Delancey’s Here East is ramping up expansion plans, after successfully adapting the London 2012 Olympics press and broadcasting centre for commercial use.
The owners of the Stratford-based office scheme are in talks with landowners in the regions and overseas to set up another Here East.
Here East chief executive Gavin Poole spoke to EG at the first European Tech Hub Meet-Up, hosted this week at the venue. He said the firm would seek out expansion opportunities alongside Plexal, Here East’s innovation centre and co-working space for tech start-ups and scale-ups overseen by managing director Andrew Roughan.
“We have a lot to offer,” Poole said, adding that it would be “amazing” if the partnership could be taken to the regions.
Poole added: “We’re talking to other parts of the country and overseas… we would love to go and do another Here East as well, but it has to be the right conditions.”
He said Here East would focus on UK regions that were in need of economic uplift, while highlighting several strong overseas markets for tech hubs. He said Dublin would have a “second boom”, and referenced the Netherlands – particularly Rotterdam and Amsterdam – as areas to watch, as well as the US.
However, the expansion won’t be an exact replica of Here East because it’s “so unique”, said Poole. “You [can] take the model and apply it to different sectors, perhaps. So that’s the kind of things we’re looking at. I wouldn’t put a timescale on it, but we would really look to show that we’re not a one-trick pony, we know what we’re doing and we want to do more.”
Here East has attracted a number of high-profile tenants to the scheme over the years, including BT Sport, Ford Mobility, Loughborough University London, UCL and Sports Interactive.
Most recently, it completed a deal that will see the Victoria & Albert Museum open a 140,000 sq ft research centre in the scheme.
Industry leaders joined together on Tuesday at European Tech Hub Meet-Up to share best practice and host workshops to build relationships and between tech communities across Europe.
Co-founder and chief executive of B.Connect Amsterdam Richardo van Louenen, chief executive of Factory Berlin Nico Gramenz, and City of Helsinki head of innovation Santuu Von Bruun were among those who attended the event.
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