Key advisors sign up to support fast-track SMEs at The Base

Five leading advisory and training businesses have signed up to a partnership agreement with The Base in Warrington to help its high-growth tenants maximise their potential.

The grade-A offices, established to support companies in the advanced manufacturing and engineering sectors, now house more than 70 employees in a range of businesses and the new partnership is designed to speed up their access to leading-edge advice.

Five partners – Grant Thornton, FDR Law, Inventya Ltd/Enterprise Europe Network, Santander and Warrington’s University Technical College – have all signed a memorandum of understanding to work closely together on a range of initiatives and promotions that will support tenants at The Base.  The partners were selected because of their expertise in areas such as tax, R&D, innovation, law and skills development.

“This is a significant step forward in our promise to tenants to create Warrington’s leading hub for innovative, high-growth businesses.  By allowing them to tap in to the expertise and talent of our partners we can help them grow even faster,” said Sylvie Morton, business development manager at Langtree, who manage the building on behalf of owners Warrington & Co.

A twelve month programme of clinics and joint events has been developed with the partners and will include subjects such as innovation, talent attraction and retention and Industry 4.0 technologies.  Tenants are then free to contract with the partners on more detailed support, as required.

Commenting on their backing for the initiative, David Hawley at business and tax advisors Grant Thornton, said: “We are delighted to be working with The Base and offer support to the dynamic businesses that it will attract.  Our dedicated North West Business Growth team offers a range of specialist financial, taxation and assurance services that can add significant value and accelerate growth.  This is a very exciting development in the region and offers a great facility and infrastructure for business in Warrington.”

The Base provides 50,000 square feet of Grade A office space and is home to more than 70 staff in a range of industries.  The building was developed by Warrington & Co, the private-sector led regeneration arm of Warrington Council.  It is home to the successful BaseConnect networking platform, which provides a networking hub for SMEs from across the Warrington area and has almost a hundred members.