Allia celebrated 10 years at its Future Business Centre in Cambridge with an event on Thursday (October 5) which brought together tenants, supporters, staff, partners and stakeholders.
The Allia team was joined by around 70 people who have played their part in the Future Business Centre’s 10-year history – from tenants, to Cambridge City councillors who worked with Allia back in 2013 supporting the building planning, and many friends and partners who have worked with Allia at the centre over the years.
Since opening in 2013, the purpose-built centre has welcomed more than 100 tenant companies and provided business support to 1,400 ventures.
The venture teams have enrolled in Allia’s free business support programmes, all designed “to help them to thrive, grow and create employment – as well as supporting them to generate more positive impact for people, place and planet”.
When the building was designed, it was constructed with environmental, social and economic aspects of sustainability in mind, and is classed as BREEAM Excellent.
In addition to features such as rainwater harvesting and solar technology built into the windows, the building layout is specifically focused on creating a light and inspiring environment that encourages collaboration and networking for its community of users.
Speeches were made by David Broach, director of Future Business Centres; Martin Clark, CEO of Allia Impact; and Tim Jones, Allia chair – who were part of the team 10 years ago that made the business centre happen.
Tim Jones, chair of Allia, said: “What the Future Business Centre epitomises is the spirit of endeavour. Allia set out with the idea to make an impact on the availability of enterprise support for all in Cambridge and now, we have a £15m Future Business Centre campus at King’s Hedges as well as other workspaces in the city, plus a large centre in Peterborough.”
Martin Clark, CEO of Allia Impact, said: “The Future Business Centre has been an amazing journey. We have supported so many organisations to start and grow their social impact or green business idea and are particularly proud to be home to Cambridge Cleantech and many of its members for the whole 10 years.”
COO of Cambridge Cleantech, both important organisations to the centre’s history as they have grown over the years and been part of Allia’s ecosystem for all of this time.
David Broach, director of Allia Future Business Centres, said: “In the future, our Future Business Centres will remain committed to delivering our distinctive blend of high-quality, affordable workspaces coupled with a vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem.
“This steadfast support system empowers our tenants and programme participants to drive meaningful change, whether on a local, national, or global scale.
“Our vision includes expanding our footprint in Cambridge and Peterborough, while also exploring opportunities to extend our proven model to new locations, thereby amplifying our impact in previously untapped areas.”
A spokesperson added: “We look forward to more growth and expansion over the next 10 years, with the hope of rolling out more of our Allia Future Business Centre communities to support businesses further afield.”
Credit: Source link
