Businesses of all shapes and sizes call the Innovation Centre their home. Tom Stroud finds out more
Technology makes our lives easier and businesses are now increasingly portable. Many small businesses and start-ups operate from home – but are there other options? If you’re a medium sized business, how can you look to reduce overheads and simplify costs?
Corina Sewell may well have the answers. She’s been Centre Manager at The Innovation Centre since August. The company itself has been operating form St Cross Business Park in Newport for around 15 years.
“We’re aimed at small businesses or start-ups who are moving up from the dining room table,” says Corina. “We have offices of all sizes. We also offer “virtual” tenancies, without an office but with facilities like our address, telephone number, mail functions and our meeting rooms. For security reasons many businesses won’t want to use their home as their registered address.”
The facilities at the centre include plenty of free car-parking for staff and clients, a high specification security system, shower facilities and lift access to all first floor accommodation. To make this work financially and to appeal to firms of different sizes and budgets, the Innovation Centre has to be flexible.
“Our virtual tenancies begin at £35 a month. The commercial business market is still quite depressed. It’s growing but businesses don’t want to take that financial step until they know it’s going to work. With a virtual tenancy we can offer the credibility and prestige of our address until they’re ready to take a room here.”
The companies that are resident at the Innovation Centre can tell us something about business today. Many of the firms are new and some specialise in technology or the internet. More traditional and established firms have also signed up. we3create, Adaptive Engineering Solutions, Somerset Care, Patterson Reeves And Partners, Energy Excel and Robert Heath can all be found here.
Corina says: “We have a whole range of clients. It’s great for networking. We have a solicitor here and web designers. Our businesses meet clients here and we offer meeting room facilities to external clients so lots of Island business people come through our doors. Before they relocated, Island Roads used two offices here with around 60 staff. The NHS were here for quite a while, they’ve now moved to the Apex which is also owned by our parent company MJH Developments. A company like Social Heroes who are growing all the time and they can expand within the building.”
For Corina, accessibility and keeping her clients happy is key. “All our rooms are alarmed with swipecards. Nobody does 9 to 5 here and some of our businesses run 24/7. Our doors are always open to our clients. I deal with the day to day running, from lease negotiations to set up the meeting rooms, run the reception and ordering in lunch. I want to make it a sociable place where clients can have coffee and relax.”
These can be uncertain times and starting-up a company definitely takes a bit of courage. At the Innovation Centre keeping a client happy and supported is a big part of running a successful business.
“We can be flexible,” says Corina. “Lots of small businesses need small spaces so we’ve converted large offices to smaller one with extra walls. On the high street you’ll have to sign up to leases with potential rent increases. With us you know exactly what you’re getting. Our rental is consistent and there’s security in that. We offer an all-inclusive rent that covers business rates, heating, water, electricity and access to kitchen and showers. The only additional costs are franking, photocopying and broadband.”
The business world has changed dramatically with the potential of the internet and technology. The state of the economy means that many firms have downsized to survive. Throughout all of this it’s still true that a company will always need an address and rooms with tables and chairs. Corina is realistic about the marketplace.
“10 years ago we were in a boom and this place would have been full. It’s still very difficult and the office market really took a hit during the recession. When I took over the management we were at 40% occupancy and we’re now at 70% which is really good. We’ve not put our rates up and our price per square foot hasn’t changed in 5 years. We need to be competitive and affordable.”
“Things are changing and improving. It’s still very difficult. My background is at an agency level so I can appreciate the reasons behind that. We’re getting more people through the door but they can be nervous and we understand that. Our leases are flexible. We even offer the chance to rent a desk in a shared space for 175 a month. It’s great for one-man bands and it’s also a fall back position for anyone who’s struggling.”
In 2014 Corina wants to grow the business. “I want to take the Innovation Centre up to full occupancy. The meeting rooms aren’t utilised enough and we can offer rooms from £10 an hour. I want more meetings here and more virtual tenancies. Maybe people don’t realise that we can do small rooms as well as the conference rooms and seminars. We still get people saying ‘I didn’t know you were here’. Networking is so important to business and I want to encourage more of that.”
First published in the January 2014 issue of Island Business magazine.
