Tag: Warrington

HIGH FIVE AS ‘WARRINGTON FACTOR’ KICKS IN

Posted on by Vicki Blair

High Five tenants

The Base, Warrington’s grade A office hub for advanced manufacturing and engineering businesses has signed up five new tenants.

Langtree, which manages the 50,000 sq ft building on Dallam Lane for Warrington & Co, has confirmed deals with Meritec, Swan IT, Redwood Bank, Simple Solutions and Olive Construction totalling almost 4,000 sq ft.

And, says Jayne Furnival, group property director at Langtree, a further four offices at the popular building are now under negotiation.

“Our tenants tell us that the building’s locational advantages were key factors in their choice.  They like its proximity to Warrington Central station and the A49 as it widens the pool of labour they can draw on as they grow.”

The spike in lettings sees the building remain on target for occupancy, with Steve Park of Warrington & Co citing the town’s enduring appeal as a place to live and work playing its part.

“We’ve known for a long time that Warrington is one of the UK’s most entrepreneurial towns, so it was good to see the other side of the coin in the recent CACI review,” said Mr Park, referring to a national survey by the data giant that placed Warrington in the top ten places to live in the UK.

“Few places combine quality of life with business success and sustainable infrastructure in the way that Warrington does,” added Mr Park.  “The Base is part of our wider strategy to ensure that the town properly capitalises on this appeal so that it can continue to grow and prosper.”

Adam Gardner from new tenant Meritec said: “In the tech sector collaboration is critical so being surrounded by your peers is vital.  We’ve only been here a few weeks but can already feel the vibrant atmosphere at The Base which makes collaboration and ultimately progress happen.  We’re absolutely delighted to be here.”

New occupiers are supported by the active networking and advisory programme available to all the building’s tenants.  Its BaseConnect programme now has more than 120 members from the wider Warrington region involved in a lively range of events, seminars and masterclasses.

WA DIGITAL LAUNCHES TO BOOST THE DIGITAL SECTOR BETWEEN LIVERPOOL AND MANCHESTER

Posted on by Vicki Blair

WA Digital

Liverpool and Manchester have both raised their profiles as digital cities in recent years, but what about the space between them? WA Digital is a new organisation looking to “join the North’s two most vibrant digital cities to create a huge Northern Powerhouse Digital conurbation.”

WA Digital is the latest in a number of advocate bodies that has emerged in recent years to help digital business in parts of the North. Manchester Digital is the most well-established, but Digital Union (in the North East), Digital Lancashire, Sheffield Digital, Yorkshire Digital, and Weave (in Cheshire East) all help their respective regions grow.

WA Digital, as the name suggests, focuses on the wide area covered by Warrington postcodes. That spans from Widnes in Merseyside to Altrincham in Greater Manchester, and everywhere in between. The organisation’s founders say, “The WA postcode of Warrington, Widnes, Runcorn, St Helens, Frodsham, Newton-Le-Willows, Lymm, Knutsford and Altrincham (deserves) to be represented and should strive to demonstrate its own statistics to feature as a significant part of the North West.”

They list the organisation’s priorities as:

  • Connecting and supporting companies and people in the Digital space
  • Organising events & conferences to drive awareness
  • Bridging gaps between education and industry to address digital skills gaps
  • Providing information, insight and support to the community

WA Digital has been founded by four experienced folk in the local tech scene. Melissa Wood is a freelance front-end developer with 12 years’ industry experience. She also runs WA Meetup, the longest-standing digital meetup in Warrington. Chris Haslam‘s career has seen him move from agency land, to startup entrepreneurship to angel investing in startups like London’s Monzo, Manchester’s M14 Industries and Sheffield’s Lumici.

Meanwhile, Bill Carr has run Warrington-based agency Carpe Diem for 18 years, and regularly mentors and invests in startups like Revolut, Lumici and Racefully. Finally, Stuart Browne founded fast-growing consulting firm Resulting IT, has invested in companies including Manchester’s Hiring Hub, and works as STEM Ambassador.

WA Digital officially launches at The Pyramid in Warrington on 21 September, 2017. Tech North will also be there to talk about our initiatives and how they can help companies in the WA area.  Click here to sign up to attend.