Pictured: The proposed Digital Plaza

Birmingham Science Park Aston (BSPA), which is wholly owned by Birmingham City Council, has issued a formal tender notice on the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) website to seek a joint venture partner to undertake development of the proposed £35 million Digital Plaza. 

The earmarked site is next to the Park's flagship Faraday Wharf building, accessed off Holt Street/Enterprise Way and A38 Aston Expressway.  The vacant development plot has been identified within the Greater Birmingham and Solihull LEP's Enterprise Zone proposals, which covers 27 sites within the Big City Plan area. 

During his visit to BSPA earlier this week, Prime Minister David Cameron heard about the Park's activities and plans to create a high-tech incubation centre to be named iCentrumTM, as the first of the four proposed Digital Plaza buildings.

Prime Minister David Cameron said: "Birmingham Science Park Aston shows how start-ups can be actively supported, physically and virtually, to become successful businesses in the high-growth technology sector. It's great to see the Park driving forward creativity, innovation and business excellence here in Birmingham."

The OJEU process specifies that BSPA is seeking a joint venture partner to undertake funding/investment; design and development; construction; facility operation and management for the Digital Plaza, which is envisaged to provide a total gross area of over 100,000 sq ft within four state-of-the-art buildings. Interested bidders have until Friday 23rd December 2011 to submit their proposals.

The Enterprise Zone designation may enable this project to benefit from an accelerated planning process, as well as Business Rates relief. Subject to planning, construction work could commence speculatively on the first iCentrumTM building - which is expected to be circa 40,000 sq ft - as early as September 2012.  BSPA is also planning to create a series of industry-led technology incubators to drive new innovative businesses in the key sectors of the regional economy.

Dr David Hardman MBE, CEO of Birmingham Science Park Aston said: "It is vital that we push forward with our plans to develop the Park to meet the needs, aspirations and work patterns of the city's growing number of highly talented and innovative tech entrepreneurs. The UK digital games sector is worth over £3.8 billion, which is bigger than our film or music industries. 25 per cent of digital gaming jobs are in the West Midlands and the Digital Plaza will act as a magnet for hundreds of new jobs for local people to be created in this dynamic industry. We are seeking a joint venture partner to help us to create a statement facility that will define Birmingham's knowledge economy."

BSPA is the gateway to Birmingham's Digital District and to the Eastside learning and knowledge quarter. The Park's internet connection is unrivalled across the country; UK Broadband implemented a 4G trial on site; and together with Cisco and JANET, BSPA has become the UK's first Science Park Without Walls and the first active node in Cisco's National Virtual Incubator network.

While the nature of the work in the hi-tech and digital gaming industry typically lends itself to people working from home, BSPA's thriving mix of tenants strongly advocate that businesses can grow more effectively working from a specialist hub environment. Faraday Wharf, which incorporates an extensive suite of high-tech meeting and conference rooms - as well as the Park's nationally acclaimed Entrepreneurs for the Future (e4f) incubation centre - is now over 95 per cent let, with 17,684 sq ft of space let to Small to Medium sized Enterprises. 

Cllr Mike Whitby, Leader of Birmingham City Council and chairman of Birmingham Science Park Aston comments: "We are driving forward with our business strategy to make Birmingham Science Park Aston a world-leading science park, fit for 2020 and beyond. Many of our initiatives and partnerships do not rely on developing new buildings at the Park, but we need to respond to tenants' needs and the considerable uptake in space here in the past 12 months.

"In order to remain competitive, we must create buildings which are specifically designed for companies in the technology sectors and for the digitally savvy founders of these ventures. As the Prime Minister has recognised, it is these knowledge-based businesses which have the potential for high-growth and will be a key factor in driving our economy out of recession."

To receive the Pre-Qualification Questionnaire documents please email DigitalPlazaOJEU@bsp-a.com.