Eliot Park Innovation Centre taking all the distractions from small businesses

Eliot Park Innovation Centre in Nuneaton is looking to build on its reputation as a hotbed of small business growth in Warwickshire.

Since opening in 2005 the centre, which is owned and run by Warwickshire County Council in Barling Way, has helped more than a hundred businesses become established and grow.

Some of those business have settled into the centre and stayed longer-term. Others have fledged and expanded to a point where they needed to leave to find premises of their own.

Both of those scenarios are pleasing for business centre manager Duncan Haldane who is delighted that feedback from resident businesses is so positive - but also determined that the facilities provided will keep improving to meet business's evolving needs.

"It is always nice to hear that businesses feel comfortable and at home at the centre and, most importantly, have the environment in which they can prosper and grow," he said.

"We aim to offer a warm welcome along with the high-standard facilities we provide and I am very proud of the community which the centre has become with entrepreneurs here getting to know each other and, in many cases, doing business with each other.

"Having said that, just like any business, a business centre cannot stand still and we are always looking at ways to improve our offer. We have gone from strength to strength over the last 10 years, updating the building, car parking, telephones and broadband and building a team that is cohesive and friendly.

"Further developments are ongoing, including expansion of our conferencing facilities which will enable us to offer a more comprehensive choice to all our customers."

Among businesses to have benefited from Eliot Park as a base is Conduce Group whose CEO Steve Russell said: "Being based at Eliot Park Innovation Centre opened doors for Conduce Group. We’ve seen our business grow tremendously as we started working for many of the tenants, including the centre itself."

Paul Simmerson, CEO of E-PPL Group, pinpointed the "helpful and supportive staff" as key to the support which enabled his business to expand into Warwickshire.

“I first opened our new Nuneaton office in the centre back in 2010," he said. "We started with a small office to work alongside our Telford and County Durham offices then expanded into larger offices three times before securing our own premises in 2018.

"The centre staff were always extremely helpful and supportive so the offices were a place to which we could happily invite our prestigious customers knowing they would always be looked after. That allowed us to avoid day-to-day distractions like opening up and worrying about heating, lighting, power, cleaning and broadband links. These are all essential if you have your own premises, but are distractions that new a business can really do without. That’s the beauty of the Eliot Park set-up - losing those distractions is a huge benefit to the young businesses there but, at the same time, they know there is scope to move to a larger unit within the building as they expand.

"It certainly allowed us to fully concentrate on developing and growing our business which really helped us get where we wanted to be quicker than if we’d been in our own premises.”

For more details about the centre, including its simple, easy-in, easy-out agreements for a range of sizes of premises with opportunities for growth into larger units, please visit https: www.warwickshire.gov.uk/businesscentres.