Birmingham Science Park Aston

Last updated

Aston Science Park Aston Science Park.jpg
Aston Science Park

Birmingham Science Park Aston, [1] formerly known as Aston Science Park, is a science park located in Birmingham City Centre, United Kingdom. It is located adjacent to Aston University and the Eastside area.

Contents

Description

Birmingham Science Park Aston (BSPA) was founded in 1982 and as such is the UK's third oldest science park. Located in its urban setting within central Birmingham, it offers 250,000 sq ft of accommodation over 14 acres.

Two campuses

BSPA is wholly owned by Birmingham City Council. To pave the way for a £35 million development zone, it is now presented as two campuses; the Science & Technology Campus and the Innovation Birmingham Campus. [2]

The Science and Technology Campus

The Science & Technology Campus encompasses a range of multi-occupied and headquarters style single occupancy buildings owned by Birmingham City Council and serviced by the Innovation Birmingham team. The Innovation Birmingham Campus [2] is working in partnership with a wide range of stakeholders to help shape the Smart Cities agenda and drive innovation-led regeneration across Greater Birmingham. Faraday Wharf [3] – the flagship building on the campus – incorporates 70 office suites specifically designed for growing technology businesses.

The Innovation Birmingham Campus

The Innovation Birmingham team [2] is actively looking to work with and bring together the public sector and private sector, creating interfaces for people with ideas, people with technologies, people with expertise and experience, and people with money. It is a one-stop-shop for innovators, entrepreneurs and investors looking to develop or fund tech start-ups [4] with high growth potential.

The Innovation Birmingham strategy

The Innovation Birmingham [2] strategy is focused on a service offering for founders of new technology ventures, as well as more established tech businesses. The campus facilities include the Entrepreneurs for the Future (e4f) [5] multi-occupancy start-up centre with hot-desking facilities and a wide range of office units (115-4,000 sq ft) within the rest of Faraday Wharf. [3] However, the campus is far from just bricks and mortar; the team actively nurtures an interactive and supportive community within the place. The Campus strategy is about encouraging people to visit, engage with the businesses based there, and attract new tenants to join the thriving tech community. By creating a wide range of valuable opportunities, the missing aspects of a successful business puzzle can be resolved, helping innovators and tech entrepreneurs gain invaluable exposure and to succeed.

Innovation Birmingham Campus membership

For technology companies that are a little more established, or not suitable for a structured support programme, Innovation Birmingham also offers Membership packages. Members instantly become part of the community and gain access to a range of additional services and opportunities designed to accelerate the development of their business. There are a variety of different packages to suit the flexible requirements and budget of a growing tech company.

Entrepreneurs for the Future centre (e4f)

This ERDF supported incubation centre is specifically focused on creating new innovative technology ventures. It provides a flexible, highly connected and collaborative environment to fast-track the development and growth of tech start-ups. As the companies grow, they are then able to graduate into larger premises within Faraday Wharf, or elsewhere on the Science Park. Since establishing in November 2009, e4f has supported the creation of over 100 new technology companies. [6]

The objective of the e4f [5] programme is to diversify the region's economy through the incubation of innovative tech start-ups, creating new high-value jobs and so retaining more of the city's talented graduate population. Start-ups in the e4f incubator benefit from an initial nine months free access to a dynamic co-working centre, with full ICT support and meeting facilities. This includes free access to the Ideas and Communications Suite, which houses state-of-the-art Cisco video conferencing equipment, together with other interactive technology.

In addition to free use of the facilities, e4f provides mentoring and support services – specific to tech start-ups – based on regional, national and international networks. Entrepreneurs in Residence provide personalised support to each start-up [4] and direct access to the most appropriate expertise and experience to drive development of the fledgling businesses. ‘Visiting expert’ sessions also help to ensure that the entrepreneurs have all they need to launch, develop and grow.

Within the first nine months of being enrolled onto e4f, the Innovation Birmingham [2] team and mentor base works with the new business founders to create a value proposition, assisting with the process of becoming revenue generating and/or securing investment funding. Start-ups in e4f can take advantage of well-established links with funds such as Finance Birmingham's Tech Fund. [7]

West Midlands Regional Innovation Centre

A new regional hub funded by Climate-KIC [8] – Europe's largest public-private partnership focused on tackling climate change – was launched by Innovation Birmingham [2] in 2014. The West Midlands Regional Innovation Centre receives in excess of €2 million of funding per annum, spread across a number of local initiatives. Innovation Birmingham has created 10 new jobs to run the centre.

The centre's main initiatives are; Pioneers into Practice – a grant-funded European exchange programme for low carbon specialists; the Low Carbon Accelerator Programme for start-up businesses; and a range of grant-funded education programmes aimed at students, professionals and organisations.

Cisco's National Virtual Incubator

Innovation Birmingham is a founding node in this pioneering network, which connects business incubation centres and research institutions around the UK via state-of-the-art Cisco video conferencing technology.

Mentoring sessions and multi-location live events are being delivered across the NVI network, enabling initial introductions and follow up meetings to take place irrespective of geography. The high-definition quality available through Cisco's video conferencing equipment ensures valuable ‘face time’ can be orchestrated without the need for costly and time-sapping travel.

LAUNCH

Over 20 gaming companies have already been nurtured in the e4f centre, [5] with many more established studios relocating to the Innovation Birmingham Campus [2] over recent years.

The Innovation Birmingham team run a year-round programme of events for those working in the gaming or mobile app industries. The events are also targeted at students, graduates and anyone looking to launch a career in gaming.

There are at least seven LAUNCH [9] events per year, with speakers drawn from gaming companies, such as Codemasters, Microsoft, Playground Games, Rebellion Developments and Vodafone Games.

Innovation Birmingham has invested in infrastructure to increase its broadband connectivity to 30Gbit/s.[ citation needed ] This ensures each tenant can have a dedicated, resilient broadband connection of up to 100Mbit/s. The super-fast broadband service is powered by WarwickNet; [10] a specialist business and [science park] [Internet Service Provider]. WarwickNet has installed three lines separately routed from London and Manchester.

£35 million development zone

The £35 million development zone will enable significant expansion of the Innovation Birmingham Campus. [2] The two-acre plot is situated next to Faraday Wharf, at the gateway to the Eastside knowledge quarter. It is accessed off Holt Street and A38 Aston Expressway. The site is one of 26 covered by Greater Birmingham and Solihull LEP's Enterprise Zone. The collection of buildings will be among the first within the Enterprise Zone to get underway, enabling future occupiers to benefit from Business Rates relief.

Innovation Birmingham is developing the new buildings in partnership with Stourport-on-Severn headquartered Thomas Vale Construction Ltd, [11] which is part of one of the world's leading construction groups, Bouygues Construction. [12] Three to five buildings are proposed in total, delivering 11,500 sq m (120,000 sq ft) of new space for Birmingham’s tech community.

iCentrumTM

The first phase of the development zone will be the delivery of the £8 million iCentrumTM [13] building. It will encompass 3,874 sq m (41,700 sq ft) of open work space promoting mobile working, a new Serendip incubator offering, self-contained offices, tech demonstration and event facilities and a café. The building is being developed speculatively and will be available for occupation in March 2016.

In addition to flexible office space, a wider membership offering will be provided at iCentrumTM, promoting a cross-sector innovation exchange to generate new products and services across Greater Birmingham’s enterprise community. iCentrumTM will bring together agile and smart working environments with the business incubator culture, creating a statement facility that will enable Birmingham to reach out to the world.

Serendip incubator

A new tech incubator concept will be delivered within the iCentrumTM building, called "Serendip". [14] It will promote unique collaborations across sectors, supported by corporate mentors from: Built Environment; Internet of Things; Intelligent Mobility; [15] and Digital Health

This new concept in incubation will ensure iCentrumTM [13] is a lighthouse, promoting and driving Birmingham’s Smart City agenda. The Serendip space will strike a balance between order and chaos, with proactive and energetic management used to catalyse interaction between start-ups, [4] SMEs, public sector organisations and large corporates to drive delivery of products and services.

History

Birmingham Science Park Aston [1] is owned by Birmingham Technology Ltd., which was jointly owned by Lloyds TSB, [16] Birmingham City Council [17] and Aston University, [18] until 2008. During 2008 there was restructuring, and the science park is now wholly owned by Birmingham City Council. Aston University continue to sit on the board and provide services such as management support and equity capital to firms at the science park. The science park was opened in 1983 and was designed to overcome the reluctance of London-based firms to invest outside of South East England.

The first building to be opened was the Business and Innovation Centre, in 1983 by Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. The building was refurbished in 1994. Within one year, there were fifteen companies on site and ten years later, there were 80 companies on site. By 2001, there were 1,400 employees and 110 companies on site. Visitors to the site included then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in 1985, Prince Edward, Duke of Kent in the same year, Charles, Prince of Wales in 1988, European Commissioner Bruce Milan in 1989, Jeremy Morse in 1990, chairman of the TSB Group Plc. Nicholas Goodison in 1992, Patricia Hewitt in 2001, Digby Jones, Frederick Crawford and former Polish Prime Minister Jerzy Buzek.

Access

The Science Park is near the end of the A38(M) motorway – which takes traffic from the M6 into Birmingham City Centre. It is located alongside the A4540 road, on a site adjacent to the Aston University campus and the Eastside area. The Digbeth Branch Canal runs through it.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology</span> Former higher educational institution in Galway, Ireland

The Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology was an institute of technology, located in Galway, Ireland. In April 2022, it was formally dissolved, and its functions were transferred to Atlantic Technological University (ATU). Now a constituent institute of ATU, it has facilities in the west of Ireland. GMIT's campuses are located in Galway City, Castlebar, Letterfrack and Mountbellew. GMIT won The Sunday Times Institute of Technology of the Year award in 2004, 2007, 2015 and 2022. GMIT also has a number of specialist research centres and two Innovation Hubs.

A business incubator is an organization that helps startup companies and individual entrepreneurs to develop their businesses by providing a fullscale range of services starting with management training and office space and ending with venture capital financing. The National Business Incubation Association (NBIA) defines business incubators as a catalyst tool for either regional or national economic development. NBIA categorizes its members' incubators by the following five incubator types: academic institutions; non-profit development corporations; for-profit property development ventures; venture capital firms, and a combination of the above.

The University of Warwick Science Park was one of the first university based science parks in the United Kingdom when it was opened by the Rt. Hon. Margaret Thatcher in 1984. It was a joint venture between the University of Warwick, Coventry City Council, Warwickshire County Council and Barclays. The latter are no longer shareholders having been replaced by WM Enterprise. The University of Warwick agreed in 2011 to purchase the shareholding of Coventry City Council. The acquisition was completed in 2012 and today the Science Park is wholly owned by the University of Warwick. UWSP currently covers four sites; the main campus abutting the University of Warwick, the Business Innovation Centre in Binley, Warwick Innovation Centre on Warwick Technology Park and Blythe Valley Innovation Centre near Solihull.

Keele University Science and Innovation Park is a science and business development facility located on the campus of Keele University in North Staffordshire and was established in the mid-1980s. It is wholly owned by Keele University. The Science Park focuses to support the growth of innovative businesses, particularly those active in research and development within the West Midlands region by providing a location and a wide range of business support services.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Surrey Research Park</span> Research park in Guildford, Surrey

The Surrey Research Park is a large research park in Guildford, Surrey. The Surrey Research Park has been planned, developed, funded and managed by the University of Surrey which operates the park as a wholly owned University Enterprise Unit.

The Utah Science Technology and Research Initiative (USTAR) is a technology-based economic development agency funded by the state of Utah. The organization works to develop ideas and research into marketable products and successful companies through its competitive grant and entrepreneur support programs. USTAR facilitates the diversification of the state’s tech economy, increases private follow-on investment, and supports the creation of technology-based start-up firms, higher-paying jobs and additional business activity leading to a statewide expansion of Utah’s tax base.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology</span> School in Accra, Ghana

The Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology (MEST) is an Africa-wide technology entrepreneur training program, seed fund, and incubator headquartered in Accra, Ghana. The three-phased institution was founded in 2008 to provide training, investment, and mentoring for aspiring technology entrepreneurs with the goal of creating globally successful companies that create wealth and jobs locally in Africa.

The High Tech Campus Eindhoven is a high tech center and R&D ecosystem on the Southern edge of the Dutch city of Eindhoven. In 2016, the High Tech Campus is home to more than 140 companies and institutions, comprising over 10,000 product developers, researchers and entrepreneurs and an estimated 85 nationalities. The Financial Times, Fortune, Forbes and others have praised the High Tech Campus Eindhoven (HTCE) as one of the best locations in the world for high-tech venture development and startup activity. As such, the HTCE is an innovation district, a targeted area with a huge potential for innovation and entrepreneurship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">East London Tech City</span> Human settlement in England

East London Tech City is a technology cluster of high-tech companies located in East London, United Kingdom. Its main area lies broadly between St Luke's and Hackney Road, with an accelerator space for spinout companies at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

The Louisiana Business & Technology Center (LBTC) at Louisiana State University plays an important role to the state's flagship university, Louisiana State University as a part of LSU's Office of Research and Economic Development. LBTC's primary goal is to increase the economic growth of Louisiana by enhancing the development of small businesses and assisting in the development of new businesses. The center is ranked among the top ten entrepreneur programs in the nation. In 1988 it was jointly funded through LSU and the Greater Baton Rouge Chamber of Commerce to foster economic growth in Louisiana by providing businesses with applications and tools necessary for growth and survival in the real world. It comprises the Louisiana Technology Transfer Office (LTTO), the LBTC Business Incubator, and the LSU Student Incubator.

Poznan Science and Technology Park (PPNT), founded in 1995, is the first Science and Technology Park of its kind in Poland. According to Polish publication Money.pl, in 2010 it was selected as the best technology park in Poland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Research Park at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign</span>

Research Park at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is a research park located in the southwest part of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus in Champaign, Illinois. Research Park is a technology hub for startup companies and corporate research and development operations. Within Research Park there are more than 120 companies employing more than 2,100 people including students and full-time technology professionals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blk71</span>

BLOCK71 Singapore, commonly known as "Blk71", is a factory building located in the Ayer Rajah Industrial Estate of one-north, Singapore. The Economist referred to BLOCK71 as the heart of Singapore's technology start-up ecosystem and the world's most tightly packed entrepreneurial ecosystem. BLOCK71 has built up a strong innovation and entrepreneurship community, where entrepreneurs, investors, developers and mentors within the interactive digital media space are in close proximity to each other. BLOCK71 is home to more than 100 start-ups, venture capital firms and tech incubators. It is also located near other technology hubs within Singapore, including the Fusionopolis, Biopolis and National University of Singapore (NUS).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">UCL School of Management</span> Business school of University College London

The UCL School of Management is the business school of University College London (UCL). The School offers undergraduate, postgraduate, PhD and executive programmes in management, entrepreneurship, business analytics, business information systems, and finance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kerala Startup Mission</span>

Kerala Startup Mission is the central agency of the Government of Kerala for entrepreneurship development and incubation activities in Kerala, India. KSUM was primarily founded to undertake the planning, establishment, and management of the technology business incubator (TBI), a startup accelerator in Kerala, to promote technology-based entrepreneurship activities, and to create the infrastructure and environment required to support high-technology-based businesses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TECOM Group</span>

TECOM Group PJSC is a public company headquartered in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, and traded on the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) under the symbol TECOM. Prior to the IPO, TECOM Group was a member of owned by Dubai Holding, a UAE state-owned enterprise. Currently, Dubai Holding remains one of the stakeholders of TECOM Group.

The SETsquared Partnership, usually known simply as SETsquared, is a business incubation network run by five universities in Southern England. SETsquared stands for Southern England Technology Triangle. The partnership was formed in 2002, between the University of Bath, the University of Bristol, the University of Southampton and the University of Surrey. The University of Exeter joined the partnership in 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andhra Pradesh Medtech Zone</span>

Andhra Pradesh MedTech Zone(AMTZ) is the medical technology park with Common Manufacturing Facilities & Common Scientific Facilities located in Nadupuru village area of Visakhapatnam, adjacent to the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant. The AMTZ is spread over an area of 270 acres and it has over 10 manufacturing units.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CIIE.CO</span> Indian startup accelerator

CIIE.CO is an Indian startup accelerator and incubator that supports early-stage startups located at IIM Ahmedabad in Ahmedabad, India. It was founded in 2002 to promote innovation and entrepreneurship in India. It is a Center of excellence set up at Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad with support from the Government of India's Department of Science and Technology and the Government of Gujarat.

References

  1. 1 2 "Birmingham Science Park Aston". bsp-a.com. Archived from the original on 17 June 2015. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Innovation Birmingham Campus, Innovation Birmingham, Birmingham Science Park Aston". innovationbham.com. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
  3. 1 2 "Birmingham Science Park Aston Faraday Wharf, Aston University, Holt St, Birmingham, West Midlands B7 4BB – Google Maps". google.co.uk. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
  4. 1 2 3 "e4f.Incubator – entrepreneurs for the future – Startups – Birmingham's leading technology start-up location". e4f.co.uk. Archived from the original on 14 April 2015. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
  5. 1 2 3 "e4f.Incubator – entrepreneurs for the future". e4f.co.uk. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
  6. ↑ "Start a tech or casino business in the UK - Entrepreneurs for Future". E4F. Retrieved 17 February 2024.
  7. ↑ "Finance Birmingham partners with expert tech fund to boost local firms' growth". financebirmingham.com. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
  8. ↑ "Climate KIC – West Midlands Regional Innovation Centre (RIC) – Innovation Birmingham". innovationbham.com. Archived from the original on 16 April 2015. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
  9. ↑ "LAUNCH Presents: Marmalade hosted by bluegfx". Innovation Birmingham. Archived from the original on 11 July 2015. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
  10. ↑ "WarwickNet" . Retrieved 15 April 2015.
  11. ↑ "Home Page – Thomas Vale". thomasvale.com. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
  12. ↑ "Bouygues Construction" . Retrieved 15 April 2015.
  13. 1 2 "Office developments in Birmingham, Digital Plaza – Innovation Birmingham". innovationbham.com. Archived from the original on 16 April 2015. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
  14. ↑ "Get the inside track on Innovation Birmingham's iCentrum development – Innovation Birmingham". innovationbham.com. Archived from the original on 14 April 2015. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
  15. ↑ "Intelligent Mobility". innovateuk.org. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
  16. ↑ "Home". lloydsbank.com.
  17. ↑ "Birmingham City Council". Government of the United Kingdom. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
  18. ↑ "Aston University – The UK's leading university for business and employability". aston.ac.uk. Retrieved 15 April 2015.

Further reading

52°29′17″N1°53′10″W / 52.488°N 1.886°W / 52.488; -1.886

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.