Northumbria University Hatchery

What makes the space successful?

The Hatchery is situated within a very good location in the centre of Newcastle upon Tyne, with an NE1 postcode.

At the time of the launch of the new space Graham Baty said: "We are delighted to now have a permanent, dedicated location on campus. The facilities are so much better than the old Hatchery as we now have improved security and extra facilities such as a dedicated meeting room and kitchen."

The space allows current students the opportunity to sample self-employment during the placement periods of their studies.

Clients are encouraged to 'own' and personalise their space.

Dedicated postal address and telephone numbers are available to client businesses.

Clients benefit from one-to-one bespoke mentoring and are provided with free workshops on a range of subjects including finance and law.

Natural progression - from the Hatchery and into the local region. Hopefully, after being based in the Hatchery businesses are offered the opportunity to take up office space within local authority business centres. The Hatchery and related activity is an excellent way of getting tenants to locate in the local area.

The financial value of the two years' free accommodation plus mentoring that is available via Enterprise Campus has been estimated at around £10,000 to each client business.

With regard to current students wanting to be involved in Hatchery activity it is reinforced to all of them that studies must come first, that they need to concentrate on their degrees and that Enterprise Campus will not continue to support them unless they graduate. The facilities are only available to Northumbria students and graduates.

Research, Business & Innovation (Business) acts as the 'landlord' for 'Hatchery' tenant businesses and ensures appropriate conditions of work. Businesses wishing to use Hatchery space must be able to clearly demonstrate, that:

• The product or service is realistic
• They have considered their customers and markets
• They have considered practicalities of their business idea
• They have personal commitment

Hatchery space is available in six-month periods. Once they are based in the Hatchery businesses are expected to show milestones of progress against a completed business plan, and, indeed continuation of the tenancy depends on evidence of progress made towards the realisation of the business through the business plan. It is anticipated that length of tenancy will generally have a maximum duration of one year.

Pre-start/early start businesses are looked after within the Hatchery and can then mature and move on to local authority accommodation where available and felt to be beneficial.

The businesses that have benefitted from the enterprise culture at Northumbria are wide and diverse in their main types of activity, including boutique, e-Learning Consultancy Company and Designers of Contemporary Furniture.

Promoting the work of the Hatchery

Communicating the work of the Hatchery is done in a variety of ways including:

• Features in the University prospectus
• Careers Service referrals
• Global emails to students
• Enterprise & Employability modules
• Posters and other promotional materials
• Web pages
• Word of mouth (this has proven to work particularly well)

Northumbria's Alumni Office is also involved in the process of encouraging graduates to participate in the programme. The Graduate Strategy is embedded into Northumbria's Corporate Strategy - 'the skills of its students, graduates and staff and its facilities - make a positive contribution to their economic and social wellbeing' Northumbria Corporate Strategy and Key Performance Indicators work alongside that.

What principles were behind the design?

The space is a refurbished part of an established building on Northumbria's City Campus. The design of the interior of the space is based upon temporary structures enabling easy and quick reconfiguration of work spaces.

What is innovative about the design? And use of the building?

The space, whilst not as innovative as other award-winning buildings within Northumbria's estate' provides an environment that allows its users to engage in networking and collaborative enterprise activity to develop their business ideas in keeping with the University's Enterprise Campus culture.