Energy research centre catapults into Birmingham
A CENTRE aimed at exploiting commercial opportunities from energy research has revealed where its new Birmingham home will be.
The Department for Business Innovation and Skills announced last year that the Energy Systems Catapult would be located in the city and it has been working out of offices at Birmingham Business Park.
It will now be relocating to an 18,000 sq ft of office space at Cannon House, on Priory Queensway and will complete the move over the course of the summer.
The catapult was set up in response to the need to develop a more sustainable energy policy for the UK.
It is also helping the UK capture commercial opportunities and create new businesses across the energy sector.
The new facility is planned as an energy industry hub to promote and enhance innovation. It is being designed to showcase new technologies.
Marc Stone, Interim Chief Finance Officer for the Catapult, who is project managing the move said: “Cannon House represents the best on offer in Birmingham city centre.
“The building itself lends itself to innovation and creativity and it is both energy efficient and purpose built for collaboration.”
Philip New, chief executive of the catapult, said: “Cannon House gives us the opportunity to work in the way that is most natural to our creative, collaborative and entrepreneurial team. Central to our ethos will be open innovation: working with partners in industry, Government, academia and the vibrant SME community, both here in Birmingham and beyond.”
Rupert Young, Development Director at Nurton Developments, said the catapult was an excellent example of a company being drawn into the city centre both for sound business reasons and to be close to its amenities.
“Cannon House, with its open plan floorplates, clearly encourages a more collaborative approach. Its extensive views over Birmingham’s business core makes occupiers really feel part of what is increasingly an exciting new city,” he said.
The Energy Systems Catapult has been running since April 2015. It is one of 11 catapults created by Innovate UK to drive growth in key industrial sectors.
