Jobs boost as multi-million pound business centre opens
The Rail Accelerator and Innovation Solutions hub for Enterprise, (RaisE) business centre in Goole is now officially open.
It is within the Goole 36 Enterprise Zone and provides 34,400 sq ft of commercial floor space made up of office and workshop accommodation.
This space is available to let to small and medium sized enterprises in any sector and is not exclusive to those involved in rail.
The three-storey building also includes conference rooms, smaller ground floor meeting rooms, communal break-out areas and free on-site car parking. A café hub that will act as a focal point for the business park will also be operational from June.
Siemens Mobility, the catalyst for creating the Goole Rail Village, occupies offices on the second floor. Its presence within RaisE and the new rail factory site opposite the business centre will create up to 700 new jobs.
It is also estimated the business centre, via its occupiers, will create over 90 new job opportunities.
To help fund this £8.1m capital project grant money was secured, including £1.5m from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and £1m from the Getting Building Fund, via the Hull and East Yorkshire Local Enterprise Partnership (HEY LEP).
Phase two of RaisE will follow on the same site and will be a £50m centre of excellence for rail and research and innovation developed between Siemens Mobility and the University of Birmingham.
Councillor Jonathan Owen, leader of East Riding of Yorkshire Council, said: “It really is fantastic to see the RaisE business centre in Goole become operational and this exciting project, alongside the rest of the ‘Rail Village’ is brilliant news for Goole and the surrounding areas.”
Sambit Banerjee, managing director, rolling stock and customer services for Siemens Mobility, said: “We are pleased to have worked with East Riding of Yorkshire Council and the University of Birmingham to make this happen.
Councillor Jonathan Owen
“This will be a great space for collaboration as part of the ‘Rail Village’. It will provide a valuable space for providing research and development support for start-ups and SMEs in the UK rail industry.”
Professor Clive Roberts, Professor of railway systems and head of the School of Engineering at the University of Birmingham, added: “We have worked with our long-standing partner Siemens Mobility and East Riding of Yorkshire Council to build a centre that will place Goole and local businesses in the area at the centre of rail innovation.
“The dialogue between the three stakeholders and now a place where we are present together truly provides businesses in the area and beyond an opportunity to see what working with the public sector, industry and academia can achieve for their business and local town.”
Construction of RaisE was carried out by Willmott Dixon, in conjunction with East Riding of Yorkshire Council’s Infrastructure & Facilities team.
