The South Glos Post

Government Minister Dr Vince Cable MP, Secretary of State for the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills, officially opened the £25m National Composites Centre (NCC) in Emersons Green earlier today (Thursday 24th November).

The NCC is a new 8,500 sqm state-of-the-art building that brings together dynamic companies and enterprising academics to develop new technologies for the design and rapid manufacture of high-quality composite products.

Composite materials, such as carbon fibre, are finding increasing use in fields as diverse as aerospace, wind turbines and electric vehicles and the NCC aims to capitalise on the research and manufacturing expertise already built up in the field of composites development within the Bristol and South Gloucestershire area.

Speaking to more than 200 guests at today’s official opening, Dr Cable said:

“Here in the UK we are very good at invention, but we need to do more to innovate and turn our ideas into products and jobs. I don’t want the UK to miss out on any opportunities to create economic growth through manufacturing.”

“This centre will work with our world class universities and international businesses based in the South West and across the UK, to develop and commercialise new technologies. Its work will strengthen our manufacturing sector, exploiting the next generation of advanced composites materials and helping maintain our global lead in this technology area. I look forward to seeing what they produce.”

After the formalities, Dr Cable was shown around the centre and saw state-of-the-art machinery, including a world-leading £2.5m robotic, automatic fibre placement. He also met some of the highly skilled engineers that will assist UK manufacturers to develop and commercialise new technologies and products.

More: Centre expects £5.5m of work in its first year »

Hundreds of delegates have today descended on the Bristol & Bath Science Park for Venturefest Bristol 2011, organised by Science City Bristol.

The aim of the event is to bring new, technology and innovation based business ideas together with the funding and support required to make them grow. Core to Venturefest Bristol 2011 is the ‘Innovation Showcase’ where new businesses will be demonstrating their innovative products and services. New entrepreneurs will also be perfecting their techniques in ‘The Pitch at Venturefest’.

Other highlights include keynote speeches by Paul Magelli, serial entrepreneur and founder of Bristol based Apertio, sold to Nokia Siemens Networks; and Nigel Risner, author, television presenter, motivational speaker, and experienced business coach.

The business community in the West of England has joined forces to support the organisation of Venturefest Bristol 2011. The four universities in the Bristol and Bath area have all provided sponsorship and are represented at the event. They recognise the positive impact that an event like Venturefest can have on bringing businesses and academia together to commercialise new technology.

Read more about the organisations attending Venturefest 2011 »

Source: Science City Bristol

South Gloucestershire Council has welcomed the launch of SPark, the Bristol and Bath Science Park, following its official opening by the Rt Hon David Willetts, Minister for Universities and Science, on Monday 26th September.

The 59-acre site in Emersons Green is set to become a new powerhouse for research and development in the region creating an anticipated 6,000 highly-skilled jobs.

Council leader John Calway said:

“South Gloucestershire is already home to many of the region’s most innovative and high-tech companies and [its] launch is very welcome.”

“I look forward to seeing SPark flourish as a hotbed for cutting-edge innovation and enterprise, bringing even more new, high-quality jobs to our local economy.”

“South Gloucestershire Council’s planning team has worked hard with SPark’s developers to help realise this landmark project and will continue to do so in the future.”

Bristol is one of six Science Cities in England, recognising its many achievements in world class scientific research, innovation and development. The other Science Cities designated by the then Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, in 2005 are Birmingham, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham and York.

To date, Bristol has been the only Science City in the country not to have a science park and creating one is a major step forward in promoting the region’s concentration of highly-skilled people as well as creating a hotbed for future innovation.

Read on for more news about the park and its official opening »

Staff and pupils at Emersons Green Primary School are having a double celebration, as the school’s 10th birthday coincides with an “outstanding” report from schools regulator Ofsted.

The school was inspected in May, and was one of the first to be inspected nationally as part of a new pilot being run by Ofsted. It achieved “outstanding” ratings in leadership and management, achievement, teaching and learning, and behaviour and safety.

The report said the school has “An exciting curriculum, with a fully inclusive range of opportunities, helps pupils develop into responsible youngsters, well prepared for the next step in their education.”

“Since the last inspection, the inspirational leadership and management continue to relentlessly raise expectations in teaching and learning. This has led to consistently very effective teaching and higher academic standards.”

Headteacher Jan Isaac said: “We are all thrilled by the results of this inspection and it is a testament to the dedication of the staff, pupils, parents and governors that our overall effectiveness should be judged as outstanding. Our challenge now is to maintain and build upon this success for the future.”

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