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10th January 2003 - Census tracks progress of technology companies

The start-up businesses span a wide range of technologies ? including fields such as IT, Advanced Engineering and Biotechnology, with an increasing number of Media and Creative companies. They also reflect general business trends, with a decline in Internet/Telecoms companies from 14% in 2000 to just 6% in 2002, and steady growth of Bioscience companies which now rank third in terms of business sector activity.

Rob Eyre, Research Manager at The Oxford Trust said,

"Early stage technology companies that use innovation centres are the engines of growth for the UK?s knowledge-based economy. With a response rate of 89%, The Oxford Trust?s unique Tracking System database allows us to produce accurate statistics on the factors that enable these companies to flourish, as well as those that may block their growth. For example, the findings reveal that innovation centres play a crucial role in providing premises that are geared to meet the needs of the fledgling businesses, which are generally under three years old. Many companies praised the flexible occupation agreement (a short term licence, rather than the long-term lease usually offered to tenants) as a huge advantage in the early stages."


On the other hand, the report shows that, in the current tough investment climate, many entrepreneurs are having difficulty in attracting funding ? a difficulty that is not restricted to those seeking large investment but felt across the spectrum. In 2000, 33% of innovation centre clients received funding amounts (covering grants and equity investment) of under £10,000 each but only 4% managed this in 2002.

The general economic downturn was also echoed in their future expansion plans, with many clients predicting that they would retain the same office and laboratory space over the next 12 months (as opposed to 2000, when the average company expected to triple their office space). However, although cautious about taking on more space, many companies did plan to expand in other ways ? most stated that they wanted to recruit a further one to two staff during 2003.

The census report also shows that the typical entrepreneur using an innovation centre is in his or her mid-thirties and lives locally, but uses a car to travel to work (79% of staff drive to work and 55% of staff travel less than 15 miles to work).

Mr Eyre commented, "The travel to work findings reflect general opinion of our public transport system. Many census participants ranked it as poor, especially in Oxfordshire. The other major bugbear was the high cost of housing in the south east."

Of the 12 innovation centres in the census are managed by Oxford Innovation Ltd, which provides services to innovative start-ups, and one is run by Oxfordshire BiotechNet Ltd, a specialist bioincubator and mentoring network. Services provided by Oxford Innovation include a business angel network to link investors with entrepreneurs seeking vital early stage funding, assistance with securing grant funding and support for business planning.

Dr r David Kingham, Chief Executive of Oxford Innovation said,

"We welcome this report which turns the spotlight on the determined individuals at the heart of the UK?s enterprise economy. The survival rate of 89% is a ringing endorsement of our private sector approach to business incubation and reflects great credit on our dedicated staff. At Oxford Innovation, we recognise that all successful entrepreneurs possess a key characteristic of being able to harness the resources they need to drive their business forward. The findings from the cenus report allow us to plan new support services to help meet their business development needs. For example, we have successfully introduced a virtual office package (OxiFlex) that allows entrepreneurs to ?test the water? and select from our range of business services before making the decision to move into office or laboratory space. Funding is the other important area - our business angel network has been running for over 8 years but has never been more vital to business success than it is today."

New features planned for the Tracking System database include measurement of gender, in line with informal evidence which suggests that more women than ever are starting up their own businesses.

To order a copy of the 2002 Innovation Cenus Report contact Rob Eyre, The Oxford Trust on Tel: +44 (0)1865 728953 or rob.eyre@oxtrust.org.uk