. CDP is also ramping up its short-run manufacture capability with a large manufacturing facility on site at the new headquarters.

Working in close collaboration with clients has been a core value from the earliest days of CDP. The new building will be unique in being designed to maximize creative collaboration while maintaining the highest standards of client confidentiality. This will be a fundamentally interactive workspace, allowing scientific labs and workshops to be connected to desk areas. There will be a spacious central atrium with a fully-catered kitchen serving breakfast and lunch, as well as a breakout space where staff and clients can meet informally and for meetings. A 200-seat auditorium will be used for company events, conferences, and creative workshops.

“We’re committed to integrating CDP into the wider Cambridge cluster and welcoming clients and peers into our new headquarters. The space will ensure we give our clients excellent service in the very best, cutting-edge facilities and will also offer our employee owners an environment in which they can thrive. Among the many reasons for CDP’s impressive expansion is the fact that the team is closely involved in the company’s future. The collaborative and creative possibilities of our new headquarters make this an excellent time to be an employee owner at CDP,” said Mike Beadman. April 2021 saw CDP kickstart its bid to secure the region’s brightest talent, launching the biggest recruitment drive in the company’s history.



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