Out of Town: Liverpool Innovation Park

EDGE Lane can often seem like Liverpool’s own version of the Forth Road Bridge – as soon as one bit completes, work seems to shift elsewhere.

The benefits of investment in the area are beginning to show, though, not least at the entrance to the sprawling Liverpool Innovation Park, where the futuristic-looking LED lighting now looks in keeping with the site, which has had a major overhaul in recent years.

The 110-acre site has received major amounts of public investment, including £4.2m from the North West Development Agency and the European Regional Development Fund to pay for a new reception and networking hub, which opened on the site last year.

The returns achieved on this to date are questionable – occupancy rates on the former technology park stand at around 60%, while the former Marconi building is currently only 30% occupied, although a £1.2m funding deal for existing tenant AIMES announced on January 11 will allow the firm to take an extra 35,000 sq ft of space.

The park’s innovation manager, Dr Mark Tock, said that AIMES’ requirement for a new data centre should should push occupancy within the old Marconi facility to 40%.

He added that it was also in talks with a gym operator which would not only lead to more space being let, but also boost the on-site amenities available for existing tenants.

Dr Tock joined the company which runs the site, Space North West, three years ago having previously managed a biotech incubator in Sheffield.

“It was just in time for the recession,” he laughs. “We have grown slowly but steadily over the past few years, and although we’ve lost a few businesses along the way we’ve gained more.”

He added that the installation of the new reception and networking elements. which opened on time and to budget in May last year – had altered the dynamics of the park.

“The site is changing quite noticeably and visibly,” he said.

The new building includes a formal reception area, meeting pods and rooms and a tea bar available to all tenants operated by Liverpool independent Brew.

“It’s the focal point of the site,” said Dr Tock.

“We’ve got an asset that clients are using. It’s wi-fi enabled. We’ve also been asked by some sole traders if they can use the space.

“We see that as the absolute start of a conversation that we can have about space at a later date.”

The main impact has been to change the feel of the Marconi building from one designed for a single company into a multi-occupancy site. Moreover, many of the tenants are start-ups hiring small amounts of deskspace on flexible terms, so the fact that it provides an area for them to meet facilitates relationships.

For instance, a recent tenant survey showed that 45% of the site’s 85 tenants had done business with each other.

The park’s management also hosts events from business advisors for tenants on all manner of subjects from raising finance and intellectual property to fostering creativity.

“It gives a sense of community, which is what we’re trying to create here.”

He said that the site had a “vibrant, mixed community” with around two-thirds of the businesses working in the digital sector – these include software developers, games companies, data centre operators and a Liverpool John Moores University screen school. More than a third of firms on the site have also employed graduates from one of the city’s universities.

Space North West is a joint venture between Ashtenne Industrial Fund and the Homes & Communities Agency, which  inherited the North West Development Agency’s stake. It has been engaging with the city’s universities, NHS trusts and the professional services sector about the potential to create a cloud computing ‘campus’ on site.

Dr Tock said the site’s history as a home to pioneering electronics firms like Marconi and GEC meant that has excellent infrastructure. There is already a fully-serviced substation on-site delivering 7.5MW of power, which can be upgraded to 11MW if required. It also offers access to superfast broadband of up to 1Gbps.

“We could develop an element of the knowledge economy that is unique to Liverpool,” he said.

Around 15% of the tenants on site also operate in the healthcare sector – companies such as Baxter, Nutricia and Icare Technologies – while a number of larger employers such as Sony and Barclays have maintained their longstanding presence on the former Wavertree Technology Park element of the site.

The latter employs around 1,000 people at Wavertree.

Space North West has a remit to run the site until 2016 and despite the recent changes to its ownership structure, Dr Tock said “it’s business as usual”.

“The site is moving forward positively considering the economic environment,” he said. “And our existing tenants are saying some very good things about us.”

Available suite sizes range from 101 sq ft to 80,000 sq ft. The site’s letting agent is DTZ.