St John’s Innovation Centre is a property-based incubator designed for knowledge-intensive enterprises in their early stages. It offers flexible accommodation and assistance with growing and running a business, especially the commercial exploitation of technology.
Support is offered to companies in Cambridgeshire and the wider East of England region through the following schemes:
Finance for Business
St John’s are fortunate to have expert support in helping client companies to raise finance for their business. The internal team manage the regional Understanding Finance for Business Programme, giving access to a team of expert advisers and mentors from around the region.
Coaching for High Growth
The Coaching for High Growth programme was designed to help ambitious and forward thinking businesses unlock and sustain their high growth potential and supported over 100 companies in the East of England. The new Business Coaching for Growth programme is due to start Spring 2012.
Customer Journey
Whether you are a start-up or established business looking to raise finance or grow your business, the customer journey will highlight the relevant programme for you with programmes delivered by both St John’s Innovation Centre and Business Link.
Business Support Sign-Posting for SME’s
This document is designed for use by local SMEs to help them locate sources of business support, help and information. It is not intended to be a directory of businesses or business support organisations, which can best be found through the Business Link website. A great deal of business information and contacts can also be found through the two Technopole Reports listed below.
Background
The Innovation Centre was opened in 1987 as part of St John’s Innovation Park, which now hosts a number of other buildings occupied by knowledge companies and professional services firms. It is an EU-accredited Business & Innovation Centre (BIC) and a founder member of UK Business Incubation. The site (wholly-owned by St John’s College, Cambridge, since 1534) provides a campus setting close to both the city centre and major transport arteries.
Further buildings were added to the original Centre in 1990-92. Overall gross area of the enlarged Centre is now some 6,040m2 and net lettable space 4,925m2. Conference facilities and a restaurant were important components of this expansion: St John’s provides a supportive environment for its clients, with access to shared facilities and services that they could not afford individually, enabling tenants to concentrate on business development.
Over 100 units are available, with individual spaces designed for two to twenty-five people. Simple leases, typically terminable on one month’s notice, provide significant flexibility. The great majority of tenants are involved in commercializing innovation, with major sectors in recent years including information technology, communications (including wireless), digital printing, cleantech, electronics and design, though some bio and medical firms also have offices at the Centre – as do a few providers of relevant services, such as intellectual property advisers and specialist recruitment agencies.
Tenants are not required to have any connection with the University of Cambridge, though in practice a high proportion of resident entrepreneurs are Cambridge graduates, often at PhD level. Many firms start their association with the Centre as virtual tenants, using St John’s as a business address, with access to meeting rooms, training and advice. Tenants typically take up residence when their business is about a year old, and stay in the Centre for three to four years, during which time numbers of employees per firm may grow from under five to over 20.
Group workshops and individual assistance are provided for tenants, virtual tenants and other growth firms, often through programmes funded by local, national or European authorities. In addition to subjects such as marketing, recruitment and general business planning, advice frequently focuses on helping clients raise investment. One key function of the Centre’s management team is to keep apprised of grant schemes, public tenders, angel networks and tax-effective funding relevant for entrepreneurial firms. Social events for tenants also facilitate effective peer-to-peer networking. Membership of the European Business Network enables St John’s to make targeted contacts with similar firms overseas for its clients (and vice versa) as part of a ‘soft landing’ programme.
Over the years, numerous prominent start-ups associated with the Cambridge Phenomenon have started their careers at the St John’s Innovation Centre, including Autonomy Corporation plc, Jagex Ltd, Zeus Technology Ltd, Owlstone Ltd, Breathing Buildings Ltd, Scientia Ltd and Datanomic Ltd, among many others. Some tenants ‘graduated’ to other buildings on the Innovation Park, though a few – such as Red Gate Software Ltd – started in the adjacent Jeffreys Building rather than in the main Innovation Centre.
When it began in 1987 as the long-planned vision of Dr Christopher Johnson, the then Senior Bursar of St John’s College, the Innovation Centre was one of the first of its kind in Europe. Ahead of its 25th anniversary the following year, the Centre was refurbished in late 2011, which was also the 500th anniversary of the foundation of St John’s College.
Cambridge Technopole
St John’s Innovation Centre was the initiator of the Cambridge Technopole Group – an informal network of business support organisations operating in the Greater Cambridge region.
The group aims to improve the range and quality of the business support services available, particularly for companies based on technology. Other group members include Addenbrooke’s hospital, Cambridge Network, Cambridge Science Park, ERBI and the Babraham Institute.
SJIC has been responsible for writing the annual Cambridge Technopole Reports. The 2008 report was co-authored by Walter Herriot (then-director of SJIC) and Tim Minshall, of the Institute for Manufacturing. The report is sponsored by Cambridge Network and the Gatsby Charitable Foundation.
For the 2011 report, please click here.
For the Regional Technopole report, please click here.
Sponsored Workshops
External companies are offered the chance to host a training workshop at the centre, in partnership with SJIC. Hosting a workshop at the centre provides the perfect opportunity to engage with a different market and promote your services. The sponsorship package includes marketing for the event (online and offline), conference room hire, refreshments and a buffet for up to 20 people- for £250 plus VAT.
If you are interested in hosting a sponsored workshop, please email events@stjohns.co.uk for further information.
Cambridge Cluster Study
‘The Cambridge economy: retrospect and prospect’ was commissioned by the East of England Development Agency (EEDA) and local partners to better understand the state of the Greater Cambridge economy, and the challenges and issues it faces, in order to inform future interventions and policy decisions to ensure Cambridge reaches its full economic potential. The report is based on existing data and forecasts and consultation with businesses and other stakeholders.
The main focus of the study was the high tech cluster, which includes high tech firms, Cambridge University and related research institutions, and specialist services which are located in Cambridge principally to support these core activities.
Inspiration for Growth Programme
The Inspiration for Growth programme was funded by The Greater Cambridgeshire Partnership and delivered by SJIC, ending March 2011. The programme offered free advice and support to high growth, Cambs-based businesses.
The support came in the form of focused events on issues of relevance to a growing business or 1:1 sessions with an experienced adviser. Popular workshop topics included Marketing, Social Media, Sales and Negotiations. In this tough climate, accessing such free advice designed for ambitious firms in Cambridgeshire provided a real difference and over 100 jobs were safeguarded or created through the Inspiration for Growth programme.
