Plans for £18m Skills and Innovation Centre in Suffolk progress

Work can now start on the delivery stage of the 35,000 sq ft building, which will include office space for high growth start-ups, collaboration and innovation spaces, training and meeting rooms and a café.

Designed following positive discussions with businesses and local skills providers, the centre aims to address skills gaps locally and within the Freeport area and seize opportunities around growing sectors such as the green economy and digital/AI technology.

Also included are a range of business support services which would see the facility become a hub for entrepreneurship, collaboration, green skills and innovation between occupiers in the building and across the wider Gateway 14 site and surrounding Freeport area.

Freeport East agreed £16.66m funding for the centre earlier this year, with Mid Suffolk District Council meeting the remaining cost.

Property developer Jaynic is delivering the project as the development partner of Gateway 14 Ltd – a wholly owned subsidiary of Mid Suffolk District Council. Ben Oughton, Jaynic’s development director, said: “The skills and innovation centre at Gateway 14, ensures that the site is becoming a truly mixed-use scheme attracting a variety of users that will benefit the regional economy in this part of East Anglia.”

As with all buildings on the site so far, the centre will be built to meet a minimum BREAAM standard of ‘excellent’ ensuring it is highly sustainable and environmentally friendly.

Sir Christopher Haworth, chairman of Gateway 14 Ltd, said: “We can now look forward to the centre providing a critical link between education and industry – serving young people looking to start their careers and also business seeking capable graduates and young people – as well as providing a valuable base for fledgling businesses.”

The District Council is now seeking a highly experienced player to provide centre management and business/innovation support to SMEs. An invitation to tender is now open with potential operators having until Monday 30 December to express their interest. Subject to a final building opening date, the operator contract would start in April 2026 and run for three years with an option to extend.

The latest news forms part of a series of recent developments at Gateway 14. Planning permission has been granted for two buildings to be occupied by manufacturers of sustainable and eco-friendly construction materials.

Construction has already started on one of the buildings, a 44,000 sq ft manufacturing facility for Bauder – a leading international manufacturer of flat roof building construction materials including solutions for green roofs and solar PV arrays.

Earlier this year, the Council gave reserved matters planning consent for a 164,796 sq ft manufacturing and distribution unit at the entrance to the park. Gateway 14’s first completed unit – a 1.17m sq ft logistics and distribution centre for The Range – is now operational and recruiting people to fill 1,650 jobs created on site.