Project summary:
Situated at The Goole Junction 36 Enterprise Zone site, the RaisE Business Centre and Innovation Hub provides an excellent opportunity for significant industrial development in the East Riding, offering employment opportunities, economic sustainability and also a high degree of future-proofing for the town, which is currently over-reliant on low-skilled work in factories, logistics and production.
The RaisE Business centre is aimed at supporting small and medium businesses and those pursuing self-employment, from any industrial sectors. However, users from the rail supply chain will be actively encouraged to locate there to capitalize on the potential synergies envisaged with a £200m Siemens Mobility train manufacturing unit, which is under construction on the adjacent development plot.
The centre will offer access to modern and well-equipped managed workspace and aim to provide Research and Innovation support to the UK rail industry from the site, especially in the fields of robotics, digitalisation, and rail power systems.
The project is supported by £1m from the Getting Building Fund, £0.5m from the East Riding of Yorkshire Council Capital Programme and £1.5m ERDF funding.
The project will deliver a 3,200m² building to be branded as RaisE (Rail Accelerator & Innovation Solution hub for Enterprise) and comprising B1 commercial floor space over three levels with communal space providing conferencing and café facilities. The project will lead to the creation of 173 Jobs.
The Background:
The project is compatible with a number of emerging priorities from the Humber Industrial Strategy, including Engineering and Assembly, Energy – Intensive, and Continuous Process. The Innovation Hub will provide opportunities for research, technology, innovation, education, training and knowledge transfer, which are all supporting strands of local strategy too.
The Business Centre has the potential to offer employment opportunities, economic sustainability and a high degree of future-proofing for Goole, which is currently over-reliant on low-skilled and often poorly-paid work. More widely, this project investment will also create skilled jobs, helping raise the area’s prosperity closer to national levels.
Goole suffers from a significant lack of high quality B1 commercial space which is evidenced by the exceptionally high occupancy levels at the existing (dated) offer in the town centre and lack of private sector provision. Having this type of accommodation will provide local businesses with options to remain locally relevant whilst also raising aspirations and standards.
It is hoped that the Centre will be able to harness a range of academic partnerships and expertise to benefit the area by linking to universities with specialisms on aspects of rail innovation and development. This could include Digital Systems (led by University of Birmingham), Rolling Stock (led by University of Huddersfield, in partnership with Newcastle and Loughborough Universities) and Infrastructure (led by University of Southampton, in partnership with the Universities of Nottingham, Sheffield, Loughborough and Heriot-Watt).
In addition the investment will offer a high quality and easily accessible conferencing space, capable of hosting a number of large and prestigious events that will showcase what Goole has to offer and help to change perceptions of the area.
The Benefits:
The anticipated presence of Siemens Mobility within the building will provide a unique selling point for companies within the rail supply chain looking to rent business space and create multiple synergies within the sector.
The Centre will broker high quality business support, coaching and mentoring to help SME occupants to expand and develop. Activities will link directly to the Growth Hub, including provision of business advice, and signposting to a range business support initiatives such as ICT for Growth, Invest to Grow, Sustainable Supply Chain support, workforce upskilling etc.
The project is expected to offer tenants easy access to a full range of business advice and guidance, linking through local authority advisers and project stakeholders such as The Rail Alliance, UKRRIN and the University of Birmingham. Projects include ERDF ICT for Growth and Finance for Growth programmes, and the Sustainable Supply Chain initiative.
An additional benefit is expected to be the provision of an on-site café, accessible to the public, including existing and future business users on the Enterprise Zone. This will help to increase local choice, reduce car travel and promote healthy eating in line with East Riding of Yorkshire Council’s Corporate Priorities.
