The Oxford Trust welcomes five new businesses during lockdown

Over the last six months The Oxford Trust has welcomed five new occupiers to its two innovation centres and two further businesses have taken expansion space, bringing the total space taken to 4,000 sq ft.

The five new businesses to join our community of science and tech business at the Wood Centre for Innovation and the Oxford Centre for Innovation include a company producing artificially spun silk, a 3D printing specialist and SSEN which is working on a £40m Innovate UK-funded energy scheme.

Founded in 2018, Spintex uses a spider-inspired spinning process to develop artificially spun high-performance silk. It uses no hazardous chemicals and water is the only by-product, making it a sustainable solution to producing technical textiles. Founder, Alex Greenhalgh chose the Wood Centre as they needed technical workspace but also to benefit from the expert business support on offer (see photo).

Printpool Additive Manufacturing has also taken technical workspace at The Wood Centre to grow its new subscription-based 3D printing services for engineering, architecture and product design teams.

Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) is opening a new office in the Wood Centre for Innovation to work alongside current occupier the Low Carbon Hub on a £40m Innovate UK-funded scheme called Project LEO or Local Energy Oxfordshire. They are aiming to transform the way energy is delivered by creating a more responsive and flexible electricity grid through local households, businesses and communities. Oxfordshire programme director, Melanie Brice, chose to locate at the centre because of its sustainable credentials as well as the mix of meeting, office and conference spaces which gives a lot of options for collaborating with partners in the future.

Two further companies to join our innovation community are Akrivia Health, specialists in mental health patient data, and Living Optics, a spin out from the University of Oxford’s Physics Department to commercialise the next generation of imaging technology.

The two companies which have taken additional expansion space at The Oxford Centre for Innovation: ColdQuanta UK is working on quantum technologies, including a £4 million Innovate UK grant-funded project and Visual Meaning provides a combination of visual and systems thinking techniques to support organisational transformation.

As we continue to support our occupiers on their innovation journey, in turn, the income we generate helps fulfil our mission to provide valuable science education and engagement programmes through Science Oxford. Indeed, we are extra proud that Alex from Spintex won a Nuffield Foundation Bursary in microbiology through Science Oxford which we ran from 1998 to 2014 and is now one of the entrepreneurs in our Wood Centre for Innovation.

Looking for virtual office space, co-working space, large offices, technical workspace and R&D labs? Visit The Wood Centre for Innovation and The Oxford Centre for Innovation.

Watch our latest video on The Wood Centre for Innovation here.