Five-a-live-o expansion

They’ve taken additional workspace at Ocean Village Innovation Centre (OVIC), which has 67 offices and is operated by Oxford Innovation Space on behalf of the building’s private landlord.

The increased footprints are separate to 12 companies which recently moved into the 30,0000 sq ft premises by Ocean Village Marina.

Stephen Deller, Centre Manager, said: “We have 17 new agreements in place – five from companies and organisations which have expanded their physical footprints here, along with 12 which relocated.

“Occupancy rates are now 85% and we anticipate hitting the 90% mark by the first quarter of 2023 as employers seek out quality office accommodation where flexible upsizing and downsizing, in response to market conditions, can be done with just a month’s notice.”

On-site expansions are healthcare recruitment agency SNG Healthcare, marketing consultancy Mitchell & Stones, commercial recruitment firm Orchard Recruiting, global ‘below deck’ jobs board Yotspot and University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, which trains international nurses.

New signings include BPS World, Worldwide Cruises, Timeplan, Impellam Group, Reflect Group, Fortus Midlands, Kitsune, Harvey Jacob, Snowflake Care, Barrick and Tredon Group.

Stephen added: “There are 5.5 million private businesses in the UK and we are proud to support more than 60 of them at Ocean Village Innovation Centre.

“What is particularly inspiring is seeing the ecosystem of connections made here from the occupiers, either at networking events held on site or through chats and impromptu meetings in the lounge or corridors.”

Events include growth hub workshops, sales training and informal get-togethers over drinks and pizza.

Eligible occupiers also benefit from complimentary business support from Daniel Belton, the in-house Innovation Director at Ocean Village Innovation Centre.

According to industry data, six out of 10 start-ups in the UK don’t make it past three years of trading – many fail because they run out of money, there is no market need for what they were offering or they are outcompeted.

To find out how your company could benefit from OVIC’s ecosystem of entrepreneurs and serviced office support, please contact Stephen on 023 8038 1920 or email s.deller@oxin.co.uk