Project Title: Stockton E Business Incubators

Project Description:
This project will provide a raft of support measures for businesses in Stockton. They will provide more and improved accommodation units for SMEs. Move on accommodation in a serviced environment, a major omission in central Stockton, will help growing businesses. All of this accommodation and more will benefit from improving ICT services for businesses. The main elements of the project in brief are:-

Accommodation

The accommodation project involves work on three sites to create managed business space for new and growing businesses. There will be elements of new build on brownfield land at Primrose Hill, the restoration of an existing building adjacent to the Stockton Business Centre and the refurbishment of the historic Thornaby Town Hall.

Primrose Hill is a former coal depot where the land is badly contaminated and in need of remediation work. Stockton Business Centre serves the business community of Stockton offering an important service at the right location. It is easily accessible by public transport and has sufficient secure parking facilities to offer visitors. Thornaby Town Hall is a grade 2 listed building and is located in a prominent position close to significant new developments on the Teesdale site.

ICT Infrastructure and Support

ICT infrastructure will be put into all of the accommodation provided through this project and will be linked to the external broadband network to give businesses access to the latest ICT technology. Two of these locations are identified as business nodes under the Tees Valley Broadband project. The aim is to achieve economies of scale for clients on their use of the telephone and the internet and to be prepared for the advent of VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol), which will in due course provide telecommunications via Broadband Internet. This project will continue the work started in 2002 when broadband internet was first introduced to the Stockton Business Centre. In Thornaby Town Hall the introduction of a broadband node is a natural consequence of the pioneering work previously carried out by the e-Tees Valley project in supporting and encouraging SMEs in their use of ICT. Businesses will be encouraged to take up these technologies and the project will provide support and training in their application to the individual businesses on an ongoing basis so that they gain the maximum benefit and keep up to date with the latest developments. Ultimately all the businesses will be connected and will pay for the services provided. The revenue project will cover some of the cost of supplying the service whilst users trial the system before connecting. The cost is scaled down as users move to paying the full commercial price of the service provided.

The project will also open up the access to these ICT facilities to other new businesses setting up in the area and the businesses in the area immediately around the broadband nodes.

Thornaby Town Hall

This historic listed building is to be converted to contain small business units, particularly aimed at new and small creative and cultural businesses. When completed there will be a need to support the provision of reception and administration services and other benefits to SMEs until such time as the occupancy level and income rises to cover the costs.

Lead Organisation (underlined) and Key Partners:
Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council, Supreme Knitwear Manufacturing Co. Ltd.