A prominent Manchester entrepreneur and philanthropist has “saved” the childhood home of Charles Darwin, with plans to transform it into a state-of-the-art educational facility.
Louis-James Davis, founder and CEO of cybersecurity firm VST Enterprises, secured the lease for the grade II-listed building on the Mount in Shrewsbury, currently occupied by HMRC, after being approached to help rescue and restore it.
Mr Davis told BusinessLive it was important for him to “save” the building so it could develop into something meaningful for young people interested in STEM subjects.
He said: “We can get behind entrepreneurs and scientists that are wanting to improve what they’re working on and Darwin’s home was obviously one of those pinnacle factors to get involved with.”
Mr Davis will work with English Heritage, Shropshire Council and other bodies to restore the building and open £100m science university The Darwin.
Mr James said the facility will be a “worldwide digital learning platform for people of all ages”.
He said: “As we are all encouraged to go green there is an ever-increasing global demand for scientists, [so] we need to encourage a new generation of young people to become scientists, researchers and disruptors, [including] people who understand how we use natural resources and challenge conventional thinking.
“By creating The Darwin we can encourage, support, and develop the coming generations of young scientists and ignite their greater interest in natural botany, zoology and geology.”
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He continued: “At the moment we are not supplying business with the right skills and knowledge to take their environmental responsibilities seriously.
“Universities are not delivering enough within their current academic framework for natural sciences.”
Mike Marchant, coordinator and curator of The Darwin, said they were “thrilled” Mr Davis had the “shared vision” for The Darwin initiative.
He said: “Darwin was a disruptor to conventional thinking and the sciences, challenging the way in which generations before him saw the world around them.
“Louis is very much a parallel modern day disruptor in cyber technology, challenging the conventional way in which we think and use technology to better the world we live in. It was a natural joining of minds.”
Mr James said, while the centre has an association with the university for qualifications and the publications of findings, its funding by the private sector enables greater flexibility.
He said: “I think, because of the private funding, it has attracted people and it allows people to apply for funding privately without going through the bureaucracy that you have in a traditional university.
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“It helps from an entrepreneurial point of view to gain traction and fund ideas that way, so we have actually identified a few projects around the Shropshire area, which wouldn’t have attracted funding from the educational sectors but it is a personal interest for the people who funded the Darwin.”
The Darwin has so far secured two offers of endowments from wealthy individuals worth more than £500m.
Mr James told BusinessLive renovations to the building will begin in January, when HMRC move out of the building, with the view to complete on the facility six months later.
The Darwin plans to welcome its first intake of students for the 2020-21 academic year.
Mr James also said the facility will help bring both national and international recognition to Shrewsbury.
He said: “It will attract a lot of tourism and it will also attract a lot of educational trips, more visits to the area because of how high the tech will be and The Darwin itself, because it is going to be a state-of-the-art education centre, which has already started putting in place contacts with different universities across the world to come here.”