All eyes on the enterprise in Southport as Town is all set to have its 1st purpose built incubator spaces for start up businesses

FORMING part of Southport's Town Deal Bid, Crown Buildings, located within one of Southport's famous grand shopping arcades, Cambridge Walks, is proposed to undergo extensive refurbishment. Repurposing an historic, empty property to create a new business incubator space to support Southport's emerging creative, digital and tech sector, the working title for the space is the:- 'Enterprise Arcade.'

The Town Deal bid proposes to acquire and repurpose one of the Town's former Department stores. The 'Enterprise Store' has been designed as move on space from the Enterprise Arcade, supporting further growth and diversification of Southport's economy, and bringing new footfall to a declining area of Southport's City Centre.

The near 3,000m2 flexible workspace, allowing for event and networking space to encourage cross collaboration, innovation and business growth, can house around 54 Creative, Digital and Tech focused SMEs in co-working and private office spaces.
These 2 distinct and exciting projects will support the development of a focused Creative and Digital District in the Town to play host to a vibrant cluster and community of businesses and like minded individuals.

The redeveloped Southport Market, near to the Enterprise Arcade, will in turn benefit from custom generated by the new business hubs, playing host to informal meet ups and socials which are known to be vital to the success of these collaborative business spaces.

Cllr Marion Atkinson, Labour Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Skills, said:- "I'm delighted that, as part of the Southport Town Deal Bid, we will be able to repurpose and fill key empty properties in the City Centre attracting more people to work in the Town, supporting the retail and Hospitality sector and providing more reasons for young people to stay and work in Southport. The Enterprise Arcade and Enterprise Store will offer a space for start-up businesses and entrepreneurs, creating a community for our existing and future talent. The designs won't be like any other traditional workplace setting and will capture Southport's distinctive entrepreneurial character. Together with the redevelopment of Southport Market, all three projects will work in tandem bringing new uses to underused and vacant buildings while generating substantial footfall to the area. Our bid has now been submitted and we have done everything in our power to make Southport an attractive proposition for the Government to invest in. Without Government support these fantastic schemes won't go ahead. We eagerly await their response."

Hugh Baird University Centre Students:- 'Meet the Professionals'

THE Hugh Baird University Centre recently hosted a virtual:- 'Meet the Professionals' event in order to broaden students' knowledge of career paths and opportunities available to them in their related subject areas. The event featured a number of industry specialists from a variety of sectors and students had the chance to ask questions to help prepare them for the next stage of their career journeys. The annual event would normally be held at the Hugh Baird University Centre campus, but due to Covid19 the event was took place virtually, with employers and professionals holding their sessions via Microsoft Teams.  Sessions delivered throughout the day covered a wide range of industries and included talks from globally recognised and locally important organisations:- McLaren Racing, Santander, Northrop Grumman Sperry Marine, Merseycare, Ministry of Justice, Merseyrail, Road to Logistics, Volair and many more.

Andrew Wheatley, Control Systems and Software Engineerat Northrop Grumman Sperry Marine was keen to share his passion for engineering with the students:- "Engineering is a fantastic career that I really enjoy, and I was more than happy to discuss what careers in engineering involve with the students of Hugh Baird. Engineers are responsible for creating new tech, helping improve everyone's lives and tackling the big issues like renewable energy or national security. With a career in engineering you can directly contribute to building a brighter future, and I hope that this talk has helped you consider engineering as a career path."

The College enjoys a fantastic relationship with Merseycare, and so were pleased to welcome:- Nicky Fearon, Head of Nursing. Nicky talked to the students about the diversity of a career in a healthcare setting, she commented:- "I was privileged to be asked to present a session to students. It was great to talk to them about the opportunities, experiences and wide and varied career path mental health nursing has taken me over the last 25 years. I hope it helps the students to develop and awareness of what is available out there in the Health and Social Care sector and inspires the young people to follow their dreams and aspirations."

Neal Barcoe, Deputy Director Family Justice and Policy Division from Ministry of Justice said:- "I was delighted to be asked to present a seminar to students from across Hugh Baird College as part of their 'Meet the Professionals' event. Following college and university, there are lots of exciting opportunities within the civil service, and speaking to the students today, I'm confident that many of them could have a future working on solving some of societies trickiest challenges."

Jennifer Swain, Head of Talent and Operations from Road to Logistics delivered her webinar focusing on the various job opportunities that exist in logistics. She said:- "This was a fantastic opportunity to raise the profile of the logistics industry and demonstrate the many roles and career progression available. This is a great initiative from the college, working to bridge the gap between education and the working world. I am confident that the students involved will go on to have successful careers where they can make impact from day one, due to the relevant guidance and preparation provided by Hugh Baird."

Rebecca Shields a Criminology Foundation Degree Student at the Hugh Baird University Centre spoke of her experience after the event:- "The Meet the Professionals event was brilliant! The information and the confidence I got from the talks has been really beneficial, even from the talks that aren't necessarily related to my course. It opened my eyes to the amount of opportunities and career paths there are available to me once I finish at the University Centre."

Fellow student Emmarae Chambers who is studying a Degree in Digital Imaging and Photography echoed Rebecca's views:- "The event was fab! 1 of my ultimate dream careers is to work in forensic photography, but I just didn't know how to go down that path or if it was possible. So to hear from someone 1st hand who has gone down that route and talked through their experience from studying through to working was really inspiring."

Colette Mawdsley, Dean of Higher Education and Access at the Hugh Baird University Centre, feels strongly about the benefits of giving the students this insight into what their careers could hold. She spoke after the event:- "The 'Meet the Professionals' event was an amazing opportunity for our students from across the University Centre to network with industry experts. They gained valuable insight into the opportunities available to them once they leave the University Centre and advice on what they can do to leave career ready. I would like to thank all the employers who took part in the event and gave up the time to speak to the students."