York Inward Investment Guide

Inward Investment Guide

Edinburgh

York “We looked throughout the UK for a new location, but were swayed by York’s unique combination of excellent infrastructure, well educated workforce and quality of life.”

Alan Millard, Chief Operating Officer, Hiscox UK and Ireland

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London

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Welcome to York Perfectly placed at the heart of the UK, York is regularly voted one of Europe’s favourite destinations in which to live, visit, study and do business.

With one of the strongest economies in the north of England, York is a flourishing and ambitious city with outstanding character. To locate your business in York would be to benefit from a quality and truly dynamic business destination.

Supporting more than 114,000 jobs and contributing around £5 billion of value to the national economy, the city of York’s assets and opportunities are

first class: a highly skilled population, world-class universities, excellent transport links to both national and international markets, pronounced strengths in a range of high value sectors, a pioneering digital infrastructure, outstanding business support networks and an unrivalled quality of life.

Over the following pages, you will encounter a selection of York’s dynamic people and businesses, understand why York is unrivalled in its offer, learn about York’s unique gigabit city profile and discover how your business will be supported in York to embed, flourish and grow.

Connecting with the World The Gigabit City A Skilled Workforce The Good Life The Businesses and the People Sector Strengths Property and Sites Make it a Soft Landing Get in Touch Front cover: Hiscox building by Zander Olsen

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UK’s Founding Science City

Two World-class Universities

Less than Two Hours from London 04

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UK’s First Gigabit City

A Vibrant Thriving Economy

UK’s First UNESCO City of Media Arts 05

For two millennia, York has been the meeting point for the ideas and creativity of the world. Today, York continues in this role as the UK’s first UNESCO City of Media Arts

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Museum Gardens, illuminating York

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Connecting with the World

York’s connectivity with the rest of the UK and further afield provides a distinctive benefit to businesses located here.

Further destinations are quickly accessed via regular direct flights to the major international hubs of Heathrow and Schiphol Amsterdam.

The city enjoys an enviable position at the heart of the national railway network with direct trains to every major city in England and Scotland. Situated directly on the east coast mainline, and set to benefit from the UK Government’s planned investment in high speed rail, York is under 2 hours from London, with 46 services per day, and only 2 hours and 25 minutes on a direct route to Edinburgh.

York’s positioning close to the UK’s main north-south and east-west arteries, the A1 (M1) and M62, provides easy access to many of the UK’s main business centres.

It is possible to be in Leeds in less than 30 minutes and Manchester in 1 hour 15 minutes. And with the UK’s largest multipurpose port complex just over an hour away, York also has great shipping access to Europe and the rest of the world.

Several international airports are within easy reach of York. Direct train travel to Manchester International Airport gives access to over 225 destinations. LeedsBradford International Airport is less than an hour away and gives direct access to 75 destinations in over 37 countries across Europe, North America and Asia.

York’s connectivity with its wider region is further strengthened through membership of two Local Enterprise Partnerships – York, North Yorkshire and East Riding, covering a prosperous, rural area with an excellent cultural offer, and the Leeds City Region, the UK’s second largest economy and population centre.

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Easy access to

international airports

York to London in under

46 daily train services to London

“The transport links to the rest of the country cannot be bettered, the potential for developing close working relationships with companies who need our services in the region is fantastic.�

Andy Theyers, Isotoma

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The Gigabit City

York is at the national cutting edge of digital connectivity.

After a decade of investment, York is leading the way with the best digital infrastructure in the UK. Already a super-connected city, York is currently rolling out ultrafast, affordable 1 Gbps fibre that will be available to over 15,000 businesses and homes by 2017.

To tackle a national shortage of workers with coding skills, and to meet the surge in demand for talented programmers and developers, York is leading the way with coding events, clubs, classes and workshops regularly being held throughout the city for people of all ages to learn and enjoy.

This is courtesy of a joint venture between Sky and TalkTalk, delivered by CityFibre, teaming up in a UK first to roll out revolutionary world-class gigabit connectivity in York.

York is also leading the way on the Smart Cities agenda with ground-breaking projects, such as GAMBIT. With partners including Science City York, Bosch, ARUP, Virtual Viewing and Fosse Games the project aims to use real-time data, via a mobile app, to transform the way visitors and residents interact with the business and leisure environment in the historic city centre of York.

As a result, York’s public buildings and community centres have been provided with gigabit technology.

York’s park and ride sites and buses are also switched on to new connectivity possibilities, offering free Wi-Fi to commuters and visitors alike. Additionally, the city centre is now enabled with the world’s first child friendly, free public Wi-Fi for visitors and residents to enjoy ultra-fast speeds with no data limitations.

With the infrastructure soon to be fully in place, City of York Council has embarked on a programme of education for local residents and businesses to exploit the technology to its maximum.

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The innovation doesn’t stop there. With its main site based at the University of York, The Digital Creativity Labs is a major, £18 million investment by three UK research councils, four universities, and over 80 collaborative partner organisations. The labs will create a world centre of excellence for impact-driven research, focusing on digital games, interactive media and the rich space where they converge.

“TalkTalk, alongside its partners Sky and CityFibre, were delighted to choose York as the first UK city in which to deploy our ultra-fast fibre network. York shares our passion for how digital technology can transform society and impressed us with its clear vision and drive to become the Digital Capital of the North.�

Dido Harding, Chief Executive Officer, TalkTalk Group plc

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1 Gbps fibre directly to over 15,000 businesses and homes by 2017

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Museum Gardens, illuminating York

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A Skilled Workforce “Our students are talented, resourceful and come from a huge variety of backgrounds. We encourage and develop their creativity, advanced problem-solving skills and critical, independent thinking. We challenge them to reach the highest level of attainment and to acquire skills that enhance both their employability and professional effectiveness.”

Professor Koen Lamberts, Vice-Chancellor, University of York For businesses looking to relocate, York provides a significant recruitment pool, powered by its highly educated human resource, two world-class universities, two higher education colleges, top ranking schools and a wider regional network of universities to which the city is connected.

The ability to recruit and retain the right skills is crucial for the development of business, and with the highest qualification levels in the north of England, York is regularly recognised as one of the best cities in the UK for talent. Of York’s residents, 41% have a degree-level equivalent qualification or higher, outstripping both the regional and national average. York also understands the importance of developing the talent of the future, with GCSE and A-level attainment well above the UK average and a major programme of activity to support workplace-based apprenticeships. The collaborative business environment in York provides numerous channels for recruitment. Links into universities,

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further education colleges, schools and apprenticeship hubs, along with assistance to navigate training providers and employment organisations, means businesses have opportunities to resource at a number of levels.

Businesses in York are also well served by the opportunity to shape and inform training courses according to their needs through the strong links between providers and business. Owing to York’s strong offer in vocational learning, and the wider region’s skills service, businesses can influence the development of learning programmes to up-skill current workforces and to find the right solutions for their business needs.

Each with their own specialisms, York’s two universities, University of York and York St John University, cater for 21,000 students and offer critical partnerships to develop projects put forward by businesses.

A member of the prestigious Russell Group of research-intensive universities, with five acclaimed

A Skilled Workforce

“At York St John we are continually looking ahead to how we can support future workforce needs through a wide range of training, events and leadership courses tailored to meet business requirements and programmes designed to produce highly skilled graduates. Continuing to establish successful business partnerships is one of our priorities; we welcome the opportunity to work collaboratively and connect businesses with a wealth of talent across the university to support their future business growth and enhance our students’ future career prospects.”

Professor Karen Stanton, Vice-Chancellor, York St John University

41%

of York residents have a degree-level qualification

Times Higher Education Awards to its name in recent years, the University of York caters for over 16,000 students each year, producing over 5500 graduates. Over a third of departments were ranked in the top ten for their subject for quality of research, with York rated tenth out of 155 higher education institutions for the impact of its research.

Additionally, York St John University caters for students from 60 countries around the world and is renowned for its innovative, campus-based mentoring initiatives that work with students and new businesses to encourage growth and success.

Twice previously nominated in the Times Higher Education (THE) Awards for engagement initiatives and research, the University has a commitment to supporting local economic growth, with a growing reputation for working with businesses in the city and the wider region to help improve their performance.

In 2014 the University achieved an excellent

outcome in the Research Excellence Framework with 30% of its research assessed as ‘world leading’ or ‘internationally excellent’. It is currently achieving a graduate employability figure of 95.7%.

Askham Bryan College, the largest provider of specialist land-based further education in England, benefits from excellent specialist facilities. A capital project of £10 million over the next two years will result in new buildings and educational facilities. York College, graded ‘Outstanding’ by Ofsted in its most recent assessment, is sited in a £60 million building with first-class resources designed with students aged 16 and over in mind.

Further afield, but within an hour of York, there is access to a population of 4.5m and a further 8 leading universities. A total of 55,000 students graduate each year – all adding to the workforce potential.

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The Good Life

The unparalleled quality of life in York means the city consistently attracts business and investment whilst retaining a highly skilled workforce.

The combination of rich heritage and culture with a contemporary vibrancy, offers a unique and unrivalled lifestyle, juxtapositioning some of Europe’s best preserved history alongside a dynamic and modern leisure offer.

House prices in York are nationally competitive and the excellent provision of schools in York is evidenced by its position amongst the leading UK cities for both Key Stage 2 and 4 results and its place as one of the UK’s top hotspots to buy a property for education. Coupled with a first-class health system, including plentiful provision of hospitals, health services and nursing homes, employers can be confident of a well-supported workforce.

Located in and around York’s city centre is a range of designer, high street and independent boutique shops.

Out of town, the newly developed retail and leisure development, Vangarde Shopping Park, is home to York’s flagship John Lewis store, the region’s largest M&S store and a state-of-the-art Next store. The York Designer Outlet, to the south of the city, is home to 120 designer and luxury brand names such as Michael Kors,

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Hugo Boss, Hobbs, L.K.Bennett and TAG Heuer.

Complementing this rich retail offer is an extensive range of places to eat and drink with numerous large brands interspersed with a variety of independent wine bars and restaurants. Ensuring continued improvements in the city centre, businesses in York have voted a resounding ‘yes’ to a Business Improvement District. Over the next five years, a fund of about £4 million will be spent on a series of projects and services that will benefit and develop York city centre for businesses and residents.

As part of its creative, vibrant lifestyle offer, York boasts a dynamic calendar of festivals and events. The BAFTA qualifying Aesthetica Short Film Festival, JORVIK Viking Festival, the York Festival of Food and Drink and the York Christmas markets are just a sample of the festivals currently attracting international coverage and attendance.

York also benefits from the natural beauty of the surrounding Yorkshire countryside. On its doorstep are two national parks – the North York Moors and the Yorkshire Dales – and in under an hour’s drive you can reach the Yorkshire coast, with its rugged beaches, tiny fishing villages and glorious stretches of family-friendly seaside resorts.

Voted 4th in the UK for satisfaction with home and place Rightmove, 2015

Voted the best city in England and Wales for families to call home OneFamily’s Family Hotspots Report, 2015 Image by Visit England

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The Businesses and the People

York provides a fantastic environment for business, making up a dynamic and collaborative landscape of influential multinationals, thriving SMEs and entrepreneurial start-ups.

Supporting this environment is a host of active business support bodies and a wide array of specialist networking organisations including the Chamber of Commerce, Federation of Small Businesses, York Professionals and the newly formed Guild of Media Arts.

But don’t just take our word for it… here we introduce you to a sample of York’s businesses that are already playing an active part in York’s vibrant business community.

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The Businesses and the People

BIG IN TINY SCIENCE

Mologic Ltd, a developer of bespoke rapid diagnostic products for human and non-human healthcare has established a research group in York to capitalise on the vibrant agri-tech community that persists in the region. Based at the Sand Hutton campus, Mologic is actively engaged in collaborations with companies that are seeking to enter the diagnostics arena with disruptive new technology.

“The science community at large within the region is one that is growing rapidly, and offers small businesses like Mologic more than just a dynamic employment pool.

Make It York’s approach of integrating the essential elements of establishing and growing a business, from linking likeminded collaborators, to assisting in early stage finance and growth grants, is reminiscent of the excellent support that is provided in Scotland and Wales. Knowing that there is a group in the region that is actively trying to help make business happen is a significant attraction to being in York, for the benefit of all.”

TSP Headquartered in the centre of York and with regional offices across the UK, TSP is recognised as one of the country’s leading engineering solutions businesses.

Providing design and professional services to blue chip clients, TSP is an award-winning consultancy in the rail, energy and power, industrial, defence and security and construction markets. TSP’s portfolio includes some of the most iconic and technically demanding infrastructure developments in recent years, including the Leeds Recycling & Energy Recovery Plant, Kings Cross Station redevelopment and the new Gatwick Expansion Project. Within a couple of minutes’ walk to York’s railway station, TSP provides a wide range of high performance rail products and railway infrastructure services to the international rail industry.

“Our office in York provides business advantage through excellent rail and road connections and personal advantage to our staff who are really pleased to live in such a beautiful part of the country.”

Craig Scott, Managing Director, TSP

Mark Davis, Chief Executive Officer, Mologic

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The Businesses and the People

Aesthetica Aesthetica is one of the leading publications for art, design and photography, with a global readership in print and digital of 311,000. As well as publishing the magazine, Aesthetica also champions contemporary artists and filmmakers through its awards, the Aesthetica Art Prize and the BAFTA Qualifying Aesthetica Short Film Festival (ASFF), with talent development at its core.

“York is the home of ASFF and Aesthetica Magazine, and while we pride ourselves on our international reach, we also value our place within the city. It is an integral part of ASFF, as we work with local businesses, York St John University and the University of York, venues and residents to deliver a spectacular cinematic event. The city’s architecture gives ASFF an edge as a site-specific and dynamic UK film festival, and we are able to use the iconic locations to showcase contemporary cinema in historic spaces, creating a truly unique viewing experience. York is a very special place to develop a business.”

Three-time winner of the Queen’s Award for Enterprise, MooD International is a next generation software provider based at York’s Science Park. Used by large organisations to improve their understanding of what drives business performance, MooD’s software systems uniquely blend human judgement with hard data from various sources to form a visual model that brings to life the tough decisions faced by those responsible for performance. In recent years MooD solutions – deployed by the company’s worldclass team – have been instrumental in delivering efficiency gains and savings to the tune of hundreds of millions of pounds to the British Government and to the economies of major enterprises.

“York’s unique qualities help us to stand out, and to provide a distinctive offer when receiving clients and partners at our offices. Our location on the York Science Park positions us well for an exciting range of current joint ventures with the university.”

Dr Dick Whittington, Chief Strategy Officer, MooD International

Cherie Federico, Co-Founder and Managing Director, Aesthetica

Image by Jim Poyner

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Global specialist insurer, Hiscox, underwrites a diverse range of personal and commercial insurance risks. With a long history and expertise in both home and business insurance, Hiscox provides cover for over 47,000 high value homes in the UK; vintage and classic cars, fine art and other collectables; and extensive, tailored business insurance for over 130,000 SMEs, professionals and consultants in the UK. The striking new office in York is its biggest outside of London, with a vision to become a creative hub of the UK business that drives innovation.

“When we were looking at where we could build the foundations for the next chapter of the Hiscox story, York pretty much won hands down on every criteria we looked at – the quality of the workforce, the infrastructure, the transport links and the quality of life. The ambition and the commitment of the political leadership was also a key factor to our long-term commitment to the city.”

Alan Millard, Chief Operating Officer, Hiscox UK and Ireland

Gear4music is the largest online retailer of musical instruments and equipment in the UK, having over 590,000 registered customers. From its origins in York as a recording studio in the mid-1990s, the company successfully completed an IPO on the London Stock Exchange AIM in June 2015. The company’s headquarters in York include a 9,000 sq ft showroom packed with all the latest music-making gear and an impressive 135,000 sq ft distribution centre, dispatching thousands of orders every day.

As a retailer of musical instruments and equipment, the company likes to employ staff who are passionate about music, to help customers make informed purchase decisions. Gear4music considers York to be a great place for this, by virtue of a vibrant music scene and a university with a strong academic musical heritage.

“Being less than two hours by train to London, York has excellent transport links.

The Directors have certainly appreciated this more since becoming a publicly listed company, and having more regular trips visiting investors and advisors in the capital.”

Andrew Wass, Chief Executive Officer, Gear4music

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Omnicom Founded in York in 1995, Omnicom Engineering works in the transportation sector with a large emphasis on rail, using cutting-edge technology to assist the likes of Network Rail and their contractors to plan and maintain the rail infrastructure from the safety of the office, reducing the need for dangerous and costly site visits. One of the company’s award winning products, OmniVision®, enables engineers to inspect track using images that have been recorded at 125mph. Omnicom has also recently completed a project in Australia, assisting with mapping and visualisation of the nation’s rail assets using another of their award winning technologies, OmniSurveyor3D®.

Delivering outstanding cinematic imagery through its talented in-house team, Orillo provides engaging content created in close collaboration with its clients.

Orillo specialises in film production, with in-house facilities at its city centre studios, including a creative concept department, fully serviced production services and a state-of-the-art grading suite, providing the capability to deliver anything from commercials to feature films. An international business, Orillo’s projects include commercials in the United States, television shows in Saudi Arabia and documentaries following the Abu Dhabi Volvo Ocean Race around the world.

“York is a beautiful city with a lot of history and friendly people. We are easily accessible from most places in the country, even the world. We also have two well-respected universities, and colleges, making strong pickings for many businesses in York, and a plethora of tourist attractions, high quality restaurants and accommodation for out of town clients.”

“Being based in York has many benefits for Orillo. York is in the very heart of the UK, we find it a fantastic city to work from, as most of the work we produce is based around the UK and internationally, meaning we have easy access to any point across the UK. Orillo’s future is exciting, with short films, feature films, pop-up cinemas and high-end commercials in our schedule.”

Stirling Kimkeran, Chief Executive Officer, Omnicom

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Keenan Foley, Creative Director, Orillo

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Sector Strengths

Sitting at the heart of the UK, York is part of a diverse and vibrant regional economy. With major strengths across a range of highly valuable sectors, and strong links to both the Leeds City Region and North and East Yorkshire, York is an ideal location from which to do business.

York’s knowledge-driven economy is amongst the strongest in the UK with a solid reputation for research, development, innovation and academic excellence.

Innovation clusters including bioscience and healthcare and high-tech rail sit alongside growing and dynamic businesses operating in a diverse range of sectors. These include financial and professional services, creative, digital and IT, high-end retail and tourism and food and drink.

Biosciences and Healthcare Innovation York and its surrounding region is at the leading edge of the global movement towards a knowledgedriven, bio-based economy. For businesses looking to utilise cutting-edge industrial biotechnology research for competitive advantage, York is uniquely placed,

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with multiple centres of excellence and bespoke commercialisation facilities along with the establishment of an internationally recognised bio-economy cluster – BioVale. The wider region is home to a large and growing cluster of leading companies linked to industrial biotechnology, providing a foundation of innovation and talent, as well as abundant supply chain and business collaboration opportunities.

New science and technology ventures and business start-ups are growing rapidly as a result of easily accessible mentoring, marketing and financial support and access to the specialist facilities at the city’s award winning Science Park and the nearby National Agri-Food Innovation Campus.

As the UK’s founding Science City, with one of the top university bioscience departments in the UK, numerous centres of excellence and a pioneering business sector, York and its wider region is also emerging as a key national and European hub for health innovation.

Over 130 businesses working in the health science and bioanalytics industries have made their home in York, with a further 200 in the surrounding Yorkshire region.

Image by John Hutchinson

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“During the recruitment process for John Lewis York, we were very impressed with both the volume of high-calibre applicants and the flexibility of the York workforce.�

Laura Bern, Growth Delivery Manager, John Lewis

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Sector Strengths Food and Drink

strength of York’s creative and digital media industries, building on over £100 million investment in media arts infrastructure in the city including film and TV studio York and its surrounding area is home to one of the space at Heslington Studios and 200,000 sq ft at largest concentrations of food and drink producers The Yorkshire Studios, developed by Screen Yorkshire in the UK, ranging from multi-nationals to an ever on the outskirts of the city. The University of York’s growing number of specialist artisan makers and brewers. The birthplace of leading confectionery brands £18 million Digital Creativity Labs, designed to harness cutting-edge research in digital games and interactive Terry’s and Rowntree, York is now home to the Nestlé media, will create a centre of excellence helping to Product Technology Centre. drive new developments in the industry.

The wider region is home to two of the UK’s major Already designated a ‘super-connected city’ for next supermarkets, Asda and Morrisons, whilst North generation broadband, further investment is set to make Yorkshire based R&R Ice Cream is the third largest ice York the UK’s first ‘gigabit city’ by delivering citywide cream manufacturer in the world. The region is also ultra-fast fibre broadband infrastructure with speeds of among the largest agricultural areas in the UK, and is home to the Food and Environmental Research Agency up to 1Gb/s being made available to 15,000 homes and businesses across the city by 2017. and national Centres of Excellence for Innovation in Livestock and Crop Health and Protection.

Financial and Professional Services Retail, Leisure and Tourism Just 20 minutes from Leeds, the UK’s largest financial centre outside London, York has a growing financial York enjoys acclaim around the world as a highly and professional services sector and is home to respected European visitor destination. Seven million major international firms such as Aviva and Hiscox. visitors per year are attracted by York’s internationally An emerging insurance hub, with 4.5% of its GVA recognised heritage, environment and attractions, attributable to the sector (4 times the national average), bringing £608 million into the York economy.

York provides the ideal alternative location for national Visitors and residents enjoy a wide-ranging shopping and regional offices. Relocating or consolidating backexperience, from dynamic independent boutiques and middle-office operations here delivers significant through to leading high street stores, and the city is a cost benefits and operational efficiencies when prime destination for retailers looking for guaranteed footfall. With ever growing interest and visitor numbers, compared to many of our competitors. ambitious plans to double visitor spend are providing real opportunities for businesses to grow in the city.

High-tech Rail and related industries Creative, Digital and IT York is home to fast growing and thriving creative, IT and digital technology sectors with hundreds of companies operating across media arts, ICT, electronics, software and digital industries.

Recognising the city’s strengths in this area, York has been awarded UNESCO City of Media Arts status, one of only 7 cities globally, and unique in the UK, making York part of a network of 69 creatively connected cities in 32 countries across the world. Home to numerous award winning companies, the award recognises the

With a rich heritage in the railway industry going back to 1841, York is redefining what it means to be a future rail hub, built on cutting-edge transport technology and business innovation.

Today, York accounts for 10% of national rail industry employment and is home to major offices and headquarters for Network Rail, Northern Rail and Virgin Trains East Coast. York hosts a significant innovation cluster for the industry, with key subsectors such as advanced manufacturing of specialist parts, rail engineering and consultancy, signalling, and transportation software systems well represented.

Image by Carl Milner, DLA Design Group

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With access to worldclass research, and worth an estimated £9 billion, Yorkshire’s bioeconomy is creating valuable business opportunities in the region 30

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Stockbridge Technology Centre

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Property and Sites Businesses of all sectors and sizes are provided for in York, with a range of cost-effective, quality business accommodation options both within the city centre and on business parks and hubs situated at key points right across the wider city.

The centre of York provides the full spectrum of office space, all within walking distance of York Railway Station. Grade A office units provide high quality accommodation for ambitious, flourishing businesses, whilst serviced offices provide a range of options for a soft landing, with modern, flexible facilities offering hot-desking, collaboration opportunities and flexible terms. Additionally, there is the opportunity to create a bespoke office property, as evidenced by the impressive Hiscox building located in the centre of York.

York’s numerous business parks cater for all business uses, from large industrial and warehouse units through to headquarter office buildings, flexible, managed space, and laboratory units. A number of York’s business parks offer land for speculative development along with established units for warehousing, manufacture and distribution. These parks are strategically located to provide quick and easy access to road networks, connecting York with the rest of the UK. To the south of the city, York Science Park lies adjacent to the world-leading University of York, offering a range of flexible, high specification space set within a 21-acre business park. The fully serviced office and laboratory space, with facilities and business support, is already home

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to more than 120 businesses, primarily in the creative, digital media, IT technology and bioscience sectors.

On the outskirts of the city, The National Agri-Food Innovation Campus at Sand Hutton offers 27,800 sq m of office and laboratory accommodation and a rare opportunity for organisations to grow within a unique scientific environment. Businesses on site benefit from world-class equipment, a top range of support services and opportunities to interact with world-class scientists and businesses.

A wide range of further opportunities are available at development sites across the city, including the Enterprise Zone at York Central. Impressively located immediately adjacent to York Railway Station on one of the largest brownfield sites in Europe, and only a 5-minute walk from the city centre, the 35-hectare site is set to create a major new high quality central business district in the city and represents a significant opportunity for businesses looking to establish new headquarters or significant regional presence in a dynamic and highly sustainable location.

A comprehensive scheme will also provide high quality public spaces and enhance the public realm, including an expanded and enhanced National Railway Museum, improvements to the city’s railway station and a network of vibrant public squares with routes linking to surrounding neighbourhoods and the city centre. This will be one of the most significant developments in the country.

Image by Bailey Cooper

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One of the largest brownfield development sites in Europe, and offering an exceptional opportunity for businesses, York Central has capacity for a new central business district of up to 120,000 sq m of commercial space and up to 2,500 additional housing units to meet the city’s growing needs.

Immediately adjacent to York Railway Station, with door-to-door access to London in under 2 hours, the site is planned to be available for the first new businesses and residents from 2018. Benefiting from designated enterprise zone status, the site offers new commercial occupiers incentives of up to 100% business rate relief for 5 years, up to a maximum of ÂŁ275,000.

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City Centre Development

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Make it a Soft Landing

The inward investment team at Make It York is ready for your call.

Our relationship starts from the moment you make contact.

You will be assigned a personal account manager to provide information on, and access to, a wide range of support: Intelligence and data to support your business case for relocation/expansion Information on commercial property availability to help you identify the best location for your business Arrangement of pre-move visits to provide an understanding of how your business might operate in the city Guidance on national and local grants and financial networks

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Our support doesn’t end once you have located in York. We are committed to building a long-term relationship with you and your business.

We provide a full soft-landing package to support your move: Access to professional advisers and support Bespoke recruitment support service Assistance in arranging launch events Assistance to access local, national and EU funding Introduction to sector and business community networks Family support integration into life in York and the surrounding area Growth management support service

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Top 10 European small cities for foreign direct investment FDi Intelligence European Cities of the Future, 2014/15

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Get in Touch

The inward investment team at Make It York offers a comprehensive service to investors from initial point of enquiry right through to soft landing and aftercare. With a personal account manager dedicated to your project every step of the way, we will help you identify, secure and fund the right solution for your business to grow.

To find out more about York and how your business will benefit from locating and investing in York, please get in touch‌

Email us at business@makeityork.com Call us on 01904 554400 Follow us on Twitter at @York_Means_Biz Subscribe to our business newsletter and visit us at www.makeityork.com 39

live, visit, study, work and do business Make It York is the city’s Destination Management Organisation.

Our purpose is to develop and promote the city and its surroundings – nationally and internationally – as a vibrant and attractive place to live, visit, study, work and do business.