Stockport’s Radical Digital Strategy aims to help us make the most of the digital-age possibilities for the people of Stockport and our local economy. Digital Place means having the infrastructure, skills and networks for digital start-ups, scale-ups, and established businesses to thrive and grow our local economy. In this blog, Sharon Mayo, Economy, Work and Skills Manager in Services to Place talks about Stockport’s newest Innovation Centre.
Merseyway Innovation Centre (MIC) will soon open its doors in Stockport town centre to support the growing sector of digital, creative, and innovative businesses looking to have a central presence in the town.
Digital is a core element of Stockport’s Economic Plan. We will continue to evolve our ambitions for digital skills, employment, and entrepreneurship to keep pace with the fast changes in the tech economy. Merseyway Innovation Centre will provide space for new businesses to grow, generating new employment opportunities, encouraging job growth, and promoting innovation and entrepreneurialism. Once fully occupied, the new centre could be home to up to 50 businesses in the heart of Stockport Town Centre.
The Centre will be managed by Oxford Innovation Space on behalf of Stockport Council and forms part of the Council’s portfolio of Innovation Centres in Stockport, known as “Innovate Stockport”, which includes Stockport Business and Innovation Centre at Broadstone Mill and Merchants House in the Market Place. You can read more about them in my previous blog: Supporting Innovation in Stockport.
Located on the first floor of Merseyway, with a ground floor entrance on the main mall, Merseyway Innovation Centre offers flexible accommodation, from coworking space, to shared office and individual units, a business lounge and break out area with coffee stations and refreshment facilities, and two high quality meeting rooms.
It’s a short walk from Stockport train station and the new interchange and within 5 minutes of the M60. It also offers excellent cycling facilities, rooftop parking and vital digital connectivity offering Gigabit-capable broadband.
The Centre has been enabled through funding from Stockport Council, the EU’s European Regional Development Fund (via Northern Powerhouse), and from the Department for Culture, Media & Sport’s Cultural Development Fund managed by Arts Council England, which supports creative businesses.
Find out more about Merseyway Innovation Centre and the wider Innovate Stockport community on the Merseyway Innovation Centre website or get in touch at info@innovatestockport.co.uk.
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