The British Consulate-General in Boston relocated to MIT-owned One Broadway in the heart of Kendall Square – a move which affirms the UK’s commitment to New England’s hub of innovation. The Consulate took occupancy in the new space on November 9, 2009.

View a video message from the UK's Ambassador to the US, Nigel Sheinwald, below, on the advantages of our new space:

At One Broadway, the new British Consulate office will be at the heart of the bustling innovation economy in Cambridge, in the same building as the Cambridge Innovation Center, and directly opposite the MIT Sloan Business School. Indeed, we’ll be a tenant of MIT’s!

The Chancellor of MIT, Dr. Phillip Clay said, "Welcome to the neighborhood.  I hope proximity is the stimulant to great interaction as we both keep to broaden the impact of knowledge in service to global issues."  MIT went on to say that they are “…delighted to have the British Consulate not only as tenants but also as neighbors and valuable community members.  MIT, through the Cambridge-MIT Exchange, MIT Materials Science exchange with Oxford, and long standing participation in the Marshall Scholarship, has had a strong relationship with the UK and see this move as an important way to solidify this long-standing relationship."

Consul General Phil Budden said of the move, “We are excited to move closer to our partners at MIT, and – in this time of economic disruption – to be signalling our commitment to the Boston region.  Maintaining a presence in Kendall Square, home to world-class research and development facilities, as well as the thought leadership at MIT, is essential to the Consulate’s continued success in New England.  We are delighted to be remaining in this “hub of innovation”.’

Green building, green opportunities

The Consulate’s new facilities are BREEAM certified – the UK’s equivalent of LEED.
 
But we didn’t just stop there.  We recycled tables and chairs from our conference facilities at One Memorial Drive, salvaging as much of the infrastructure as possible. What we couldn’t save was donated to area non-profits or recycled using environmentally-friendly processes.
 
Making our facilities green isn’t just an opportunistic whim – in Copenhagen this December, more than 180 countries will gather to negotiate and agree a new international deal to tackle climate change, and the UK has made a global commitment to reduce emissions, form a low carbon economy, and create green jobs.   We must lead by example, even at the local level. 
 
New England is also a beacon for cleantech research and innovation. With unparalleled opportunities for businesses in renewable materials and alternative forms of energy, our presence in Kendall Square puts us in the heart of the action.
 

The heart of life sciences

In 2000, Gordon Brown, then-Chancellor of the Exchequer, encouraged the Consulate to  take advantage of the innovation and collaborative opportunities in Boston by developing a more strategic framework on which to build links between our two global clusters.  We're remaining true to our Prime Minister’s advice by staying put.  Indeed, the access to intellectual capital and research at universities, biotechnology firms, and hospital networks is unparalleled.
 
And this life sciences ecosystem is growing – thanks to University incubators like MIT’s Center for Entrepreneurship, and state-level initiatives, like Governor Patrick’s $1 billion investment in life sciences.


The destination of this Consulate is - Kendall Square

In many ways the path of the MBTA’s Red Line makes the strategic case for the Consulate’s new location on its own. Even though our science and innovation colleagues enjoy walking-distance proximity to MIT’s cutting edge research and Genzyme or Cambridge Consultants commercial development, the Consulate’s three other teams need not travel far to reach the world class expertise that is so abundant throughout the Greater Boston area.

With our offices literally across the street from the Red Line’s Kendall Square stop, Consulate employees are two stops from Harvard, where our policy team engages with leading experts on foreign affairs and good governance.  The same valuable intellectual capital can be found within steps, or stops, of our office at Tufts, BC, BU, Northeastern, UMASS and countless others.

And, with one of the world's centres of financial services in plain view from our windows, it's no small wonder that our Charlie Cards are some of the most hardworking in the neighborhood , whether our US Sector lead for healthcare is bustling between Kendall and the Charles/MGH stop or our financial services group is making the short journey to the financial district, where the inventors of the mutual fund are within a stone's throw of South Station.  If location is still the key to success, the Consulate's location positions us on the cutting edge.