Andrew Bell has been appointed the new Centre Manager at the EpiCentre in Haverhill succeeding Kelly Boosey, and is excited to start his new role in the latter part of June.
Andrew, who is local to the Cambridgeshire area, has a long-term career within centre management and the hospitality industry. He previously worked for TWI’s facility The Granta Centre part of the South Cambridge Business Technology Cluster for five years. He is well connected in the region’s business eco-system and looking forward to getting his teeth stuck in.
Andrew says: “I am really looking forward to starting my new position at the EpiCentre. At The Granta Centre my role was to build a reputation based on service excellence and good value. In that respect, I intend to build on the EpiCentre teams excellent start following it’s launch during the challenging months of the pandemic and continue the success story.
The EpiCentre now has 129 full-time members working from the space of which 73 jobs have been created as a direct result businesses choosing the centre as their home. Both the ground and first floor are full with the remainder of space gradually filling up. Over 624 hours of business support has been provided over the last 18 months, helping to secure investment funds and create new connections.
Kelly is moving into a Commercial Manager role for Oxford Innovation Space, the largest operator of innovation space in the UK, to support the business with its growth plans to further improve the performance of its existing 26 centres and to increase the portfolio.
While at the centre she had dedicated her activities to making the EpiCentre part of the region’s business ecosystem, building a strong events programme for business and the local community and recently overseeing the conversion of the remainder of the ground floor to bio-tech and life science laboratory space. All of which has been filled ahead of schedule.
The EpiCentre is all about supporting small and medium sized businesses to scale and grow. Oxford Innovation Space offers services beyond the facilities and physical space which includes lab, office, co-working plus meeting rooms. The business support provided by its dedicated Innovation Director and centre team makes all the difference, providing additional guidance, signposting connections and can even go as far as providing 1-2-1 coaching and mentoring.