Fifteen companies have signed up to office space at a thriving business centre in Southampton’s Ocean Village following the opening of the latest phase.
A fit-out programme took place at five-storey Ocean Village Innovation Centre (OVIC) after the first and second floors became fully occupied within three years of conversion from open plan to partitioned offices.
Due to demand, a further 42 offices have been created, ranging in size from 14 sq m (150 sq ft) to 93 sq m (1,000 sq ft), on the previously open-plan ground level and third and fourth floors.
Work by Southampton-based Hampshire Interiors completed last month (April), which included the provision of break-out areas and hire meeting rooms with audio-visual facilities.
Stephen Brownlie, senior centre manager for OVIC and a similar centre in Portsmouth, called the Technopole, said: “We’re experiencing strong demand, with 15 businesses moving in since the second phase was recently completed, with a further three companies already looking to lay down roots here from June.
“With two converted floors already occupied, it made strong commercial sense to divide up the remaining three floors into flexible office space.
“With the installation of 72 offices, we now have 63% occupancy in OVIC and we anticipate calling ‘full house’ within a year, if not sooner.”
He added: “OVIC, reflecting the vision of the local authority, is strengthening the local economy through the creation of job opportunities related to innovation, research and development and knowledge-based industries.
“There are 27 occupiers to date, employing 100 people between them, which is also generating local spend at the shops, cafes and cinemas in Ocean Village.”
Occupiers at OVIC include Project Kudos, the international asset-backed investment specialist, business organisation Business South, Complete Marine Freight Services, tugs company Svitzer Towage, shipping logistics provider YA Logistics (UK), Maxi Charger, water environment consultancy DHI Water Environment and TMC (Marine Consultancy).
OVIC, at Ocean Way, operates along similar lines to Portsmouth Technopole, which is nearly full, with 180 people working for 42 diverse businesses.
They both provide state-of-the-art offices and conference facilities for start-ups, early-stage firms and outsourced businesses in a supportive easy-in, easy-out environment, with all-inclusive packages and highly competitive prices.
They are operated by Oxford Innovation, which runs 21 similar Innovation centres across the UK.
OVIC, a new building, is owned by OVIC LLP.
