SETsquared Business Acceleration Centre UKBI Established ...

Create, collaborate & innovate

Adding value to Business Incubation – from incubator to “incubator of incubators”

Create, collaborate & innovate

Context – prior to relocation

• SETsquared – active since 2002

– Operates across Bath, Bristol, Exeter, Southampton, Surrey – and most recently Basingstoke

– Bristol Centre on UoB precinct

• (in white, affluent Clifton)

– Good reputation and relationship with city

– BUT

• Not visible & no physical engagement space

• UoB wanted space for academic and teaching activity

• We knew we could do more……

Create, collaborate & innovate

Alignment of interests

• City Council needed to kick-start EZ growth

• SETsquared needed a stronger raison d’etre

• The city region needed a focal point

• Engine Shed:

– Co-locating aligned but disparate assets / entities

– Creating a shop-window for West of England

– Collaboration between UoB and Bristol City Council

Create, collaborate & innovate

Engine Shed – The Building• Brunel's original Terminus for the Great Western Railway

– Stopover for New York

• Opened in 1841

• Worlds oldest surviving purpose built Terminus

• Grade 1 listed status

• Originally:

– Fuelling, watering, emptying of engines

– GWR Drawing Office

– Station Master’s House

– Great Western Railway Boardroom

Create, collaborate & innovate

Engine Shed – an incubator of incubators• Two business incubators

– Bristol SETsquared Centre - high-tech startups; Gov funded; UoB owned

– WebStart Bristol - web startups; equity-funded; entrepreneur owned

• Policy & regional marketing

– Invest in Bristol + Bath (“IBB”)

– West of England LEP

• Development

– Research project – “Bristol & Bath x Design” (UWE, UoB, BSU)

– Training Provider – IT, software, Apprenticeships

– Node on new Gigabit Bristol experimental network (www.bristolisopen.com)

• Workspace:

– Business Lounge (membership only)

• UoB, Bath, BSU, UWE, IoD, RSA, BusinessWest, Bristol Media, Corporates (Just Eat, Saint-Gobain)

– DigiCity (co-working: rent a desk by the day/week/month)

– Meeting rooms and function space

• Public innovation showcase – “Platform 14”

Highly connected and iconic transport hub – 4mins form platform (will be 30s)

Create, collaborate & innovate

Engine Shed – The Building

Create, collaborate & innovate

Engine Shed - overview• Business plan – written January 2013

• Phase 1 – opened December 2013 (26,000 sq.ft)– £1.7m from Council + University + CityDeal

– SETsquared installed August 2013

• Phase 2 – opening end 2016? (adding 50,000 sq. ft)– £4m awarded from LEP (Jan’15):

• Better proportions of what we’ve got

• Grow-on space for SETsquared, WebStart and others

• Teaching space

• More incubators – social enterprise, clean web….

• Technology test bed

Create, collaborate & innovate

Business Model

• SRF (Subsidiary of UoB) – 15yr lease from BCC• Income

– Major tenant income – SETsquared, IBB, LEP, WebStart– Meeting rooms, Business Lounge, DigiCity, Arrivals Lounge, Café

• Expenses– Finance charge to BCC (effectively the rent - £1.34psf)– Operating costs– Some staff (non-SETsquared)

• Operating Surplus– 47% - BCC– 23% - SRF retained– 30% - Enterprise projects

Create, collaborate & innovate

A virtuous circle of benefit

UK PLC

City-region

PartnersComponents

Clients

Engine Shed

Create, collaborate & innovate

Benefits to city regionWest of England (“Bristol & Bath”)

• Increased cohesion– UAs

– HE & FE

• Focal point– Public, schools, intelligence

– Business networks

• An “open front door”

• Networks

Create, collaborate & innovate

Benefits to Partners

• Universities– Neutral territory

• Meetings with business, LEPs, each other

• LEP– Higher visibility

– Good showcase for visiting ministers & mandarins

– Closer to companies – challenging the tension….

• Invest Bristol & Bath– Rapid access to market intelligence

– Compelling case for inward investors

Create, collaborate & innovate

Benefits to Incubators

• SETsquared and other co-located incubators– Higher profile – self preservation – Collaboration with each other– Captive network / footfall of useful people– MUCH easier access to good people

• They come to us

– More sponsorship– Stronger pipeline– Ability to influence– Lower marketing cost

• Virtually £zero

Create, collaborate & innovate

Benefits to Incubator Clients

• Higher profile– Journalist-in-residence

• Access to influencers – LEP, IBB, Mayor, politicians

• Rapid access to funders – eg. LEP grant, InnovateUK

• More investment showcase events

• More corporate engagement

• Access to more….– Knowledge, universities, talent

Create, collaborate & innovate

Lessons Learned

• Bringing partners together– Politics & politics– Playing them off

• Rapid progress– Don’t wait for permission - understand what ‘can’t not happen’– Investing up front / “giving forward”

• Creating more activity in one place – as a crucible –REALLY works for everyone, but don’t proscribe or predict

• The JOURNEY added value to the environment and thus benefitted the incubation clients.

Create, collaborate & innovate

Talk / support / apply / consult:

[email protected]

+44 117 903 1100

+44 7973 361179

Engine Shed, Station Approach, Temple Meads, Bristol, BS1 6QH, UK

Twitter: @engineshed_BB

www.engine-shed.co.uk