M-SParc, Wales’ first dedicated Science Park, which opened on the 1st of March 2018 is on a winning streak!  In the past week, the project won Digital Construction Project of the Year 2018 at the Constructing Excellence National Awards, secured a new contract to establish an Enterprise Hub in partnership with Menter Mon, and organised and hosted the first Energy Summit for North West Wales celebrating the success of energy companies in the region.

In July, Menai Science Park was named Construction Project of the Year at the Constructing Excellence Wales award. These prestigious awards celebrate industry success within the construction industry.  M-SParc was then entered into the Constructing Excellence National Awards, where they competed against the winners from all regions of the UK and went on to win Digital Construction Project of the Year 2018.   

Winning Digital Construction Project of the Year at these awards means M-SParc is the leading project throughout the nation in Digital Construction in 2018. The award recognised the work done in fields such as digital collaboration, sharing information throughout the design teams, innovative 3D modelling, app development, Building Information Modelling, Virtual Reality development, and supply chain upskilling. 

Executive Director Pryderi ap Rhisiart said “Along with contractors Willmott Dixon, and architects FaulknerBrowns, we are so pleased that all the hard work during the construction phase paid off.  We are an innovative project and it was so important to us to use the latest technology and push ourselves. It’s an amazing achievement for all involved and puts North Wales on the map – we can and do build iconic, award winning buildings.

Continuing the winning streak, M-SParc announced on Thursday that they have been awarded £1m to support entrepreneurs across North Wales, in partnership with Menter Mon.

The Enterprise Hub, of which there are 6 across Wales, are set up in order to support hundreds of new business and will cover Anglesey, Gwynedd, Conwy and Denbighshire, with the M-SParc building acting as a hub.

Managing Director of Menter Mon, Mr Dafydd Gruffydd said: “The hub will be a space for businesses and the community to come together in a creative and collaborative environment to develop and grow ideas, building a community of entrepreneurs to boost the local economy. We believe that the skills and services both Menter Môn and M-SParc bring this project complement each other, and it’s a great opportunity to develop new partnerships in different sectors. It’s what we are all about.”

He added: “No matter what stage of the journey people are at or what their specific area of interest is in, we will ensure they have plenty of support and guidance to help their business grow and prosper.”

Pryderi ap Rhisiart, Director at M-SParc said: “We’re delighted to be working with Menter Môn on this contract and it is a great opportunity for business and entrepreneurs to come together to make the most of the fantastic facilities we have on offer here at M-SParc”

To top off the week, M-SParc hosted ‘EGNI2018’ – an Energy Summit with speakers from large corporations including Wood plc and Horizon to small local energy projects including Ynni Ogwen and YnNi Glân. Over 130 people attended, with children from Ysgol Corn Hir amongst those who set up in the showcasing room to show their latest Lego energy project.

Mr ap Rhisiart said “The Energy Summit was the icing on the cake this week.  The intention was to showcase and celebrate the region of North West Wales in terms of the exciting energy projects; we don’t do this enough! The audience and speakers really took to this, with an extremely positive feel to the whole day, plenty of enthusiastic networking opportunities, and great feedback from all involved.

This is exactly what M-SParc set out to do, and we worked with Anglesey and Gwynedd Councils on this as we really believe collaboration is key to success.  We look forward to continuing with our work of developing and supporting businesses and projects in the region for the benefit of the local economy.”

Submitted on 27/11/2018