Pictured above: Grand opening: (ltor) Tom Stokes (Evans
Easyspace), The Mayor of Shrewsbury Councillor Alan Townsend and
Rachel Peters (Rural Enterprise centre Shrewsbury)
Shrewsbury's £3.5m Rural Enterprise Centre celebrated its
official opening this week with news that more than 100 people are
employed at the Battlefields site.
The state-of-the-art facility, which has been developed in
partnership with Advantage West Midlands' Rural Regeneration Zone
and Evans Easyspace, currently houses more than 32 start-up and
young businesses, ranging from lift maintenance experts and
technology specialist to a thriving on-site cafe and fully equipped
gym.
A hugely successful first six months for the venture was marked
with a special visit from Mayor of Shrewsbury Cllr Alan Townsend,
who received a guided tour and discussed with a number of tenants
the benefits of being based in the 28,000 sq ft centre.
He also used the occasion to officially mark the opening of the
building by unveiling a plaque with Evans Easyspace's Managing
Director Tom Stokes.
"We need to do everything we can in Shrewsbury to develop the
next generation of entrepreneurs and companies and this rural
enterprise centre is a fantastic way of supporting local business,"
explained Cllr Townsend.
"The BREAM excellent rated facility has ample car parking, space
for meetings and boasts the latest technology - everything a new
and growing firm could want. It also looks the part, which is so
important when attracting new customers.
He went on to add: "There is a genuine feeling of pride shown by
the tenants when I was speaking with them and the fact that 100 new
jobs have been created at the height of one of the worst recessions
in decades shows what you can achieve when you create the right
conditions for enterprise."
The £3.5m Shrewsbury site, which offers a mix of office
and workshop space over 52 units, is part of a larger network of
enterprise centres currently being developed by Advantage West
Midlands and Evans Easyspace.
There are two main hubs - one here at Battlefields and one in
Rotherwas, Hereford - with two smaller spokes also open and
operational at Leominster and Ludlow. Combined, the four facilities
are home to 63 businesses.
Ian Edwards, Team Leader at the Rural Regeneration Zone, was
delighted to see the uptake in the project:
"This public-private sector partnership has never been completed
in this way before, but you can tell from the four existing centres
that there is a real demand in the marketplace for affordable, high
quality, high spec, enterprise space.
"We are now looking at moving forward the four additional spokes
at Bridgnorth, Market Drayon, Oswestry and Ross-on-Wye as soon as
possible."
Evans Easyspace's Tom Stokes concluded: "The facilities are
impressive but it is the added benefits of being here which are
proving so attractive. For example, the ability to inter-trade, the
access to external support form and the easy-in easy-out leases
which gives young businesses unrivalled flexibility."
When full, the 28,000 sq ft Rural Enterprise Centre will be
responsible for creating 200 jobs in the local economy.