Greenhouse for graduate enterprise

The University of Teesside officially opens its new graduate business incubation centre on Tuesday 17 May providing a home for the growing number of graduates who want to set up their own companies on the campus.

The centre is in the former Victoria Road School, Middlesbrough. The 114-year-old building, rejuvenated at a cost of £1.3m, will provide incubation space for up to 24 new start-up businesses.

The idea: to provide purpose-built studios and other accommodation plus business and vital support to graduate entrepreneurs who are helping to create and network of digital media and other companies in the Tees Valley.

Throwing his weight behind the initiative is Curtis Jobling, a former student of Cleveland College of Art and Design, and the production designer for Bafta winning Bob the Builder, who is working with one of the companies, Seed Animation, on his next big project.

The building will be officially opened by One North-East’s chairman, Margaret Fay, at a ceremony in the Centre for Enterprise, also on Victoria Road at 12.15 on17 May.

Before that, at 11.30pm, there is an opportunity for the media to meet three Teesside graduates who have set up Seed Animation with Curtis Jobling and Durham IT graduate, Gillian Maxfield, who has also launched her own company. Gillian was the head girl at the Victoria Road Infants School nearly three decades ago. The manager of the graduate enterprise scheme, Maurice Tinkler, will also be present..

Details about how the Victoria Road School was saved from demolition can be found below:

The rebirth of Teesside's Victoria Building

The Victoria Building on the University of Teesside's Middlesbrough campus has staged a remarkable recovery.

Four years ago, it was earmarked for demolition and the site was destined to become a car park as part of the on-going redevelopment of the University campus on both sides of Victoria Road, Middlesbrough.

Now, the 114-year-old former primary school building has been completed renovated to provide a new home for the ever-expanding number of new companies being established by graduates on the campus. The turn-around in fortunes for the old Victorian school building followed a successful approach to English Heritage to have the building listed by local interest groups after they heard about the possible demolition.

The building was mooted as one of only a very few examples of a local Victorian school complete with schoolyard and has now been registered as a Grade II listed building.

"The building has some interesting features on the roof structure" says Denis Minchell, Head of Estates, "but the main attraction is the fact that it still retained the schoolyard and so the building became listed.

"The building's conversion now means the University has a dedicated building to meet the needs of its Upgrade² graduate enterprise scheme, which in the last four years has helped launch 60 business start-ups.

"It is refreshing to see a building of this age being given the opportunity to join the current portfolio of modern buildings on campus. It shows that the University is more than willing and able to embrace the past to ensure its future," said Mr Minchell.

The initial phases of building work took place over several years and consisted mainly of essential repairs. The total conversion cost around £1.35 million and was financed with support from One NorthEast and the European Regional Development Fund.

The cost of the redevelopment contrasts starkly with the original cost to build the school in 1891 when the overall cost was just over £12,000. This price tag is known because during the initial foundation work for the conversion, a time capsule was found which contained these details along with other interesting information from the time, including newspapers from 1 June, 1891.

The University has reciprocated by burying its own time capsule with current press information on the original and more general information about the building and University's position today.

The building will house 24 flexible business incubator units, each complete with modern lighting and heating and communication facilities. Part of the building is also dedicated to the New Technology Institute (NTI) initiative.

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