The 3,700 sq ft shared space aims to encourage collaboration and foster innovation among
Reading and the Thames Valley's entrepreneurial business community. The partnership will
take advantage of its location in one of Europe's largest tech cluster and knowledge
bases drawn from more than 8,000 technology-led companies in the region, and in doing
so, provide Thames Valley start-up and scale-up communities a crucial boost.
Active director and co founder, Adrian Powell, has had a relationship with VitalSix for
four years and the senior leadership team took part in an accelerator programme
delivered by VitalSix back in 2015, where they were able to see first hand the impact of
the offering. VitalSix went out to tender for this latest project work and came to the
conclusion Active could meet their needs with their flexible approach and understanding
of the partnership's aims. For VitalSix, the project wasn't solely about sourcing
furniture for the 60 new workstations. They wanted to use a local company, who could
come up with sustainable solutions within the budget to plan and design the space, and
source recycled and upscaled furniture to keep costs down.
Powell has said, “It's been a pleasure to support VitalSix with creating this space.
We've seen first hand what the accelerator programme can offer and it's fantastic to see
such an important project taking off that will really help local businesses to thrive."
Susan Elliott from VitalSix has said, “It's taken time and extensive planning to create a
practical space that fits what we're trying to do, looks great and aligns with the ethos
of the wider Innovation Catalyst partnership. Active has managed all of this and used
their innovative approach to bring ideas to us that have helped with cost and
sustainability. Active are able to deliver the whole package and have listened to what
we were after making it a truly straightforward process."
The Innovation Catalyst partnership formally launches on 8th March 2018.
