Leamington Spa Covid mega lab put up for sale

The Rosalind Franklin Laboratory, the UK’s first Covid-19 testing “mega lab”, has been put up for sale.

The Leamington-based test centre opened in July 2021 and was intended to speed up Covid testing, processing 300,000 tests a day.

However, plans never fully materialised, and the lab has stood empty for the past eleven months.

Following suggestions that the site would create up to 1500 jobs, the lab shut in January earlier this year. 600 workers were let go as a result.

BBC News understands the NHS test and trace facility has cost the government £455 million to date.

However, reports from the Daily Mail suggest that the total cost of the lab could be as much as £1.1 billion.

Options are being explored for the best use of the site going forwards while ensuring the best value for taxpayers’ money

Marc Merel, Director of Testing, UK Health Security Agency

Matt Western, Labour MP for Warwick and Leamington, said the sale was a “colossal waste by the government” and that over-extended ambitions for the project had “misled” the public.

The site is up for sale on Rightmove and has up to 236,200 square feet of unused space. Estate agents are now offering packages that will see the custom-built facilities broken up to attract “start-ups, scale-ups and small and medium-sized enterprises”.

Marc Merel, Director of Testing for the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), said: “The laboratory has played a vital role in helping the nation recover from the pandemic.

“Options are being explored for the best use of the site going forwards while ensuring the best value for taxpayers’ money and an update will be provided in due course.

“Where necessary, specialist equipment at the Rosalind Franklin lab will be retained to support UKHSA’s ongoing pandemic preparedness work.”