The Finnish company first came to Liverpool in September 2010 and took up the LSP’s soft landing offering for foreign companies following an introduction via Liverpool Vision.
Hammerkit went on to secure funding and experience significant growth, and has now moved into a 530 sq ft office. The funding was provided by the North West Fund for Venture Capital, managed by EV and the North West Fund 4 Digital & Creative, managed by AXM, as well as Veraventure, a Helsinki-based institutional investor.
Hammerkit provides its ‘Cloudstore’ service to global PR agencies, offering repeatable solutions based on web formats. Their unique approach to web production is based on format-thinking and is similar to the approach taken for the development of successful TV shows like X-Factor and Pop Idol.
CEO of Hammerkit, Mark Sorsa-Leslie, said: “As a growing business we are extremely grateful for the flexible and professional approach of the team at Liverpool Science Park. They have allowed us to grow our presence in Liverpool and this location is perfect for us due to the availability of talent, the proximity to MediaCityUK and the other like-minded businesses in the region.”
Hammerkit’s Cloudstore product has been piloted with global PR agencies Edelman in Latin America and Hill and Knowlton Strategies in Europe and continues to gather pace internationally. Mark continues: “The key cities in terms of clients are London and New York and we will be opening a New York office in the spring. The historic links between Liverpool and New York are very important, but I see Liverpool as the Barcelona of England – creative, design-minded and ambitious. That’s why it is a great location for us.”
Chris Musson, CEO at Liverpool Science Park, said: “We have been working with Hammerkit for a number of years and have been with them every step since the first introduction from Liverpool Vision in 2010. A company like Hammerkit coming to Liverpool Science Park and settling here demonstrates this is a good city to grow knowledge-based businesses and this is largely down to excellent support networks for foreign businesses that may not have any contacts here.
“Now Hammerkit has provided a successful example of a foreign company putting down roots, making the transition from our soft landing offering to fully-fledged office space, we hope to see more companies from outside the UK follow suit.”
Hammerkit is currently recruiting for a number of roles for its Liverpool office including production, sales and administration and is turning its attention to the surrounding Liverpool universities for local talent.
For more information about Liverpool Science Park visit www.liverpoolsciencepark.co.uk
For more information about this release please contact Gemma Wieczorek at Active Profile on 0151 705 3675 or email gemma.wieczorek@activeprofile.co.uk.
About Liverpool Science Park
- Liverpool Science Park (LSP) was created as a Special Purpose Vehicle in 2002 by four key partners, Liverpool City Council (LCC),Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU), Liverpool University (UoL) and the North West Development Agency(NWDA).
- LSP is a not for profit company limited by guarantee, with LCC, LJMU and UoL as its three shareholders. LCC owns 51% of shares, with the balance shared equally between the two universities. LSP is designed to be commercially sustainable, although it is formally a nonprofit making company, with any surpluses having to be ploughed back into the business.
- The further growth of LSP and its supporting infrastructure has the potential to be the catalyst for the continued delivery of commercial success and economic growth, co-ordinated with other projects in Liverpool, through the provision of specialist accommodation as well as support for companies from start up to flotation.
- It will focus particularly on those areas of the market, which will benefit from LSP's community of likeminded companies, and this includes graduate startups, university spin outs and companies requiring laboratory space.
- The LSP Board has set itself the goal of being a major national science park with international aspirations. To achieve this, it has recognised that it will need to create a science park with more than 500,000 sq ft of floor space.
LSP's intends to provide an environment, which allows even the youngest of companies to benefit from its totally flexible offer:
- Easy in/easy out policy - support ranging from the provision of a postal address through to 5,000 sq ft of office space over virtually any period of time, 24/7 access and with the provision of state of the art IT capabilities.
- Gateway policy - ensures that only those companies engaged in the knowledge economy in its broadest sense are able to be tenants. This is to ensure that similar companies have the opportunity to mix together and to create a community of like-minded companies.
- Outside business - investors who are new to the region or indeed to the country as they perceive the LSP offer as one which allows them to dip their toe in the market to see how well the city region's business and knowledge resources match their business offer. The LSP offer could also appeal to more established companies from outside the area which might be looking to establish a presence in the city region or to act as a listening post to allow them to stay close to Liverpool developments.
- Lab space - to support the key elements of the city's knowledge economy is a key part of Phase 1 and the creation of 5,000 sq ft of laboratory space in ic2 goes some way to meeting identified demand. Additionally, ic3 will provide a floor of biology laboratories for this purpose.
For more information about the park and its facilities visit www.liverpoolsciencepark.co.uk or call 0151 705 3400
