A MULTINATIONAL company will bring a 100 jobs boost to Oxfordshire.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals is to set up its new European headquarters and laboratories at Milton Park, near Abingdon.

The company has taken a 15-year lease on 25,000 sq ft at a rent of £12 per sq ft at the Park's latest building, The Forum.

The US company is planning to move into the new open-plan space on two floors in June next year. It will start recruiting up to 100 new staff in the spring.

Vice-president of Vertex Pharmaceuticals (Europe), Ian Buchanan, said: "The time is right for Vertex to expand.

"We looked at various other sites but were attracted to Abingdon by the potential to expand in the Park and the existing concentration of biotech and research companies." The Forum, offering a total of 68,000 sq ft, is designed as business units, enabling occupiers to adapt the buildings as business needs change.

In a separate deal, Italian-owned white goods manufacturer Smeg UK has also taken more space at Milton Park. It will use its new 6,500 sq ft premises for administrative and promotional purposes.

Smeg managing director Eric Ireland said: "We needed a larger multifunctional premises to accommodate a growing workforce and spacious trade showroom facility. Milton Park fitted the bill perfectly."

The Park has also now leased its Innovation Centre, designed to provide space for fledgling hi-tech firms, to Oxford Innovation, which is part of The Oxford Trust.

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