Small businesses based at one of Staffordshire County Council’s enterprise centres have been celebrating ten years of its provision of commercial space to aid growth.
Lymedale Business Centre in Newcastle opened in 2008 and is now home to 36 small businesses, offering a broad range of goods and services.
Across the county there are eight enterprise centres, offering both office, workshop and industrial units to small businesses. The office units are let on flexible short-term tenancy arrangements and offer a range of facilities including meeting rooms, parking and networking opportunities. Lymedale is now connected to fibre broadband through the county council’s Superfast Staffordshire programme.
Among the Lymedale businesses are Flat Vision – which provides LCD displays for many sectors including health organisations, industry, military and leisure. Network Rail, Marks & Spencer, the Royal Navy, Stoke City FC and Centre Parcs are among its customers.
Company director Martin Bose said: “In our previous premises we were fragmented. “Here at Lymedale the business support is fantastic and the facilities are second to none. When we need to have client meetings, this is a great place to do it.
“There is a community of small businesses in this building which provides great networking opportunities. We are currently recruiting and we know that with the flexible tenancy arrangements, expansion is possible. And it is important to us to be located in Staffordshire. We’re in the heart of the country and we employ local skills; including our programme of bringing in interns from Keele University.”
Luminite ICT provides ICT, phone systems and communications support. Its director Lyndon Eaton said: “We provide ICT and phone systems and have contracts with over half of the businesses at Lymedale, so being located here is important. The facilities here are excellent and really help to take some of the headaches of running a business.
“The manned reception means we don’t have to worry about delivery times. We can gain access to the building 24/7 and it is very secure. Flexible tenancies are important to us. It means we don’t have to commit to lengthy agreements and we soon hope to expand.”
Peter Brough is CEO of Cybernautix, a web design and online marketing company.
He said: “Originally we were home based, but as we grew it became more important to be somewhere we can bring our clients as a professional business.
“There is a massive advantage in having a flexible tenancy – we have a rolling contract which means low investment and it takes the pressure off, allowing us to focus on growing the business. Being in a building with other small businesses is helpful and there is a lot of networking opportunities.”
Staffordshire County Council’s economic growth leader said: “Lymedale Business Centre is home to 36 thriving small businesses providing a range of goods and services, creating jobs and playing an important part in our economic growth.
“They are innovative enterprises and I am pleased that our centre has provided suitable premises to enable their successful operations and continued growth.
“Our enterprise centres are attractive to businesses as they provide the facilities they need in addition to flexible short-term tenancies which remove any worry about committing to long agreements. We’re pleased that Lymedale has been providing support to small businesses in Staffordshire for a decade now.”