Harborough Enterprise Centre

The Harborough Grow On Centre (HGC) is a major project to help local businesses expand and grow - one that is set to bring £20 million into the Harborough district economy.

It follows the success of the Harborough Innovation Centre, which Harborough District Council developed and opened in 2011, to provide office space for start-up and new businesses.

The new building is located on Compass Point Business Park, Northampton Road, Market Harborough.

The total building cost is £7,890,945.

Harborough District Council is providing up to £3,620,612 to fund the Harborough Grow On Centre project, with £3,282,500 funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and £987,833 from the Leicester and Leicestershire Enterprise Partnership (LLEP).

The funding is secured and will not be affected by Brexit. Securing this combined funding has been the result of a huge amount of commitment and hard work by the Council, over a number of years.

Established by the European Union, the European Regional Development Fund helps local areas stimulate their economic development by investing in projects which will support innovation, businesses, create jobs and regenerate local communities.

The LLEP is a strategic body made up of local government and business leaders, as well as senior education and third sector representatives. It works with with local business, local authorities, Higher Education, Further Education, the voluntary sector and other stakeholders to drive forward regeneration and growth of the local economy. The LLEP also facilitates local partnership working and relations with national Government, influencing national Government economic policy and spending to ensure positive outcomes for the local economy.

Harborough District Council will own the building. The Council will be deciding over the next few months what the best management arrangements are, in readiness for completion.

The Harborough Grow On Centre will be an important new facility to support the development of businesses at the key ‘growth’ stage of their lifecycle. It will provide a semi-supported environment, with active management and links to business support services, with a ladder of opportunity to bridge the gap between start-up and established business stages. It is a crucial component of the Council’s strategy to support its growth ambitions and those of its partners within the Leicester and Leicestershire area:

      * Around 230 jobs
      * £20 million into the local economy over the next five years
      * 19,000 square feet of office space
      * Support for 10 to 15 companies, when at full capacity

The Harborough Grow On Centre building was completed by Ocotber 2019.

Willmott Dixon through the Scape National Framework.

This framework includes obligations to deliver 10% of the project cost in ‘Social Value’, as developed by the Social Value Portal. This will mean targets for;

      i. Spending with local businesses and employment of local labour
      ii. Offering apprenticeships
      iii. Helping people in the area who are long term unemployed (eg. offering employment opportunities)
      iv. Holding CV and interview skills sessions
      v. Engaging with school pupils at all levels to show what an interesting and diverse range of opportunities exist in the construction sector
      vi. Offering work experience opportunities
      vii. Supporting local community projects

The building has been built to BREEAM Excellent standards. It has been designed to reduce the use of energy, wherever possible, using passive design measures to improve energy performance. The following is incorporated into the environmentally responsible building design:

      i. Natural daylighting, ventilation and protection from Solar Gain
      ii. Good insulation requirements to the building envelope and good air-tightness
      iii. Thermal mass (a property of the mass of a building which enables it to store heat, providing "inertia" against temperature fluctuations)
      iv. Heat recovery
      v. Zoning and metering with warning capability
      vi. Plant and control efficiency
      vii. Photovoltaics (PV Panels)

When complete, office suites will be available ranging from 532-2,076 square feet with flexibility to meet business demand.

All SME (Small to Medium-sized Enterprise) businesses, looking to expand in the Harborough district.

Yes.

All funding available in the district can be found at the LLEP Business Gateway.

Yes.

No, unfortunately not. Contact our Economic Development team, who will be happy to assist in identifying further opportunities.

Yes.

We are aiming to provide tailored business support to suit the individual occupiers' needs, such as; finance, funding, social media, exporting, etc.

There are communal facilities to help engagement between businesses and we aim to provide 1Gb data connections to the building.

Tenants will be able to determine their own balance between office and storage within their office suites.

Parking consists of; 147 spaces for all businesses (including 6 disability parking bays) and 6 electric vehicle charging points (2 allocated disability parking bays will also have electric vehicle charging points).

If you are interested in securing space for your business in the Harborough Grow On Centre, please contact commercial@andrewgranger.co.uk .