COMPANIES at one of Warrington’s premier enterprise hubs export more, hold more patents and recruit more trainees and apprentices than the national average.
And 94 per cent of the businesses at The Base on Dallam Lane say they intend to recruit more staff this coming year, despite the economic headwinds.
These are just some of the findings of a survey undertaken by property company Langtree, which manages the building on behalf of owners Warrington & Co.
The annual tenant survey, suspended for two years due to the pandemic, has lifted the lid on the building’s ambitious occupiers and shown them to outstrip regional averages on a number of key indicators.
Moreover, says Jayne Furnival, group property director at Langtree, they co-operate and collaborate with each other ‘to a high degree.’
“We’ve put a huge amount of effort into business support for occupiers, and into curating a culture of collaboration and our findings bear out its impact,” she said.
The study showed that 44 per cent of occupiers have other tenants as customers, whilst 11 per cent utilise neighbours as suppliers. A further 22 per cent collaborate on projects together.
“This level of collaboration holds the key to how Warrington can cement long-term growth,” says Eleanor Blackburn, head of inclusive growth and partnerships at Warrington Council.
“What’s particularly encouraging is the extent of the innovation amongst our clients, whether singularly or via collaboration. 11 per cent have registered patents or some other form of proprietary intellectual property,” Eleanor added.
According to latest data from the CBI, this shows firms at The Base to be 10 per cent more likely to have registered IP than the UK SME average. Similarly, the survey found that Base tenants are also 10 per cent more likely to be exporters than average, with 11 per cent exporting their technology and services overseas*.
Other data uncovered by the survey found:
- 44% of companies have increased their number of employees in the past 12 months
- 94% say they are looking to recruit in the next 12 months
- 100% of businesses have employees that live in Warrington
- 22% of businesses employ apprentices or trainees
“The purpose of The Base and the various aspects of support we offer is to provide an environment where SMEs can thrive. These growth figures – and in particular, the emphasis on recruiting and developing our young people – says that Warrington is in good hands,” said Eleanor Blackburn.
“We are not complacent, however, as the survey found that our clients still have challenges and it’s reasonable to assume that these are commonplace across the town. We continue to evolve the service offer at The Base and more widely to help support our private sector.”
Key issues constraining businesses were identified as recruitment (highlighted by 38 per cent of occupiers) and cashflow (22 per cent).
On a positive note, 50 per cent of tenants had reported growth in sales over the previous twelve months and none reported a decline in sales.
There are 28 companies registered at The Base, employing more than 250 staff.
