ERDF local growth success stories · Sunderland Software City 5 Sunderland Software City is inspiring and leading the growth of the thriving business software industry in the North

North East European Regional Development Fund Programme 2007 - 2013

ERDF local growth success stories 2014


North East European Regional Development Fund Programme 2007 - 2013 - Investing in your future 2014

Contents

Introduction

Priority one : Enhancing and exploiting

innovation

Page 4 Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult

Page 4 DigitalCity

Page 5 Newcastle Science City: The Core

Page 5 Sunderland Software City

Page 6 Northern Design Centre

Page 6 NETPark

Page 7 Finance for Business North East

Page 8 Social and Traditional Enterprise

Page 8 Teesside University Graduate Enterprise

Page 9 Generator

Page 9 Delivering Energy Efficient Low Carbon

Sustainable Industry (DEELOCSI)

Page 10 Maling Exchange

Page 10 iNorthumberland Digital Economy Growth

Programme

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Priority two : Business growth and

enterprise


Introduction

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The North East 2007-2013 European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) Competitiveness Programme has invested

€375m (c£318m) to stimulate local growth, help create jobs and support local businesses.

The Programme is focused on two priorities:

Priority 1: Enhancing and exploiting innovation through the promotion of technology and innovation within

North East businesses

Priority 2: Business growth and enterprise by stimulating and developing enterprise and enhancing the competitiveness

and growth of existing SMEs

Since 2007 nearly 200 projects have been part funded by ERDF helping to rebalance the local economy and

promote strong sustainable economic growth. Our investments are directly contributing to the ERDF and

Department for Communities ad Local Government (DCLG) objective to support businesses to grow and create

jobs and have:

Provided support to 14,625 businesses

Created and safeguarded over 29,000 jobs

Created 4,819 new businesses

Supported the development of 48,014 sq m of new business and R&D space

This publication highlights only a few examples of the range of ERDF funded projects, supporting innovation and

promoting business competitiveness to create great places to live and work in North East England.


Priority one: Enhancing and exploiting innovation

Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult (formerly

Narec)

The National Renewable Energy Centre – now part of the

Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult – is the UK’s flagship

technology innovation and research centre for offshore wind,

wave and tidal energy hosting some of Europe’s largest

translational research and testing facilities for electrical

networks, offshore wind, marine and tidal power generation

technologies.

ERDF investment of £14.9m has helped create unique, world

class facilities in the heart of Blyth, Northumberland, including

the worlds largest turbine blade facility capable of testing blades

up to 100 metres and the world’s most advanced marine test lab

DigitalCity

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Established in 2005

in Middlesbrough in

Tees Valley,

DigitalCity nurtures

and grows the digital

and creative

industries, helping to

Delivered by a range of partners led by Teesside University, it

provides a blend of business accommodation together with

incubation and business support services - all located in the

digital and creative quarter in the heart of Middlesbrough

known as the Boho Zone.

ERDF investment of c£8.2m is expected to create over 700

new jobs, with long term plans on track to create up to 3,000

new, sustainable jobs n the Tees Valley area.

to help developers

test their designs

on land before

committing to

costly sea

demonstrations.

attract and retain graduate talent, develop digital skills and

improve employability and inclusion in the North East.



The Core is a landmark building situated at Science Central, a 24 acre site managed in

partnership by Newcastle City Council and Newcastle University, and set to become a

leading centre of urban innovation, combining cutting edge architecture with innovative

public spaces, world renowned scientific expertise and leading edge companies.

The golden-clad building, part-funded by £5.6m ERDF, officially opened early November

2014, is already over 90% full and expected to create 40 jobs in its first year. It is providing

office space for companies working in science and technology with a focus on energy, transport, big data and cloud computing.

At the heart of The Core is the theme of sustainability, and the building has been designed with this in mind. It has a unique four-storey

living wall with over 30,000 different plants. It also has bee hotels, planted sedum roofs, rainwater harvesting and solar panels.

Newcastle Science City: The Core

Sunderland Software City

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Sunderland Software City is inspiring and leading the growth of the thriving business software industry in the North East.

Key to its long term success is the Sunderland Software Centre, part funded by £6.33m ERDF to provide accommodation for 60

software businesses. The state-of-the-art, custom built hub combines leading-edge connectivity and IT support that cements

Sunderland’s and the North East’s status as a leading international software centre.

ERDF investment is expected to:

Support over 400 businesses, create 100 new businesses and nearly 350 jobs.



Northern Design Centre

NETPark

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£5m ERDF has helped to make Northern Design Centre a hub for design and innovation for the North East’s digital and design related

industries. The project is supporting long term improvements in productivity and competitiveness through enabling integration between

business and the knowledge base in design and innovation.

The 5,573m2 innovative building based on Gateshead’s Baltic Business Quarter, opened in 2012 providing studios for young and

growing businesses—home to over 20 SMEs operating across a range of

sectors and international markets.

Design Network North, a business collaboration network operates out of the

centre supporting SMEs to use design services and best practice to improve

their competitiveness.

NETPark is the North East’s leading science, engineering and

technology park for the commercialisation of R&D, where companies

lead the way in developing world-class technologies, new products and

new markets in plastics electronics, nano and micro technology, software, photonics, microelectronics, defence and healthcare.

The site is well positioned midway between the North East’s universities providing the ideal place for graduates to turn ideas and

research into commercial enterprises. These links to the world-class research, its high quality environment and land availability has

ensured that NETPark is a chosen location for developing and growing high technology businesses.

Over £15.7m ERDF investment has included funding to service and prepare 3.75 hectares of land, research and development of

specific equipment and the construction of business premises incorporating 6,825 sq m, creating 221 jobs and safeguarding 44.



Finance for Business North East is a £142.5m JEREMIE

Financial Instrument part funded by £54.25m ERDF, matched

with UK government funds and a £62.5m loan from the

European Investment Bank.

Managed by North East Finance over a six-year period from

2010 – 2015, the initiative comprises 7 individual product funds

providing a range of access to finance products from innovative

early stage or start-up businesses, to equity, convertible loan

or debt based finance for SMEs or technology firms with high

growth potential.

Achievements to date include:

Over £100m worth of investment in 635 SMEs

Over £120m of private sector leverage secured

meaning that the instrument has generated some

£220m worth of investment in North East SMEs

1,502 new jobs created

2,417 jobs safeguarded

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The funds are expected to generate an estimated £90m

legacy by 2019 for future investment in support of SME

access to finance in the North East—an excellent return on

investment. Plans are already underway for a successor

fund, building on the success to date.

Investment has helped companies such as Glythera (pic) -

an emerging biotechnology company focused in developing

antibody-based therapies for the treatment of cancer.

JEREMIE has invested £1m in Glythera, leveraging in

£650,000 from private sources leading to the creation of 15

high value jobs.

Finance for Business North East


Priority two: Business growth and enterprise

Social and Traditional Enterprise

This project is led by Sustainable Enterprise Strategies, a social enterprise company

which has been helping to create and grow social enterprises and help disadvantaged

people find alternative routes into self-employment in the North East for over 30 years.

£1.3m ERDF investment has seen the capital development of two social enterprise

workspaces:

The Co-operative centre in Sunderland, uniquely created out of recycled shipping

containers offering business space for 23 work units in a low carbon environment

The Old Seaman’s Mission in North Shields, fully transformed to create a further

6 work units

ERDF has also offered business support for 270 new and existing social enterprises

across Tyne and Wear ensuring essential local growth in this sector.

Teesside University Graduate Enterprise

c

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Teesside University is a leading UK university in graduate enterprise. Building on this entrepreneurial commitment, around £1m ERDF

investment is funding a support package to stimulate start-ups amongst graduates with complementary specialist support for new and

existing businesses in the Tees Valley.

A seamless pathway of support is provided from start-up, through business incubation, both in residence and virtual, to post-start up

mentoring, continued business development training and membership of an enterprise alumni network.

118 new businesses will be created, 75 new start-up businesses and 28 existing businesses are receiving support to grow, resulting in

120 new jobs to be created and 700 people also benefiting from enterprise, business and personal development opportunities.



Delivering Energy Efficient Low Carbon

Sustainable Industry (DEELOCSI)

North East Process Industry Cluster (NEPIC) is delivering this

£750,000 ERDF funded project known as the Grow Greener

Programme, offering a mentoring service to 120 SMEs across

North East England.

The three year project is aiming to generate up to £5.8m of ad-

ditional sales for SMEs, creating 25 new jobs and safeguarding

a further 150 by helping businesses to expand by improving

their green credentials.

The project is working with SMEs to increase awareness of the

environmental impact of their businesses and identify the areas

where significant improvements can be made, for example:

Potential to reduce energy consumption

Awareness of renewable energy and heat

Opportunities to reduce and minimise waste.

Generator

Generator is a music

development company founded

in 1991, providing advice and

expertise to those wanting to

start or grow their business and

prepare them for the digital

transformation the music indus-

try has seen. Generator has

helped bring leading experts and

forward thinking talent to the

North East to develop a strong

music industry base.

With £680,449 ERDF, between 2010 and 2012 Generator has:

assisted 280 SMEs and created 52 new businesses – with

100% surviving over 12 months

created and safeguarded 163 jobs

generated around £4.9m GVA

Success stories include Lulu James, pic, who received support

from Generator and was matched with producer Dom Zilla.

Releases have earned multiple radio plays, rave reviews from

NME, high profile gigs including support tours with Emeli Sande

and Ellie Goulding. Lulu has now signed to RCA Records.

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Maling Exchange

iNorthumberland Digital Economy Growth Programme

Nearly £3.5m ERDF is helping this enterprise agency effectively deliver two projects, aimed at ensuring eligible SMEs receive targeted and expert help to grow their business helping increase economic growth in the North East.

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This ambitious programme has been awarded in excess of £4.6m ERDF. Its aim is to develop a thriving digital economy in Northumberland,

ensuring businesses are sustainable, more competitive and equipped to benefit from on line technology.

The programme is twofold - firstly, overall investment of over £8.3m into the provision of an improved broadband infrastructure enabling

access to super-fast broadband for all but the remotest areas and secondly a specialised and innovative programme of support aimed at

ensuring businesses have the skills and knowledge to exploit any growth potential.

The programme will increase the number of businesses in Northumberland with a broadband connection from 79.8% to 95% by the end of

2015 and will ensure at least 2,600 businesses are able to access super-fast broadband.

Hoults Yard received over £1.5m ERDF to transform a former Newcastle jam jar factory that once

exported pottery across the globe to a home for creative businesses with international ambitions.

Maling Exchange will see the transformation of the space into a cutting-edge office hub, delivering

superfast broadband and connectivity to new and growing firms in the creative sector.

Forty offices will open for business on the Hoults Yard site in June 2015, addressing a need for

bespoke workspace in over 45,000 sq ft of space.

The Maling Exchange will offer loft-style accommodation in 20 small units to businesses of one to

three people, move-on accommodation of over 1,000 sq ft for bigger firms and serviced meeting

rooms.


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More information

Any enquiries regarding the North East European Regional Development Fund Programme contact the DCLG Growth Delivery Team: North East on:

[email protected]

Documents

ERDF local growth success stories · Sunderland Software City 5 Sunderland Software City is inspiring and leading the growth of the thriving business software industry in the North