St John's Innovation Centre
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St John's Innovation Centre (SJIC) is a
business incubator Business incubator is an organization that helps startup companies and individual entrepreneurs to develop their businesses by providing a fullscale range of services starting with management training and office space and ending with venture c ...
in
Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...
, England. It houses a concentration of science and technology related businesses.


History

The idea for the innovation centre was first proposed by Dr Chris Johnson, who was Senior Bursar of St John's College, Cambridge, responsible for estates, investments and financial policy. The combination of his scientific background and an interest in the development of college land in Cambridge led to a visit in 1984 to universities and science parks in the US, including an innovation centre in
Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, th ...
,
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. Upon his return he convened a small group including
architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...
Ian Purdy and Walter Herriot, a banker working with early-stage companies, to plan the St John's Innovation Centre. The publication in 1985 of ''The Cambridge Phenomenon: The Growth of High Technology Industry in a University Town'' by Segal Quince Wicksteed, demonstrated to the college that investment in this sector was likely to be successful. St John's Innovation Park was subsequently established on a plot of land owned by St John's College since 1534, and the Innovation Centre itself was completed in 1987. It was the first innovation centre in
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
to focus on supporting knowledge-based businesses. It is the oldest such
business incubator Business incubator is an organization that helps startup companies and individual entrepreneurs to develop their businesses by providing a fullscale range of services starting with management training and office space and ending with venture c ...
in the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
. Following the success of the original centre, a second phase, Dirac House was completed in July 1989, and the self-contained Jeffreys Building was completed in February 1990. Dirac House is named after
Paul Dirac Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac (; 8 August 1902 – 20 October 1984) was an English theoretical physicist who is regarded as one of the most significant physicists of the 20th century. He was the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the Univer ...
,
Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...
winner and member of St John's College, while the Jeffreys Building is named after
Sir Harold Jeffreys Sir Harold Jeffreys, FRS (22 April 1891 – 18 March 1989) was a British mathematician, statistician, geophysicist, and astronomer. His book, ''Theory of Probability'', which was first published in 1939, played an important role in the reviva ...
, a fellow of St John's College. Four further buildings: St John's House, Edinburgh House, and the Vitrium and Platinum developments, were completed in 2001. The land remains the property of St John's College. The current total net usable space is approximately , divided between the buildings.


Activities

From the outset, SJIC had a remit to support knowledge-based businesses with both flexible accommodation, and onsite management that could help tenants and others to develop their businesses. The buildings provide flexible office, workshop and laboratory accommodation, and tenants have use of shared facilities including a staffed reception area, conference and meeting rooms, and restaurant. In addition, SJIC also provides business advice to tenant companies, and supports the wider business community by undertaking programmes in association with
EEDA ''Eeda'' () is a 2018 Indian Malayalam-language romance film written, edited and directed by B. Ajithkumar. The film is a modern take on William Shakespeare's ''Romeo and Juliet'', set in the backdrops of political violence in Kannur, north M ...
, the
University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...
and others. The centre is also a member of the EU-funded Achieve More partnership which brings together nine partners in five European countries to foster better incubation practice and collaboration across clusters. The innovation park has been a member of the United Kingdom Science Parks Association (UKSPA) since 1987 and United Kingdom Business Incubation (UKBI) since 1999. SJIC also promotes technology business through its involvement with the Cambridge Enterprise Conferences. The conferences bring together successful entrepreneurs with business advisors and leading academics to offer practical advice to early-stage companies. A policy day follows the conference which aims to define areas where government policy can be used to assist business growth. The conference has traditionally been supported by a range of organisations, including
Business Link Business Link was a government-funded business advice and guidance service established in England in 1992. It consisted of an online portal managed by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and a national telephone helpline. The service's network of ...
and the Greater Cambridge Partnership.


Staff

David Gill is the current managing director, having taken up the post in December 2008, following the retirement of Walter Herriot OBE, who held the role for 18 years. The original director was Bill Bolton, who steered SJIC through its first three years.


Location

St John's Innovation Centre is located approximately 3 km to the north of
Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...
city centre, close to junction 33 of the A14, and around 700 metres from
Cambridge Science Park The Cambridge Science Park, founded by Trinity College in 1970, is the oldest science park in the United Kingdom. It is a concentration of science and technology related businesses, and has strong links with the nearby University of Cambridge. ...
. St John's Innovation Centre is located squarely within the area known as
Silicon Fen Silicon Fen (also known as the Cambridge Cluster) is the name given to the region around Cambridge, England, which is home to a large business cluster, cluster of high-tech businesses focusing on software, electronics and biotechnology, s ...
.


Cambridge Technopole

St John's Innovation Centre was the initiator of the Cambridge Technopole Group – an informal network of business support organisations operating in the Greater Cambridge region. The group aims to improve the range and quality of the business support services available, particularly for companies based on technology. Other group members include
Addenbrooke's Hospital Addenbrooke's Hospital is an internationally renowned large teaching hospital and research centre in Cambridge, England, with strong affiliations to the University of Cambridge. Addenbrooke's Hospital is based on the Cambridge Biomedical Camp ...
,
Cambridge Network The Cambridge Network is a commercial business networking organisation for business people and academics working in technology fields in the Cambridge area of the UK. The businesses and organisations that make up its membership are typical of thos ...
,
Cambridge Science Park The Cambridge Science Park, founded by Trinity College in 1970, is the oldest science park in the United Kingdom. It is a concentration of science and technology related businesses, and has strong links with the nearby University of Cambridge. ...
, ERBI and the
Babraham Institute The Babraham Institute is a life sciences research institution and a partner organisation of the University of Cambridge. The Babraham Institute is based on the Babraham Research Campus, partly occupying a former manor house, but also labora ...
. SJIC has been responsible for writing the annual Cambridge Technopole Reports. The 2008 report was co-authored by Walter Herriot (then-director of SJIC) and Tim Minshall, of the
Institute for Manufacturing Institute for Manufacturing (IfM) is part of the Department of Engineering of the University of Cambridge. The IfM integrates research and education with practical application in industry. It disseminates its research findings via a university ...
. The report is sponsored by
Cambridge Network The Cambridge Network is a commercial business networking organisation for business people and academics working in technology fields in the Cambridge area of the UK. The businesses and organisations that make up its membership are typical of thos ...
and the
Gatsby Charitable Foundation The Gatsby Charitable Foundation is an endowed grant-making trust, based in London, founded by David Sainsbury in 1967. The organisation is one of the Sainsbury Family Charitable Trusts, set up to provide funding for charitable causes. Although t ...
.


University links

Since its foundation SJIC has developed strong links with the
University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...
. In 1998 and 1999, pending the award of University Challenge Funding, it assisted the Industrial Liaison Officer (ILO) of the University in working with small and medium-sized university spin-outs. Through the Anglia Enterprise Network two venture scouts were employed in the University identifying potential businesses, assisting in finding additional management and fund raising. Some 50 potential businesses were identified and passed over to the ILO for further support. The Centre works with the
Judge Business School Cambridge Judge Business School is the business school of the University of Cambridge. The School is a provider of management education. It is named after Sir Paul Judge, a founding benefactor of the school. The School is considered to be pa ...
to provide reference material for research, and assisted in the establishment of the Cambridge Entrepreneurship Centre. SJIC also helped the
Cambridge University Engineering Department The University of Cambridge Department of Engineering is the largest department at the University of Cambridge and one of the leading centres of engineering in the world. The department's aim is to address the world's most pressing challenges wit ...
in the establishment of the
Institute for Manufacturing Institute for Manufacturing (IfM) is part of the Department of Engineering of the University of Cambridge. The IfM integrates research and education with practical application in industry. It disseminates its research findings via a university ...
. Since 2003, SJIC has been closely involved with the i10 project, which brought together all the universities and
Higher Education Higher education is tertiary education leading to award of an academic degree. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after comple ...
institutions in the East of England. SJIC's role is to assist in the development of
technology transfer Technology transfer (TT), also called transfer of technology (TOT), is the process of transferring (disseminating) technology from the person or organization that owns or holds it to another person or organization, in an attempt to transform invent ...
skills within each of the institutions, and to help identify and pursue opportunities for technology transfer.


Tenants

Although most of the centre's tenants are start-up and early-stage companies operating in a wide range of leading-edge technologies, there are some long-standing residents who have maintained offices despite expanding to other locations, both within the UK and internationally. Around 60 companies are located on the site, employing over 300 people. Over a five-year period the survival rate for companies is over 88%, compared to about 50% for other similar businesses in the Cambridge area, and 45% for businesses generally in the UK. Unlike other innovation centres, St John's Innovation Centre is also home to a number of companies offering services to the tenants, such as
marketing Marketing is the process of exploring, creating, and delivering value to meet the needs of a target market in terms of goods and services; potentially including selection of a target audience; selection of certain attributes or themes to emph ...
,
accountancy Accounting, also known as accountancy, is the measurement, processing, and communication of financial and non financial information about economic entities such as businesses and corporations. Accounting, which has been called the "langua ...
, legal services etc. This was a deliberate decision in the early days of the centre, to foster a diverse business community within the building. SJIC also offer a virtual tenancy package – the Star Service – which enables small companies to use SJIC as their business address, offers telephone, fax and post handling, and gives preferential access to meeting and conference rooms and business support services. The service has been used by numerous start-up companies prior to becoming a tenant.


Alumni

The following companies all started life in St John's Innovation Centre: *
Autonomy Corporation HP Autonomy, previously Autonomy Corporation PLC, was an enterprise software company which was merged with Micro Focus in 2017. It was founded in Cambridge, United Kingdom in 1996. Autonomy was acquired by Hewlett-Packard (HP) in October 201 ...
plc, the enterprise software company. Revenue for year ending 31 December 2008 was around £310 million ($503.2 million). * Bioprogress, now Meldex, develops innovative biodegradable films for the pharmaceuticals market. * Cachelogic, now Velocix, specialises in
content delivery network A content delivery network, or content distribution network (CDN), is a geographically distributed network of proxy servers and their data centers. The goal is to provide high availability and performance by distributing the service spatially rel ...
s. It is backed by Amadeus Capital Partners, 3i plc and Pentech Ventures. Velocix has subsequently been acquired by French telecommunication firm
Alcatel-Lucent Alcatel–Lucent S.A. () was a French–American global telecommunications equipment company, headquartered in Boulogne-Billancourt, France. It was formed in 2006 by the merger of France-based Alcatel and U.S.-based Lucent, the latter being a s ...
*
Jagex Jagex Limited is a British video game developer and publisher based at the Cambridge Science Park in Cambridge, England. It is best known for ''RuneScape'' and ''Old School RuneScape'', both free-to-play massively multiplayer online role-play ...
, developers and publishers of online computer games, including
RuneScape ''RuneScape'' is a fantasy massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) developed and published by Jagex, released in January 2001. ''RuneScape'' was originally a browser game built with the Java programming language; it was lar ...
and
FunOrb ''FunOrb'' was a casual game, casual gaming site created by Jagex. Launched on 27 February 2008, and closed on August 7th 2018, it was the company's first major release after their successful MMORPG, ''RuneScape''. All of the games were programmed ...
, played by over 200 million users. * Jobstream Group Plc, developers of Jobstream 9, a software platform used worldwide by the offshore fiduciary industry for trust and company admin, accounting and practice management. The company was founded in 1993 and still holds an office in the St John's Innovation Centre. * Metagenerics, part of the Generics Group, now Sagentia. * Owlstone Nanotech, developers of a button-sized programmable chemical sensor. In March 2009 the company was awarded a contract by the
United States Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national sec ...
valued at $1.4 Million. *
Plastic Logic Plastic Logic Germany develops and manufactures electrophoretic displays (EPD), based on organic thin-film transistor (OTFT) technology, in Dresden, Germany. Originally a spin-off company from the Cavendish Laboratory at the University of Cam ...
, developers of a new e-Reader based on proprietary plastic electronics. Investors include Amadeus Capital Partners, Intel Capital, BASF Venture Capital, Siemens Venture Capital, Yasuda Enterprise Development, Morningside Technology Ventures,
Bank of America The Bank of America Corporation (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. The bank ...
Equity Partners, Nanotech Partners, Dow Venture Capital, Polytechnos Venture Partners,
Oak Investment Partners Oak Investment Partners is a private equity firm focusing on venture capital investments in companies developing communications systems, information technology, new Internet media, healthcare services and retail. History The firm, founded in 19 ...
and Raptor Capital Management. *
Red Gate Software Redgate Software is a software company based in Cambridge, England. It develops tools for developers and data professionals and maintains community websites such as SQL Server Central and Simple Talk. Redgate produces specialized database mana ...
, developers of software tools for database administrators and developers. * Splashpower, a wireless power development company. Founded in 2001, it was acquired by Fulton Innovation in May 2008 * Symbionics, a technology development company founded in 1987 and acquired by Cadence Design Systems, Inc. in March 1998Cadence acquires Symbionics in U.K
''Electronic News'', 9 March 1998. * Technetix Group, the broadband network equipment manufacturer. The company now operates in 21 countries selling to 91 countries worldwide. Revenue for the year ending 2016 was £118.5m
Technetix
*
True Knowledge Evi (formerly True Knowledge) is a technology company in Cambridge, England, founded by William Tunstall-Pedoe,
, developers of an ‘Internet Answer Engine’. The company raised almost £3million in venture funding between start-up in 2006 and end 2008. *
Visual Planet Visualplanet Ltd specialises in the manufacture and global distribution of projected capacitance interactive touch screen foils, which are designed to be used in a wide variety of Touch Screen applications from through-window touch to direct in ...
, developer of through-glass touch screens. The company was a virtual tenant of SJIC. *
Zeus Technology Zeus Technology, Ltd. was a software company founded in 1995 and based in Cambridge, England, known for its web server. In July 2011, Zeus Technology was acquired by Riverbed Technology. In March 2015, Riverbed Technology sold the SteelApp busi ...
, a software development company founded in 1995.


References


External links


Official website

Cambridge Technopole

i10 project

SJIC page on Cambridge Network

SJIC profile on UKSPA
{{Authority control Business incubators of the United Kingdom *St John's Companies established in 1987 Economy of Cambridgeshire 1987 establishments in the United Kingdom Innovation in the United Kingdom