Minister discovers how Huddersfield Initiatives Support SME’s

During a visit to Huddersfield in October, Business Minister Anna Soubry heard more about how the University’s successful 3M Buckley Innovation Centre (3M BIC), is helping to support the region’s small and medium enterprises.

The £12 million Centre, which opened in 2012, offers a unique environment to facilitate partnerships between businesses and the University; currently full, it houses a combination of large corporates, start-up companies and SMEs. 

Escorted by the University’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Bob Cryan CBE, the Minister was introduced to representatives from a number of small businesses, including staff from the National Physical Laboratory, which has a Northern base at the 3M BIC.  She saw how the  Innovation Centre’s state-of-the-art 3D visualisation technology, which uses a combination of augmented reality, 3D rotational renders and virtual reality, can be used to develop promotional material, training aids or functional simulations.  She was also invited to try her hand at 3D printing.  The University’s 3D printing laboratory allows a business to a take a product idea to a state of tangible reality by creating a model or prototype. 

The Minister’s visit concluded with a tour of The Duke of York Young Entrepreneur Centre which is housed in the 3M BIC.   The Centre provides incubator support for start-up businesses created by current students and recent graduates. 

The Minister, who was impressed with the Centre, said: “Innovation and enterprise are central to the Government’s vision for a Northern Powerhouse. Centres like 3M Buckley play an invaluable role in supporting this agenda by helping local businesses to thrive, create new jobs and develop new technologies using pioneering methods like 3D printing.”