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As it passes the third year since it opened, The EpiCentre at Haverhill Research Park has been praised by some of the 30 companies – employing 140 people –in occupation.
Not only does it provide office and lab space, on flexible terms without tying in companies on long-term leases, but its business support team provides great help and advice with key handy introductions.
Other facilities like the co-working desks and meeting rooms are open to all business and individuals in the area, not just occupiers and there is a front of house reception service and a popular café on site.
Folgate Insurance Company, uses the building as its UK business development hub offering its insurance through brokers throughout the country.
Paul Craig, head of the business development team, says: “The EpiCentre provides excellent value for money as a brand new building.
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“If we were in Cambridge we would be paying a big premium for a facility like this.
“We like the big airy office suites and the fact that there is excellent internet connectivity which is a fundamental part of running our business.”
Keyla de Magalhaes, who runs The Audiology Expert there, said: “Before I worked out of opticians shops in busy high streets, where it would be hard to park and it might involve steps up or staircases that could be a negative for some of our patients.
“Here at The EpiCentre, we have the reception facilities welcoming patients with pleasant waiting areas and a cup of coffee if they wish and with lifts to each floor there is no drawback for patients who might have mobility issues.”
The EpiCentre opened in the Autumn of 2020 when the nation, and indeed the globe, was in the grip of the pandemic but despite the challenges it attracted occupiers from day one, some of whom have been there ever since.
Centre manager Andrew Bell, said: “The loyalty shown by the occupiers proves that the service, flexible space formula, and business support is very appealing to companies.
“Some start-ups have grown and moved on to larger facilities, others will continue to expand in the centre, but all take advantage of the attractive facilities on offer.”
A significant part of The EpiCentre is given over to laboratory space for the life sciences and biotech industries.
A major beneficiary of this space is CodiKoat, that came to the centre almost on the day it opened to develop its anti-viral coating product.
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Matin Mohseni, of CodiKoat, said: “The EpiCentre has been very instrumental to our growth in the sense of providing us with the facility we needed to prove our technology in the real world.
“There were two of us to start with in Nov 2020 with one lab bench now we have 23 colleagues and have expanded into most of the lab spaces in the centre.
“The staff and management at The EpiCentre have been super-helpful with us and tried to accommodate the needs we had.
“The centre’s innovation director provided us with vital business support.
“As a start-up we had to focus not just on what was going on in the lab but on how to grow the business as a whole and in that respect we have had a great deal of help from The EpiCentre.
“We are not very far away from Cambridge but there is a different eco-system in the building with other companies of the same age as us creating a good collaborative environment.
“We have had a good many interactions on a daily basis with other start-ups, getting to know where they are in the growth cycle, what they have done to facilitate that growth and making introductions for each other.
“The EpiCentre’s innovation director helped us with the company vision, helping us go to market for our products.
“We are super-glad that The EpiCentre has experienced the same type of growth as we have as a company being around the same age, and hope our collaboration will carry on for years to come.”
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