Tyseley Energy Park hailed ‘phenomenal’ example of entrepreneurial innovation at Chambers QBR launch

Tyseley Energy Park has been hailed as a “phenomenal” example of innovation driving the future for a world-leading model unlocking over £1 billion of economic growth in the heart of the West Midlands.

The scale and ambition of the energy project was outlined at the launch of Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce Quarterly Business Report at Birmingham City University by keynote speaker Rob Horsfall, head of finance and strategic projects at manufacturers Webster and Horsfall.

The Tyseley project, creating thousands of jobs, was earmarked as a “brilliant example” of a business model unlocking vast economic growth through routes to market, a strong commercial ecosystem and the capability to scale.

Rob, whose role at the family-owned Birmingham wire and wire rope manufacturer combines with co-founder and director of TEP Birmingham, a clean energy and innovation ecosystem developed at the group’s historic Tyseley site, gave delegates at BCU a detailed update on the project.

He said: “We are at the stage now with this Strategic Regeneration Framework where we’re bringing the right partners together. Essentially, the next step is to bring the investors into play as well as the Combined Authority who are already there.

“We’re talking to some big investors. We’re already a strategic partner with the Crown Estate but without that land assembly piece and that planning piece it’s going to be really hard. But we are confident it can happen and it’s going to happen because of the devolution that’s happening and the political alignment.

“It’s a lot of infrastructure. But because Tyseley is in a growth zone, there’s going to be business rate retention so there’s going to be hopefully a lot of money to invest in that infrastructure for the future. First of all you need the plan, you need the right people. The right people are all there, you need the investors.”

Describing the energy park as “phenomenal” fellow keynote speaker Pam Sheemar, NatWest’s regional accelerator director, said: “It’s definitely worth seeing in real life. No words can bring it to life really until you’re there.

“For the past ten years, NatWest Accelerator has been backing entrepreneurs to grow their businesses.

“We have recently announced the West Midlands Tech Accelerator cluster, bringing together hubs in Birmingham, the University of Warwick, Tyseley Park and the University of Wolverhampton. Together, they will create a stronger local network, connecting businesses with academic partners, investors and the support they need to commercialise innovation.”

“The impact of the programme is significant. Nine out of ten businesses that have been through the accelerator are more likely to survive beyond three years, while businesses supported through our wider programme raised £684 million in investment last year.

“We want to build on that success by helping more West Midlands businesses grow and scale.”

Morwenna Byforfd, public policy unit manager at NatWest also highlighted the untapped innovation potential in the West Midlands.

She said: “We identified more than 1,700 innovative businesses in the region, but what really caught our attention was what happened next.

“Of the 838 businesses in the West Midlands that have received innovation grants from public funding, 47 per cent are in what we call the untapped innovation cohort.

“That’s the highest proportion of any major English region. By untapped, we don’t mean unsuccessful. These are businesses that are still trading and innovating that haven’t yet shown clear signs of commercial scale.

“There’s lots of reasons why good businesses can get stuck at this point – finding that first major customer, securing the right finance, accessing specialist facilities, navigating regulation.

“When we spoke to businesses across the country, including many at TEP, three core themes continued to come up. One was clearer routes to market, the second was stronger ecosystems for commercialization and the third was the capability to scale.

“And Tyseley is a brilliant example of how these things can come together in practice.”

Heike Schuster-James, Associate Director Business Development at BCU, said: “At Birmingham City University, the STEAMhouse incubator supports entrepreneurs and businesses to develop and grow, alongside a leading graduate start-up programme.

“STEAMhouse is also home to the Midlands Institute of Innovation and Knowledge Exchange, providing businesses with access to recognised innovation management training and support.”

Summarising the findings of the QBR, Chambers head of policy Emily Stubbs said: “Domestic demand weakened in Q3. Export sales fell into negative territory, but we saw that mixed picture with export orders recovering to positive territory.

“Recruitment eased slightly but difficulties increased. While cash flow improved slightly, it remained below neutral overall and investment intentions remain hedged.”

Pictured from left to right: Rob Horsfall, Raj Kandola, Emily Stubbs, Morwenna Byford, and Pam Sheemar