More space has been acquired for Welsh ICE, the business innovation centre, to expand its start-up community in Caerphilly Business Park with the £1million purchase of the neighbouring Octagon building.
This acquisition will take the floor space of Welsh ICE to just over 27,500 square foot, which will allow it to increase its capacity as well as offer more memberships to entrepreneurs.
There are already around 120 members at Welsh ICE who get help, advice and guidance as they launch their own businesses. An independent report published earlier this year estimated that ICE had contributed over £13million to the Welsh economy since its inception in 2012 and supported over 160 businesses to start.
On the eve of its fourth birthday, Welsh ICE CEO, Gareth Jones said: “We are thrilled with this new addition to our current properties, Britannia House and the Lodge, as it allows us to create an ICE campus and offer more help to the growing start-up community in south Wales.
“We already have a waiting list of people wanting office space in ICE buildings and the purchase of the Octagon means that we will be able to welcome them into our community sooner than anticipated.”
Gareth added: “Current Octagon residents will be unaffected by the purchase, but they will get the opportunity to join the ICE campus and community and take advantage of all the help, guidance and support that our great team offer.”
Welsh ICE is also opening its new coworking space, the Courtyard, which has been created to accommodate the growing numbers of ICE members and will house an extra 25 desks for new businesses. The Octagon will be available for new tenants from September.
Gareth explained: “We are already bursting at the seams with our current membership, so to be able to offer a further 25 desks in the Courtyard Space, and now with the Octagon also being available for new and current members it is a great time to join our community.
“It is estimated that we have already created around 375 jobs since we started nearly four years ago and we believe this new coworking space and building will add a further 100 jobs to that figure.”
Welsh ICE offers bursaries to eligible early-stage entrepreneurs keen to get their business off the ground, which takes away the burden of having funds to pay for office space as well as offering the support and mentoring they need on their office doorstep.