Monday Interview: Amy De-Balsi, Head of Innovation and Partnerships at Bruntwood SciTech

A champion of the digital and technology sector in Yorkshire said firms within this industry should not have to go to London to secure investment and suitable offices.

Amy De-Balsi,  joined Bruntwood SciTech as Head of Innovation and Partnerships in January, and works at the Platform Building next to Leeds Railway Station.

Bruntwood SciTech, which opened its tech co-working and serviced offices hub at Platform in April 2018, is a joint venture between Bruntwood and Legal and General Capital. The ultra modern facility has the ambitious goal of becoming the home of tech in Leeds.

De-Balsi explained she was working to connect the growing number of digital and tech companies in the building with partners across the city who can help them expand.  These include universities, professional service providers and corporate tech teams.

“Last time I checked, our tech hub was around 80% occupied, which is great,” she said. “But to me the real measure of success is whether I’ve built a community which involves work being passed between different companies – and that is what is happening.

“We put on events specifically for the tech hub but we also integrate the other bigger businesses in Platform into the hub because that is how we can help build their supply chains.

“Companies have chosen to have their offices at Platform because of the tech community we have here.”

She stressed much of her time is spent connecting those firms at Bruntwood SciTech with other businesses in need of their services. These can include the many other companies with offices elsewhere in Platform. As well as Bruntwood SciTech, the building accommodates the Northcoders coding bootcamp which trains junior digital technology developers.

De-Balsi said access to finance was vital to any company seeking to grow, so she identifies potential investors and brokers relationships with firms needing support. Five investment companies are members of the wider Platform community.

De-Balsi added: “There’s a global tech skills shortage, but Leeds has been quite strategic in helping to meet the demand for these skills.

“We now have a visible digital and technology sector which makes it easier for people in this industry to relocate to Yorkshire and build a career here.

“We know science and technology is going to dominate the city and Leeds City Council has been very clear about how important it is for our economy. The council has been hugely supportive.

“Via Leeds City Council our tech hub has had £2m worth of investment from the Government’s Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport.

“We have a 10-year project, and over this period we need to show that the businesses using our hub have created 1,000 jobs. At our last six month review we were able to report back on 32 jobs created by the firms using SciTech.

“We’re selective about who we let office space to. We have quite a few companies that have moved out of London and have established their bases here.

“We support businesses from offering one flexible hot-desk, right up to a larger 12-person office, and people who rent with us have free access to meeting rooms.

“The hub has about 315 desks in total over three floors, and it has been brilliant to see companies grow from having one or two people to moving into larger offices with us.”

As an IT project manager, De-Balsi founded the tech jobs board Herd in 2014. She established the Leeds Digital Job Fair in 2016 which welcomed thousands of job seekers, students, graduates and tech professionals to the First Direct Arena over four events.

She has also worked with the branding design consultancy Elmwood to develop a 12-week business accelerator programme.