It's been a long time coming but, thanks to the determination of a few key local people, the Harborough Innovation Centre was handed over from construction company William Davis Ltd yesterday.
It was great to be at the ceremony and to see the obvious pleasure of James Briggs from Harboro Rubber, Sue Smith, former Chief Exec of HDC and Diana Gilhespy of EMDA in seeing the project they clearly cared deeply about finally come together.
The Centre is definitely going to be a fantastic resource for Harborough District businesses, especially start-ups and new businesses trying to keep costs down and needing advice and support - and yes, I'd like to emphasise the point that it is for the WHOLE of the Harborough District, not just for Market Harborough.
The centre has three floors of offices and studios of various sizes (from 170-866 sq ft) for rent to small businesses who need professional workspace, rentals starting from as little as about £350pm. There is a fully staffed reception, hot desks and meeting rooms, kitchen and breakout areas and virtual office services. Tenants have full 24 x 7 access and the building is eco and disabled friendly - we had a tour arouncd yesterday and it really is lovely!
The centre is being managed by Oxford Innovation Ltd, who have lots of experience managing similar schemes in the midlands.
I really enjoyed the ceremony yesterday - a real positive feeling amongst the attendees and the management company team - and I'm sure we will be just one of the businesses who look forward to making use of the facilities when the buidling becomes fully open towards the end of July.
If you're interested in the office/studio units and would like to have a look around or find out more, contact Mick Judge of Oxford Innovation Ltd at m.judge@oxin.co.uk
Our pic shows William Davis Ltd Managing Director, Guy Higgins, and Harboro Rubber Chairman, James Briggs, cutting the ribbon to open the centre (love the monster scissors!). There are more pics on our Facebook page www.facebook.com/thebestofmarketharborough
