Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
200
150
100
50
0
Fig. 10
Growth of the number of tenants companies on the Surrey Research Park by year
figure is in excess of £150 K with some companies such as SSTL having a
turnover per employee of in excess of £225 K. A count of the number of
employees working on the Park in June 2012 showed just more than 3,500 staff on
site. A calculation based on this figure (turnover per employee x number of
companies) indicates the gross sales of the tenant companies of over £475 m.
A review of the purchase ledger of two large tenants revealed that 60 % of the
company spend was within a radius of 65 km. This figure is influenced by the fact
that many of the companies on the Surrey Research Park are still in the devel-
opment phase of their businesses which is more labour intensive than in companies
that are involved in manufacturing. The spend on the purchase ledger of these
more labour intensive companies is higher than for manufacturing so there tends to
be a greater local impact.
It is estimated that, based on the collective turnover of the companies on Park,
their ''spend'' in the region and the multiplier effect on this spend figures, they
contribute in between £350 m and £450 m annually to the region's economy.
To assist in the economic development of the national, regional and local
economy—success factors:
The success factors for the Surrey Research Park are based around the location,
the offering to tenant companies, the package of business support services offered
to occupiers and the attitude to supporting micro and SMEs, of the University that
is reflected through the management of the site.
A study by the now closed Regional Development Agency for South East
England (SEEDA) noted that the region in which the Surrey Research Park is
situated conforms to its designation of an ''knowledge heartland economies'', in
which all the elements and linkages in the sub-regional economy model
25
(Fig.
11
)
were fully established and working well. Evidence from the UKSPA study
26
showed that Parks in these location were more likely to succeed than those parks in
25
SEEDA and Huggins Associates (
2001
): SEEDA and Robert Huggins Associates (
2001
)
Global Index of Regional Knowledge Economies: Benchmarking South East England.
26
UKSPA (
2003
) Evaluation of the past and future economic contribution of the UK Science
Park Movement. Published by UKSPA in conjunction with the Small Business Service.
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