Celebrations have been taking place at North Somerset Enterprise Agency (NSEA) after its Chief Executive Angela Hicks, was voted Property Personality of the Year at the South West Property Awards, organised by regional business magazine South West Business Insider.
The prestigious award was given in recognition of Angela’s work in delivering The Hive, North Somerset’s new business development centre, to the community. It was presented to her on 16 October at The South West Property Awards dinner, attended by George Ferguson, Bristol mayor and former president of the Royal Institute of British Architects.
The recipient of the Property Personality Award is chosen by the Insider’s panel of expert judges from award contenders which this year included companies, developers, deals, architectural practices, local authorities and law firms across 11 categories.
South West regional building contractors Pollard whose team undertook the project and, with architectural practice AWW and project managers CBRE, helped turn the project’s ambitious vision into a reality on time and within budget, were also shortlisted for the Construction Firm of the Year award.
The Hive, which officially opened in July is an enterprise hub from which local start-up and growing businesses can work, do business and enjoy on-site advice and support from NSEA’s experienced, local team of advisors. It has been built and is owned, managed and occupied by the Enterprise Agency, which has a 26 year track record in stimulating, encouraging and supporting local enterprise and contributing to a healthy local economy.
Based in the Junction 21 Enterprise Area of Weston-super-Mare, The Hive now offers 16,000 sq. ft of rentable managed office space and communal facilities and will provide 40-60 tenants with unfurnished offices, easy-in and easy-out terms, dedicated and secure broadband and a managed business reception. Non tenants can access virtual office services, hot desks and meeting rooms and an Express Business Lounge rentable by the hour or day. In addition to a smart professional business environment The Hive offers sustainable transport options with pool cycles and showers and an electric vehicle charger. The building is designed to be energy-efficient and sustainable and incorporates many energy-saving measures, avoiding air conditioning and including natural ventilation and lighting, photovoltaic cells and solar panels on the roof. It has achieved a rare “A” rated EPC (Energy Performance Certificate).
The Hive was enabled by an investment from the European Regional Development Fund, alongside funding from North Somerset Enterprise Agency and lending from Triodos Bank.
Accepting her award from Alan Hope, Chief Executive of Midas Group, Angela said that she was surprised and delighted by the accolade.
“As a small, local Enterprise Agency, we are very proud to have delivered this new business development centre to North Somerset. We could never have anticipated the amount of hard work and determination we would need to bring the project to fruition but now that we have, we are delighted for all who will benefit from it. We are also proud that all surplus funds made from The Hive by our not-for-profit organisation with social objectives, will be reinvested into local enterprise development and business support.
“We have had an amazing team around us helping to get this major project right and we are grateful for the guidance, help and support of many people and especially the team at Norfolk-based NWES who already run a number of successful centres and who worked hand-in-hand with us on The Hive, sharing lessons learned and offering a guiding hand.
“I would like to say a big thank you also to the judges for selecting me as the South West’s Property Personality of the Year. It really is an honour – but I am still recovering from the shock!”.
Plans for The Hive were drawn up and submitted after an Economic Assessment by NSEA to establish demand for the building. The Enterprise Agency surveyed a number of local businesses and discovered 65 per cent felt that, based on their own experience of setting up a business in North Somerset, a business development centre would be beneficial to businesses such as their own.
The Hive has this week announced that three months after its official launch the building is already one-third full. In addition The Hive’s facilities are also being regularly used by hot desk clients and several “virtual” office tenants and its conference and meeting rooms have already taken bookings up to November 2015.
