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Construction starts on second Innovation Centre at Liverpool Science
Park
THE UK’s
fastest growing science park is set to grow even more quickly with
the start of work on a 2nd landmark building. On the day that
Liverpool Science Park’s (LSP) 1st phase will be officially declared
open, construction will begin on an £8m, 40,000 sq ft second
Innovation Centre next to the city’s Metropolitan Cathedral.
Since opening in 2006 the existing LSP Innovation Centre, has
experienced rapid growth with more than 30 exciting young companies
locating to the park to benefit from the high quality environment
and the specialist business support, provided by BusinessLiverpool.
The new building will include 10,000 sq ft of dedicated laboratory
space and it will enable existing businesses housed at LSP to
expand, as well as providing new space for start-up companies.
It is estimated that, with the delivery of further phases, the park
could support as many as 7,000 local jobs within the next 10 years.
Cllr Warren Bradley, leader of Liverpool City Council, said:-
“The big challenge for Liverpool is to sustain recent growth and
create a successful, dynamic and prosperous local economy with both
public and private interests at the core of this drive for
improvement.
This new phase for Liverpool Science Park helps
to meet that challenge.
It is part of a growing and important sector
for the city and we are leading the way with knowledge-based
industries and Liverpool Science Park will be able to attract even
more cutting edge business to the city region and create high value
jobs.”
Innovation Centre II will offer specialist accommodation and
services for young businesses with new ideas and intellectual
property in the fields of science and technology.
Professor Michael Brown, Vice-Chancellor of LJMU and chair of LSP,
said:- “New ideas that create new economic activity are
required to secure the future of Liverpool.
The Universities
and the City Council recognised this truth and came together with
the support of Objective One and the NWDA to create the Liverpool
Science Park as one important tool to deliver this economic
necessity for the sub-region.
It is already achieving its
objectives, so much so that we’ve had to accelerate the plans to
establish a second building to deliver essential grow-on space”.
Dr Sarah Tasker, chief executive of LSP, said:- “Liverpool
Science Park's mission is to grow the city’s knowledge economy by
retaining knowledge-based companies and attracting companies from
outside the region.
Working closely with our partners in
the city council, John Moores University and Liverpool University,
our second phase of development means that we are on-track to create
a world-class innovation hub in Liverpool's city centre.
Building on our early success, our second cutting-edge facility will
ensure that rapidly expanding companies will have an appropriate
environment to develop their businesses.”
Funded by Merseyside’s Objective One programme and Northwest
Regional Development Agency (NWDA), the centre will comprise 40,000
sq ft of specialist accommodation and services for innovative
knowledge-based businesses with new ideas and intellectual property
in science, technology and the creative industries.
Steve Broomhead, chief executive of the NWDA, said:-
"Liverpool Science Park utilises the wealth of talent in Liverpool
and the Northwest to help nurture new and growing businesses and
attract like-minded companies from outside the region.
The
park provides some very valuable incubation and development space
for creative, science and technology based businesses and encourages
innovation and growth in these knowledge-based companies, which in
turn will help grow the economy of our region.”
Construction is to be carried out by Neptune Developments is
expected to be completed by the end of 2008 has received the backing
of architectural watchdog CABE and English Heritage. The
vision of LSP is shared by the city’s leading institutions.
Liverpool Science Park Ltd is constituted as a joint venture between
Liverpool John Moores University and the University of Liverpool,
together with Liverpool City Council and part financed by the
European Union under Merseyside’s Objective One ERDF Programme and
the North West Regional Development Agency.
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BOSSES URGED TO HELP WORKERS “COMMUTE SMART”
NATIONAL
Commute Smart Week is being launched as the clocks go back, to
encourage smarter commuting. As British Summer Time ends,
children who walk to school or to catch the bus there will do so in
daylight, for a few weeks at least. Not so their working parents
who, travelling earlier, will continue to leave home in the dark,
and in many cases return in the dark too.
Every year there is a significant increase in wintertime road
casualties. Last year, the number of car users killed or seriously
injured jumped from 1211 in October to 1340 in November - a 12%
increase. The number of pedestrians killed during the winter months
showed a greater increase, being 20% higher than in the summer: 339
were killed during BST, whereas 404 died during the winter (source:-
'Road Casualties Great Britain 2006').
According to Government-backed Work Wise UK, the not-for-profit
campaigning body whose members include the TUC, CBI, British
Chambers of Commerce, BT, Transport for London and the RAC
Foundation, employers can take steps that will reduce the overall
need for staff to travel and commute. Creating flexibility in the
times when people have to be at a workplace, allowing them to avoid
peak times, will impact upon road safety, congestion and overcrowded
public transport. Even a small fall in numbers would have a
significant impact, it is claimed. Variations to standard
working days and working weeks include flexible working arrangements
such as flexitime, condensed hours and nine day fortnights, part
home working, remote and mobile working.
Work Wise UK’s chief executive, Phil Flaxton, said:- “Workers
here already have the second longest average daily commute in
Europe: in many cases adding an entire working day each week. Add to
this the misery, tension and delays of traffic congestion and
overcrowding on trains, tubes and buses, and now the prospect of
travelling to and from work in the dark for many months: it is no
surprise that many succumb to depression and despondency.”
Work Wise UK and the RAC Foundation have developed 10 top tips for
commuting smarter:-
1. Travel at a different time - while the majority of rush
hour commuting happens between 7:30am and 8:30am, peak commuter
hours get earlier as the week progresses – we get up earlier but
also leave work earlier with the weekend on the horizon.
According to the RAC Foundation, even if just a few motorists can
make their journeys out of peak hours, it will make a big difference
to congestion. (Source:- RAC Foundation/Trafficmaster Congestion
Report May 2007 )
2. Telecommute - Work from Home: nine million UK households
now have broadband, while new mobile systems such as wi-fi make it
possible to securely access business networks from almost anywhere.
If all commuters could work just one day a week at home, commuter
numbers would fall 20%. This would reduce road congestion and public
transport over-crowding significantly.
3. Teleconference - Use on-line tools to replace conferences
and meetings, to cut back on travel during the business day. Tools
include Online Communities of Practice – on-line groups where people
exchange ideas and best practice; wikis - collaborative web pages
that allow people to brainstorm ideas without meeting face-to face;
and video conferencing through affordable web-cams rather than
expensive video suites.
4. Take a detour - The RAC Foundation/Trafficmaster
Congestion Index found that using less obvious routes to get from A
to B can save commuters hours simply by avoiding congestion on their
habitual route. (Source:- RAC Foundation/Trafficmaster Congestion
Report May 2007
)
5. Try 2 wheels instead of 4 - commuters could shave up to
three hours off their weekly commutes by switching from 4 wheels to
2, according to the RAC Foundation’s analysis of government
statistics which shows that in almost every region of the UK,
motorcycle and scooter commuters are spending less time travelling
to and from work than workers travelling by car, bus or coach, with
the biggest savings available in Central London and the East of
England. (Source: Labour Force Survey Statistics 2007)
6. Try peddle power instead – millions of people spend hours
at the gym either before or after work. Why not combine exercise
with commuting? Not only will it make you fitter, it could save you
money both in travelling and gym subscriptions. The average commute
is 8.7miles – most people could cycle this distance in less than
half an hour.
7. Make sure your car is up to the job – Next week will see
millions of people travelling home from work in the dark for the 1st
time in 7 months and many of them will be ill prepared. While huge
investment in research and development by lighting manufacturers
means that lights on modern vehicles are more effective and
efficient than ever, they are useless if drivers don’t use them,
check them and maintain them. In 2005, over one million cars failed
the annual MOT test because of lighting defects.
Sourse
8. Get physical - instead of gnashing teeth at the red light,
take the opportunity to do a few stretches or a shoulder-shake to
get rid of tension and aggression.
9. Do random acts of kindness - drop the “thousand yard
stare” and let someone out in front of you. Doing good for
others creates an enormous sense of wellbeing and reduces commuting
stress.
10. Give someone a lift – overcome “NIMFS” (Not in My
Front Seat) and share the journey to work with a friend. Having
someone to vent the stress of the day’s work on means less road
rage, while car-sharing cuts congestion.
Further details about Work Wise UK can be found on the
workwiseuk.org.
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