Now home to 21 businesses the 50,000 sq ft hi-tech hub in Warrington has thrived due to its collaborative ethos, says the chief executive of economic agency Warrington & Co. Tony McDonough reports

Collaboration between local firms is key to the success of Warrington’s future economic growth, a business leader in the town says.

Addressing the success of Warrngton’s hi-technology office building The Base, Steve Park, chief executive of Warrington & Co, claimed: “We’re all collaborators now.  You either tap in to complementary skills and expertise or you go backwards. And the same holds for cities as it does for companies.”

New products

The 50,000 sq ft grade A office complex in Dallam Lane is now home to more than 220 staff at 21 firms, many “routinely collaborating” to secure larger contracts or to develop new products, added Mr Park.

His comments come as the centre announces three leading advisory businesses have joined an existing network of experts to help tenants at the hub.

The intellectual property team at law firm Brabners, corporate finance advisors at accountants Jackson Stephen and promotional experts at CST Marketing join Santander, Inventya and FDR Law to provide a full suite of advisory services, including areas such as tax, R&D, innovation, law and product commercialisation.

A 12-month programme of clinics and joint events delivered by the partners begins this month and includes subjects such as innovation, product commercialisation and Industry 4.0 technologies.  Tenants are then free to contract with the partners on more detailed support, as required.

Eco-system

Mr Park added: “It’s developed a life of its own, with people meeting in our collaboration space and exploring how they can work together. It’s its own eco-system now and occupiers like Avanite are starting to grab the headlines.”

Avanite was the first beneficiary of a new business angel investment network established by Warrington-based corporate financiers DSW.  The £500,000 working capital injection it secured will be used to develop the sales potential of the company’s ‘cookie cleaner’ called Web Data Control. 

Avanite’s neighbour, Resulting-IT, is launching its new SAP Success Optimiser and along the corridor Iris Networks are collaborating with a leading north west university and a major private sector partner on a yet-to-be-revealed technology project which the company describes as a “game changer”.

Critical intervention

The point, said Mr Park, is that with some critical intervention from the public sector Warrington has added a new string to the town’s thriving technology economy – and one which is starting to feed off itself.

He said: “When I look at what is going on at The Base I see how Warrington’s economy can branch out and develop further.

“The appetite for innovation, for risk and for sheer hard work never ceases to amaze me and a whole new layer of significant employers is being created that will future-proof our economy over the next decade or so.”