GREEN HYDROGEN MANUFACTURING FACILITY TO OPEN AT BRISTOL AND BATH SCIENCE PARK

A green hydrogen manufacturing capability is to be established at the new IAAPS research and innovation facility at the Bristol and Bath Science Park following a successful £2.5 million bid to the UK Research Partnership Innovation Fund.

It will also support research into sustainable propulsion technologies and the use of hydrogen as an alternative green energy, in particular in the hard to electrify sectors such as aviation, marine, off-highway and heavy-duty transport.

This is a key strategic step and major expansion for IAAPS, the applied automotive propulsion research team, which grew out of the University of Bath.

IAAPS takes real world problems from industry and applies the best academic minds with access to state-of-the-art facilities to solve those challenges. This green hydrogen production and storage facility, set to be completed next spring, will be the first of its kind in the South West and form the basis of a regional Hydrogen and Sustainable Transport Acceleration Hub, working with more than 30 partners to stimulate green growth in the region.

Professor Chris Brace, Academic Director at IAAPS, said: “IAAPS is already widely recognised as a collaborative hub for research and innovation. In working with industry leaders, innovators, academics, legislators and SMEs, we are setting the pace in the adoption of net zero technology by a much broader range of stakeholders.

Last July, Bristol and Bath Science Park opened a new 5,000 sq ft £2.4 million Innovation Hub on the site.

Worcester Six Business Park expanding again

In January this year, developer Stoford secured planning permission to extend Worcester Six Business Park which will provide a further 680,000 sq ft of floorspace on 61 acres of land.

It is the latest chapter in the successful development of the park, located next to

Skylon’s success continues as work starts on next phase of development

A leading robotics and automation business has relocated to Skylon Park, Hereford as part of a growth strategy which includes supporting the county’s food and drink sector.

Visicon, which provides machine vision, collaborative robot and industrial ID systems, has moved to the business incubation centre on Skylon Park, Hereford Enterprise Zone, as it looks to meet increasing demand for its services.

The move by Visicon is the latest good news for Skylon Park, which is currently seeing £8 million invested in the construction of nine industrial units at Centenary Park, a 110-acre site within Skylon Park. It will provide employment space for small to medium-sized businesses and has been developed by Priority Space in partnership with HG Sites and Herefordshire Council.

The vision for Skylon is a high quality business space o ering a home to a dynamic business community in an attractive historic setting. The name Skylon comes from the iconic structure that formed the centrepiece of the 1951 Festival of Britain. Manufactured in Hereford, the Skylon symbolised the reaching of new frontiers through technology and innovation.

Junction 6 of the M5. When complete it will provide more than two million sq ft of employment floor space.

The first occupier to arrive in 2019 was Kimal, a manufacturer and supplier of products for the healthcare sector. In May this year, construction began on an

180,000 sq ft unit for leading flooring company Alliance Flooring Distribution – a subsidiary of Kidderminster-based global carpet and flooring company Victoria plc.

Other occupiers include Kohler Mira, Spire Healthcare, Materials Solutions, Ionos and Marmon Foodservice Technologies.