Construction work on the first building on Derby’s £200million high-tech Infinity Park – seen as a key driver for economic growth in the Strategic Economic Plan of the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership for Derby, Derbyshire, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire – has now begun.
The building, the £11.8m Innovation Centre, will be the headquarters for Enscite, a support organisation for companies in the transport engineering supply chain, when it is completed in October (2015). The Centre will provide workshops and a ‘Fab Lab’, containing specialist equipment for companies to engage in product development, which will work closely with complementary testing and manufacturing facilities run by D2N2 partner, the University of Derby, at its Institute for Innovation in Sustainable Engineering in Derby.
Infinity Park, a 250-acre commercial and technology park, located south of Derby city centre alongside the A50, is eventually intended to provide 1.5million square feet of business space and accommodate up to 8,000 jobs, focused around hi-tech and knowledge industries.
D2N2 – which has a target of creating 55,000 jobs in ten years (by 2023) – has Infinity Park as one of its key drivers for economic growth and innovation-led jobs. The site was given Enterprise Zone status in the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement last year (2014), meaning businesses which set-up there will enjoy reduced business rates and Government support for superfast broadband.
Colin McKinnon, Managing Director of Enscite, is also a member of the Project Board for the D2N2 Growth Hub – which helps businesses grow by providing help, support, guidance and financing – and transport equipment manufacturing is one of eight key sectors D2N2 is working to develop within Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire.
Colin McKinnon, Managing Director of Enscite and Member of the D2N2 Growth Hub Project Board
Speaking at the official groundbreaking ceremony for the Innovation Centre, Colin said: “I believe that over time, Infinity Park Derby and the Innovation Centre will be internationally recognised as a centre of transport engineering supply chain manufacturing excellence.”
For further information about Enscite go to website www.enscite.co.uk
To see more on the services offered through the D2N2 Growth Hub see www.d2n2growthhub.co.uk
