New Tamworth Enterprise Centre off to a flying start

The brand new Tamworth Enterprise Centre is now open for business, providing modern serviced offices to rent, meeting rooms for hire and state-of-the-art facilities for small businesses in the area.

The former Philip Dix Centre in Corporation Street has been renamed Philip Dix House and transformed into a business hub complete with16 fully serviced offices to rent, three well-appointed meeting rooms for hire, an executive lounge, virtual offices and conference facilities.

Although the centre doesn’t officially open until Wednesda July 26, when a plaque will be unveiled in front of dignitaries, business leaders and guests, it is already home to an almost full complement of businesses.

Interest among the business community has been unexpectedly high and 14 of the 16 units have already been let, with interest shown in the remaining two.

However, there are still plenty of other services for businesses to take advantage of, including co-working space in the executive business lounge, ‘touchdown’ areas, three professional meeting rooms, conference space, boardroom facilities and virtual offices. The centre is equipped with state-of-the-art technology including superfast broadband, Wi-Fi and interactive TVs.

The three meeting rooms have all been named after Tamworth’s iconic Reliant cars, so users will be able to hold meetings in the Regal Room, the Rialto Room and the Scimitar Room.

Businesses can use the centre for a variety of purposes, whether they’re looking for a professional setting in which to meet a client, need room for a large training session or conference, or require an official registered address.

It is hoped the centre will encourage the creation and growth of small businesses in Tamworth by providing professional facilities with low set-up costs, along with on-site business advice and support from Tamworth Borough Council’s Economic Development and Regeneration team.

Cllr Steve Claymore, Tamworth Borough Council’s Cabinet member for Regeneration, said: “Tamworth Enterprise Centre is already proving to be a great boost to the town’s small business community by providing affordable, yet professional, offices and meeting rooms to help them start and grow successful enterprises.

“The demand has already hugely exceeded our expectations as we’ve had no shortage of businesses wanting to rent the serviced offices, which come with ‘easy in, easy out’ terms and no long leases.

“We hope to see lots of sole traders and companies using the executive lounge, touchdown areas and meeting rooms, so that the centre becomes a real hive of activity. It also offers a great opportunity for people who may usually work from home to come and interact in a busy professional environment. We’ve already seen examples of collaborative working among the businesses at the centre and we hope to see more of that in the future.

“Experts from Tamworth Borough Council’s Economic Development and Regeneration Team and other business organisations, such as the Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire LEP, will also be on hand at times, which will give businesses direct access to help and support in setting up or growing their ventures. Our aim is for the centre to help establish Tamworth as a great place to do business and it is already off to a great start in that respect.”

The centre’s new tenants include a variety of businesses from sectors such as recruitment, security, care provision, e-learning, research, website development and a trade body. Some are relatively new, while others are well established businesses which were looking for modern, centrally-located new offices.

The opening of Tamworth Enterprise Centre marks the completion of the first stage of the major Enterprise Quarter project to regenerate Tamworth town centre in a £6.1million project led by Tamworth Borough Council and Staffordshire County Council. It has also been funded in part by the Local Growth Fund, through Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire Local Enterprise Partnership.

Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire LEP Chairman, David Frost CBE, said: “We are delighted that this showpiece Enterprise Centre is proving to be so successful and attracting such strong interest from businesses – even before its official opening. It is a great example of the ‘can-do’ attitude of local business people and our partners at Tamworth Borough Council.

“The LEP is proud to be contributing a total of £2.95million to the creation of Tamworth’s Enterprise Quarter, which will revitalise the town centre and make a Tamworth a really vibrant place to live, work and do business.”

Staffordshire County Council’s Cabinet member for Economic Growth, Cllr Mark Winnington, said: “Tamworth’s new enterprise centre is part of the wider regeneration of the town centre and the fact that it is already nearly fully occupied speaks volumes for the strength of our economy. It will be a real boost for small businesses in the borough, providing tenants with excellent facilities and flexible tenancy arrangements, allowing them to grow and prosper. Small business success is vital to our economy and they create thousands of jobs for Staffordshire people. We’re pleased to have worked with the borough council and LEP to support this project.”

For more information about the facilities on offer, businesses can visit the website www.tamworthenterprisecentre.co.uk, or email tec@tamworth.gov.uk to enquire about hiring a meeting room. Prices range from £10 to £20 per hour depending on the size of the room.