Privately financed business parks can extend the traditional science park model by offering a property ladder to technology-led start-ups as they move out of prototyping and into production. This innovative approach increases survival rates and benefits both investors and start-ups.

Science Parks and university-based incubators are often heavily restricted by planning laws," says David Phillips of the Oxford Trust. "They may be ideal for R&D and prototyping, but offer little help to a promising start-up as it moves into the critical production phase, where ideas are turned into real products. At the time when managers need to focus on controlling rapid growth, they have to find new premises while simultaneously losing the basic support offered by the incubator environment."

Milton Park - a privately owned mixed-use business park in rural Oxfordshire, in the United Kingdom - demonstrates one successful response to these limitations. In 1989, its owners foresaw the opportunities presented by extending the science park model right through to commercial maturity. They teamed up with the Oxford Trust, which already had strong regional expertise in innovation and technology transfer, to create a mechanism to turn the park into a choice location for high-value technology-led enterprises.

Out of the shell

The core of the park is the Innovation Centre incubator, opened in 1991. It nurtures technology start-ups, helps them grow within the incubator, and moves them on to the business park as they mature into successful companies. This low-pain upgrade path, supported by hands-on involvement from park management, allows start-ups to concentrate on innovation and growth through their formative years.

Another key factor is that Milton Park's owners view the incubator as an investment in the future. Space is initially leased at very favourable rates, and requirements can be renegotiated monthly. This flexibility reflects an approach to rapidly growing technology-led enterprises based on 'total-cost-of-tenancy' - a vital component in the park management's vision.

Business mentoring support is provided by the Oxford Trust. A significant element for all companies, particularly those in the incubator, is the extensive network access to regional R&D, business and investment communities provided by the Trust. This access was identified as a critical success factor when the Innovation Centre was conceived, and has been successfully provided without formal links to a university.

Startling success

Thirty-nine start-ups have entered the incubator in the last decade. Of 21 'graduates', 14 are now in larger premises in the business park. Together, they occupy over 7,000m² of space, enabling the park to recoup its initial investment many times over.

Success rates are exceptional - 85% of the incubator's start-ups are still in business after three years, compared with a UK average of only 40%. Significantly, not one of the incubator's graduates has failed, clearly demonstrating the benefits of helping a company through the critical early years of rapid growth and the transition to production.

To David Phillips, the lessons are clear. "The success of the Milton Park vision has been an eye-opener. It shows that private sector partnerships can go beyond the university science park model in offering win-win propositions to technology-led start-ups."

Contact

D. Phillips, Oxford Centre for Innovation Tl. +44 1865 728 953 Fx. +44 1865 793 165 E-m. davidp@oxtrust.org.uk www.miltonpark.co.uk

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