Key players view plans for £30 million Globe Mills project

Jason McCartney, Professor Bob Cryan and Alan Lewis Local MP Jason McCartney, the University of Huddersfield's Vice-Chancellor Professor Bob Cryan and leading entrepreneur Alan Lewis CBE assess the plans for the new Globe Innovation Centre in Slaithwaite.

Wed, 04 Mar 2015 13:27:00 GMT

The Incubator Centre at the Globe will link to the work of The Duke of York Young Entrepreneur Centre 

Globe Mills UNIVERSITY of Huddersfield Vice-Chancellor Professor Bob Cryan CBE and leading entrepreneur Alan Lewis CBE are prime movers in the scheme to create a multi-million pound innovation centre, to be based in a historic mills complex in the Colne Valley.  Local MP Jason McCartney is also a key supporter of the project and the three men recently met up to appraise the latest plans for the £30 million conversion of Globe Mills in Slaithwaite, Huddersfield. 

Only a month ago, it was announced that the Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership – which secured £54.6m Growth Deal funding from the Government – had awarded £2.9 million to the University, to aid its work to boost advanced manufacturing.  A large tranche of this money will be invested in the Incubator Centre that will be an important element of the redeveloped Globe Mills. 

The Incubator will enable new businesses to expand and it will be closely linked to the work of The Duke of York Young Entrepreneur Centre, based at the University’s 3M Buckley Innovation Centre (3M BIC)

The 3M BIC is home to a wide range of businesses – new and established – and Globe Mills will offer valuable “grow-on” space for burgeoning enterprises, which benefit from their access to facilities, expertise and mentoring at the University. 

In this video Alan Lewis talks about the Globe Innovation Centre and the art of entrepreneurship.

Professor Cryan – who has been Chair of the Business Innovation Growth panel of the Leeds City Region – has expressed his delight that the University has been awarded the Growth Deal funding and the boost it will provide to economic growth.  Now, having seen the latest plans for Globe Mills, he is eagerly looking forward to the next phase of the project. 

Globe Mills is a massive complex that dates from the 1880s and is now owned by the Hartley Property Group, chaired by leading businessman Alan Lewis, who is Visiting Professor of Entrepreneurship at the University. 

Alan Lewis said: “With Growth Deal funding, and the expertise of the University and our other shareholders, the Globe Innovation Centre can provide practical services and facilities to ensure that SMEs resident in, or with access to, the technology centre can overcome the well documented barriers to growth for entrepreneurs of this size, and develop their ideas profitably. The prospect of angel finance to the very best ideas will be a further draw to entrepreneurs looking to develop their ideas in Slaithwaite, Huddersfield, and further the regeneration of Yorkshire and the North-West as a beacon of innovation in world markets.”

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