News

21.02.06 Public Servant article published

Not all business centres are enterprise centres but they certainly should be because there is a world of difference between a buzzing enterprise hub and a collection of firms that just happen to work in the same area.

Just what is it that makes the difference? You can certainly tell when you are in a real enterprise centre. You sense the purposefulness and determination and feel as if you are at the heart of a great deal of activity. You also always come away from a visit with a stack of new ideas and insights after meeting enthusiastic professionals with boundless enthusiasm.

So you know one when you see it but how do you make it all happen? That’s what we asked ourselves when we set up Capital Enterprise Centres, determined both to build a successful business and help others to build their successful businesses.

Coming from a major retail company we brought the retail approach to Enterprise Centres. Our target market is the start-up enterprise and the growing small and medium sized businesses. We give them the best possible base from which to grow with the minimum of fuss. Outstanding good value and good quality is the aim, a classic retail recipe for success – ask Ikea, it works!

So we took a deep breath and launched our network of Enterprise Centres with high quality offices, workshops and studios equipped with the latest communications, maintained to a high standard and supported by office services and meeting facilities. You can walk in, read and sign a simple agreement (with a Crystalmark clear English stamp of approval) and move in and begin trading the next day.

All you have to do was concentrate on running your business and the property and service management is taken care of by a Enterprise Centre Manager, who is based on site and who you would probably at least say hello to every day and know well.

From the start the results exceeded our expectations. We find business after business that moves in grows and develops. There are of course, failures but the successes greatly outnumbered them. I find that our business tenants do business with each other, refer business and suggest business leads to friends and neighbours.

Professional services began to operate from the centres or hold surgeries at them. What could be more telling than Patent Agents wanting to use a Centre to advise tenants on protecting intellectual property. New ideas were coming thick and fast!

Being able to support fast-growing tenants is one of the first priorities. We plan space so that it can be used flexibly and expanded easily to suit the growing business. No more time consuming and expensive moves just to meet growth – simply upgrade to larger space within the centre with the minimum of disruption. Telecoms and data communication are all important to business today. The Enterprise Centre provides access to the latest bandwidth on an economic and flexible basis.