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Health and Wellbeing Innovation Centre open for business
The third and final piece of the £45 million innovation jigsaw for Cornwall has been placed - with a mission to give the Human Health and Wellbeing sector a booster injection of entrepreneurship.
The Health and Wellbeing Innovation Centre (HWIC) in Truro, will nurture and support businesses across a broad spectrum in the sector - from designers to practitioners, product developers to manufacturers.
HWIC will also look to work alongside the research and healthcare cluster at Plymouth University Peninsula Schools of Medicine and Dentistry and the neighbouring Royal Cornwall Hospital's Trust (RCHT), offering spin-out space and support to emerging technologies and advances in practice.
Tenants have been steadily moving in since January, well ahead of the March 18th official opening, when Dame Carol Black completes the formal honours. And, like its sister centres at Pool and Tremough, HWIC provides Formation Zone early stage incubation facilities and conference and event space for the University and the community.
Karen Murray is the Centre Manager and joined the University's Cornwall Innovation team last May. With a career background that includes medical insurance, patient commissioning for RCHT and running her own business, Karen is on familiar ground with HWIC. By being in post so early, she has not only received a thorough induction into Cornwall Innovation, but has been able to play an active role in the set up process of HWIC.
She said: "We've been in a great position to see what has worked well at the other centres and then make some tweaks accordingly. Each is different - Tremough is funky and artistic; Pool slightly more corporate; we hope people will feel this is a blend of the two.
"What is the same, however, is the focus upon supporting business development, growing enterprise and creating jobs through commercial Innovation. PIC and TIC have set the bar very high - and we have a lot to live up to. I've had phenomenal support from Richard Scutt at PIC, and Richard Snell at TIC - but I'm not going to deny that there is not some friendly rivalry between us!"
Spread over four floors, with 41 offices (catering for between two to 16 people), lab and workshop space, 10 meeting/conference rooms plus a dedicated 100-person conference centre, HWIC has a flexibility that enables it to accommodate a broad range of client needs. With its colour-coded floors for the visually-impaired, hearing induction loop technology, natural venting, biomass boiler, rainwater harvesting and acoustic muffling panels, it is a model of sustainability.
The pièce de résistance is the huge three-storey glass atrium, with fine views across the Cornish countryside ("We could probably do weather and traffic reports from here" - Karen), creates a relaxed air - one that's been praised by visitors, such as Unlocking Cornish Potential, who ran the centre's first external event, a three-day graduate boot camp, in December of last year.
One thing that HWIC isn't is an HNS medical centre. Overcoming misconceptions of its purpose has been an important task for Karen and she's spent a great deal of time attending events and networking in the sector.
"HWIC is about innovation, taking businesses and enabling them to develop and better support themselves," Karen said. "We are creating value, and nurturing commercial enterprise.
"I envisage a very eclectic and vibrant community in the fullness of time. From designers of ergonomic furniture, urban space planners, organic skincare product manufacturers, research and development arms of practitioners. We're even talking to a surf therapist."
All three of the innovation centres now offer One Stop Shop-style drop in centres and are supporting Research and Innovation's Tectona Business Ideas Challenge. It is an indication of how embedded they have become within the University-led Growth Acceleration and Investment Network (GAIN).
Bernard Curren, Director of Cornwall Innovation, said: "It is testament to the team that we've established a genuine brand with Cornwall Innovation and a level of service and delivery that is consistent across all three centres.
"We've exceeded expectations in that regard, just as we have with the economic impact of Pool and Tremough after two years and one year respectively. People no longer see them as separate centres, and that was always the ambition we had: three entities, same culture, one ethos and an Innovative business community."
HWIC will also look to work alongside the research and healthcare cluster at Plymouth University Peninsula Schools of Medicine and Dentistry and the neighbouring Royal Cornwall Hospital's Trust (RCHT), offering spin-out space and support to emerging technologies and advances in practice.
Tenants have been steadily moving in since January, well ahead of the March 18th official opening, when Dame Carol Black completes the formal honours. And, like its sister centres at Pool and Tremough, HWIC provides Formation Zone early stage incubation facilities and conference and event space for the University and the community.
Karen Murray is the Centre Manager and joined the University's Cornwall Innovation team last May. With a career background that includes medical insurance, patient commissioning for RCHT and running her own business, Karen is on familiar ground with HWIC. By being in post so early, she has not only received a thorough induction into Cornwall Innovation, but has been able to play an active role in the set up process of HWIC.
She said: "We've been in a great position to see what has worked well at the other centres and then make some tweaks accordingly. Each is different - Tremough is funky and artistic; Pool slightly more corporate; we hope people will feel this is a blend of the two.
"What is the same, however, is the focus upon supporting business development, growing enterprise and creating jobs through commercial Innovation. PIC and TIC have set the bar very high - and we have a lot to live up to. I've had phenomenal support from Richard Scutt at PIC, and Richard Snell at TIC - but I'm not going to deny that there is not some friendly rivalry between us!"
Spread over four floors, with 41 offices (catering for between two to 16 people), lab and workshop space, 10 meeting/conference rooms plus a dedicated 100-person conference centre, HWIC has a flexibility that enables it to accommodate a broad range of client needs. With its colour-coded floors for the visually-impaired, hearing induction loop technology, natural venting, biomass boiler, rainwater harvesting and acoustic muffling panels, it is a model of sustainability.
The pièce de résistance is the huge three-storey glass atrium, with fine views across the Cornish countryside ("We could probably do weather and traffic reports from here" - Karen), creates a relaxed air - one that's been praised by visitors, such as Unlocking Cornish Potential, who ran the centre's first external event, a three-day graduate boot camp, in December of last year.
One thing that HWIC isn't is an HNS medical centre. Overcoming misconceptions of its purpose has been an important task for Karen and she's spent a great deal of time attending events and networking in the sector.
"HWIC is about innovation, taking businesses and enabling them to develop and better support themselves," Karen said. "We are creating value, and nurturing commercial enterprise.
"I envisage a very eclectic and vibrant community in the fullness of time. From designers of ergonomic furniture, urban space planners, organic skincare product manufacturers, research and development arms of practitioners. We're even talking to a surf therapist."
All three of the innovation centres now offer One Stop Shop-style drop in centres and are supporting Research and Innovation's Tectona Business Ideas Challenge. It is an indication of how embedded they have become within the University-led Growth Acceleration and Investment Network (GAIN).
Bernard Curren, Director of Cornwall Innovation, said: "It is testament to the team that we've established a genuine brand with Cornwall Innovation and a level of service and delivery that is consistent across all three centres.
"We've exceeded expectations in that regard, just as we have with the economic impact of Pool and Tremough after two years and one year respectively. People no longer see them as separate centres, and that was always the ambition we had: three entities, same culture, one ethos and an Innovative business community."
