Boost for supply chain as rail business centre opens
THE Rail Accelerator and Innovation Solutions hub for Enterprise (RaisE) has been officially opened in Goole.
More than 150 guests joined representatives from East Riding of Yorkshire Council, Siemens Mobility and the University of Birmingham on May 27, to tour the three-storey business centre and learn more about the support it will provide for small to mediumsized enterprises (SMEs) in the rail sector.
Brigg and Goole MP Andrew Percy also unveiled a plaque to celebrate the occasion.
The building houses conference rooms and communal break-out areas, with free onsite parking. A cafe is due to be operational by the end of June.
Offices and workshops on the ground and first floors are available to SMEs from £25 per square foot, which includes heat, power, light and “easy in/out terms”.
The University of Birmingham’s Centre for Railway Research and Education (BCRRE) will have office space on the first floor, offering support for SMEs to diversify into rail and for existing rail SMEs to develop their products and services.
The second floor is reserved as office space for Siemens Mobility, which owns the £200 million factory that is under construction next door (and where some of the next generation of Tube trains will be built for London Underground’s Piccadilly Line).
The £8.1m project was partfunded using grant money secured from the European Regional Development Fund (£1.5m) and the Getting Building Fund (£1m), via the Hull and East Yorkshire Local Enterprise Partnership.
It is hoped that RaisE will create more than 90 new job opportunities once SMEs begin moving in.
Phase two will now shortly get under way to construct a £50m centre of excellence developed between BCRRE and Siemens.
Alongside the Siemens factory, the RaisE partnership between industry, academia and the public sector is hoped to create a ‘Goole Rail Village’ that will “attract further added value from the wider supply chain”.
“It is fantastic to see the RaisE business centre officially launched,” said Sambit Banerjee, Siemens Mobility’s MD for Rolling Stock and Customer Services.
“This will be a great space for collaboration as part of the Rail Village and will provide a valuable space for providing research and development support for start-ups and SMEs in the UK rail industry.
“I look forward to seeing the development of RaisE as the forum in the UK to showcase the very best of British innovation to the rest of the world.”
BCRRE Professor of Railway Systems Clive Roberts added: “Within the BCRRE we actively engage with industry to develop new ideas, overcome challenges, and find smarter ways to operate.
“The open dialogue between the three stakeholders, and now a place where we are present together, truly provides businesses in the area and beyond with an opportunity to see what working with the public sector, industry and academia can achieve for their business and local town.”