News / York Science Park Opens New £1.1 Million...
York Science Park Opens New £1.1 Million Facility and Announces New Expansion
York Science Park, home to some of the City’s most cutting-edge office and laboratory facilities, has officially opened its new £1.1 million ‘Park Central’ facility and announced plans to expand the Park’s managed office space by over ten percent in the next two months.
Park Central, an inspirational new building designed to foster networking and business collaboration between the Park’s tenants, and the planned expansion of York Science Park (Innovation Centre) Ltd’s office space have been warmly welcomed by leading figures within York’s business community.
Simon Newton from the University of York’s Enterprise and Innovation Office which is located on the Park said: “These are both fantastic developments for York Science Park and the wider science community within the City. Shared space like that provided by Park Central is crucial for nurturing collaboration between businesses and the new office space is urgently needed if we are to retain and develop the growing number of technology-based companies within our region.”
Park Central, a 4,000sq ft extension linking the existing Innovation Centre and Bio Centre, houses a café, exhibition and display areas as well as offices for new tenants to the Park. The £1.1 million facility is expected to assist 240 businesses as well as creating five new businesses and 18 new jobs by 2012. The project received £695,000 of funding from the ‘Northern Way’ Project, a collaboration between the North’s three Regional Development Agencies, including Yorkshire Forward. The remaining £410,000 was contributed by York Science Park (Innovation Centre) Ltd through the provision of management services and running costs.
The expansion of office space is set to boost the amount of office space actively managed by York Science Park (Innovation Centre) Ltd by 12,000 sq ft to 112,000 sq ft from 100,000 sq ft. The new office space will be located in St. John’s House, which was previously occupied by the NHS Strategic Health Authority. The building, which has been empty for the last 12 months, is located next to the IT Centre on the Park and will be used to provide flexible ‘grow-on’ space for businesses already on the Park and new businesses moving into the area. It will accommodate up to six businesses employing 120 people.
Susanne Gilbert, Managing Director from York Science Park (Innovation Centre) Ltd said: “Park Central and our new office space are vitally needed by the City’s science and technology business community. I am confident that both facilities will have an important role in promoting job creation and economic growth for the City. The new communal areas have created a vibrant community feel within the Park and provided much needed space to generate networking opportunities for science and technology-based businesses. The new flexible grow on space in St. John’s House means that growing businesses can comfortably expand within the Park.”
One of the park residents already signed up for the new office space is PureNet, York Press New Business of the Year, who provide e-commerce solutions for the retail and manufacturing sectors. PureNet’s turnover for their first year was triple their initial projections and the company are on track to almost double turnover in their second year.
Dr Paul Gibson, Managing Director of PureNet said: “The availability of high quality flexible grow-on space like that provided by York Science Park is crucial for the success of rapidly growing companies like ours. Being on the Park has given us the kudos to go out and get larger clients, so it is fantastic that they can provide us with the space we need to expand our business within the Park itself rather than being forced to relocate out of the City.”
