Oxfordshire Space Company Shines Brightly

One of Oxfordshire’s best kept science secrets, the little known Culham based space hardware company ABSL Space Products, has made a significant breakthrough with its novel imaging system, known as LIDAR. Although ABSL is developing the technology primarily for space use - to allow space probes to land more safely and navigate a planet’s surface - LIDAR has a huge range of possible applications back here on earth that directly affect our day to day lives. When LIDAR is air-borne or even mounted on a satellite looking at the earth, it can be used to monitor our world in impressive detail. Its ability to very accurately measure the height of the land will be of use in earthquake zones to assess the impact of a quake, for example. The challenge of accurately tracking large scale problems such oil slicks, de-forestation and land use patterns is possible.

The system works by shooting out a laser beam which is rapidly steered by a moving mirror in order to map the landscape ahead – in much the same way a TV picture is built up by shooting a scanning beam of energy at the back of the tube.

After shooting the laser beam, the system then looks for reflected light bouncing back. Although the reflected light is extremely weak, by using sophisticated electronics and software, ABSL’s LIDAR can work out how far away an object is and even the surface details of an object. By changing the colour of the laser it’s even possible to work out what the laser has been shown through – a powerful tool for monitoring atmospheric pollution and CO2 levels.

Ultimately, the company believes the technology could be made small and cheap enough to allow vehicles to automatically prevent collisions – and even permit robots to better understand their environment and interact with us.

The recent breakthrough developments however were made possible by the assistance of MEPC at Milton Park. ABSL needed an indoor area big enough to refine and test their system and MEPC Milton Park kindly agreed to the use of one of their largest warehouses; Building 188 (69,000 sq ft) which is currently available to let. “This is a great example of local business working together”, said Mike Lawton, ABSL’s Business Development Manager. “Without the support of Milton Park, just a couple of miles away from us, we certainly would not have our LIDAR system developed to stage we’re currently at”.

James Dipple, Managing Director of MEPC Milton Park’s “Milton Park has a reputation for being home to and supporting some of the most exciting science and technology companies in the UK. This partly due to the way in which we are always willing to assist businesses, whether they are currently a customer or not. Offering one of available warehouses for this project allowed ABSL progress their development and is a genuine example of how MEPC can go beyond the normal role of a landlord to help companies."

Ansys Expands at Milton Park

ANSYS, a leading provider and innovator of engineering simulation software, has expanded its operation at MEPC Milton Park.

ANSYS has acquired the ground floor of 97 Milton Park, which extends its quarters to approximately 12,203 sq ft.

Michael Price, Senior IT Manager Europe for ANSYS, said: “We outgrew our premises in the West Central 127 development of the park, but we knew we wanted to remain onsite. MEPC was helpful and considerate of our requirement for increased space, and facilitated our move.”

Philip Campbell, Head of Leasing and Development for MEPC Milton Park, added: “At Milton Park we value customers such as ANSYS, and we have worked closely with them to deliver a solution which meets their needs and can accommodate their growth. We are delighted that they chose to stay with us at Milton Park and move into 97. We look forward to continuing our strong relationship with them in the future.”

The upper two floors of 97 Milton Park are leased to Neftex Petroleum Consultants Ltd and Kaspersky Lab UK Ltd. The building is now fully let.

Milton Park Welcomes Enterprise Zone Status

MEPC is delighted to announce that Milton Park, one of Europe’s largest business and science estates, is to secure enterprise zone status as part of the Science Vale Gateway Zone after a successful bid by the Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP).

The Science Vale Gateway Zone has been named by the government as one of its ten new enterprise zones across the UK. Plans for 21 nationwide enterprise zones were originally set out in the March budget to boost economic growth and bids to host one of the zones were submitted by 30 local groups, made up of council and business leaders.

James Dipple, managing director for MEPC Milton Park, said: “We welcome the news that this area has received the appropriate recognition as one of the local enterprise zones, which can best deliver the government's objectives for the economy.

“We have the infrastructure, the assets and the ability to drive increased growth over the next five years. Creating jobs is at the forefront of our agenda and is the primary reason for the government selecting regions for the enterprise zone status. As well as the direct employment benefits of the new status, we expect to see wider knock-on job creation as the local community expands to support the increased business occupation.”

The enterprise zone bid aims to create 8,400 jobs by 2015 within the Oxfordshire LEP region and support the development of Oxfordshire’s skills strategy by creating new apprenticeship opportunities.

South Oxfordshire has an enduring entrepreneurial culture with some of the most innovative businesses in the UK located in the region. Growth in the bio-science cluster has been strong, even during the recession, and companies in the SME sector are expanding.

James Dipple, managing director for MEPC Milton Park, continued: “The enterprise zone will allow us to attract more international investment and help our smaller companies grow and be more competitive in the global marketplace.The Science Vale Gateway Zone now has the catalyst to exploit the potential of its location and its existing concentration of specialised science and technology skills.”

Milton Park Innovation Centre Experiences Record Month

The Innovation Centre based at Milton Park, one of Europe’s largest business and science estates, has experienced a record month with 14 company moves – equating to a move nearly every two days.

Between 10 June and 10 July 2011, the Milton Park Innovation Centre has attracted eight new companies onsite, while three organisations have chosen to relocate within the centre and a further three businesses have graduated to other premises on the Milton Park estate.

James Dipple, managing director for MEPC Milton Park, said: “The Innovation Centre acts as the perfect incubator for fledgling companies. Start-up businesses are given the support to succeed and expand to other offices on the Milton Park estate. Our strategy is to encourage start-up and small businesses to operate in an environment which allows them to focus on their own corporate goals while we take care of their premises. In turn, this strategy provides us with a steady stream of companies who need to expand into other office locations on our estate.”

Milton Park Innovation Centre provides state-of-the-art small to medium sized offices for entrepreneurs, start-up and growing companies. Businesses located at the centre benefit from professional infrastructure, business support and a community of like-minded businesses to network with. The Innovation Centre is managed by Oxford Innovation, a leading operator of innovation and business centres across the UK.

Claresys Ltd, a developer of unique lenses for surveillance and vision systems, has recently moved from the Innovation Centre into other premises on the Milton Park estate.

Andy McLeod, CEO of Claresys Ltd, said: “One of the reasons we originally chose Milton Park as the location for our business was due to the range of flexible accommodation it has to offer, with the Innovation Centre being the ideal starting point.

“We are now recruiting to double our existing headcount, increasing our investment in assembly and test facilities and resourcing a major new contract. We required a purpose built facility to accommodate our current and future growth and Milton Park has configured and equipped a bespoke office and laboratory for us in the Science Campus. Our employees are very happy working at Milton Park and it is an attractive location for our new staff to work.”

The Innovation Centre is currently 81% occupied with 36 companies in the centre and 15 virtual businesses. This equates to 25% of the occupiers on the Milton Park estate.

Offices to Rent Oxfordshire

Milton Park Oxfordshire has a number of offices available to rent on our Oxfordshire business park including:

Innovation Centre Serviced Offices - 85 sq ft to 1,100 sq ft

• Serviced offices with a range of support services
• State-of-the-art building for entrepreneurs and start-up businesses
• Meeting and conference facilities available
• Managed by Oxford Innovation - www.miltonpark-ic.co.uk

The Quad - 407 sq ft to 2,058 sq ft

• Tranquil courtyard development with pleasant outlook
• Newly refurbished with fully-fitted options
• Flexible modern accommodation, ability to combine units
• Car parking

185 Milton Park - 709 sq ft to 3,338 sq ft

• Cost effective
• Covered walkway
• Ideal start-up space
• Car parking

Washed, Ironed and Hung for just 99p!

Purple Label, the award winning dry cleaning company which has recently moved to new units at 154A Milton Park, has introduced a great new offer - just for those of us who work on Milton Park.

For only 99p, we can now have our shirts washed, ironed and hung. So we get to save 66% off the standard price of £2.95 with free collection and delivery too. Purple Label has been on Milton Park since 2002 and has a unique philosophy in their industry which combines the highest standards of quality with exceptional customer service.

This exclusive offer must end by 31 October 2011.

Interview with James Dipple

Here is the next video in the James Meets series. This month James Dipple, Managing Director for MEPC Milton Park, meets Jon Rees, CEO of OBN.

Click on the image or the link below to watch the full interview.

Watch the video here