Peterborough green business hub opens

A hub for environmental and clean technology companies is set to open this week as the first step in a process that will bring £1 billion worth of regeneration to Peterborough.

The Eco Innovation Centre, which will nurture green start-up companies as well as developing the 340 such firms already in the area, will lead to the construction of the Green Quarter.

Peterborough’s Eco Innovation Centre has 13 units and already the UK Centre for Economic and Environmental Development (UK CEED) and the Centre for Sustainable Engineering (CSE) are operating from its premises.

Seeking to capitalise on Peterborough’s reputation as Environment City, the project was put together by the CSE, the East of England Development Agency, UK CEED, Opportunity Peterborough and Peterborough City Council.

Centre manager Guy Eames told Peterborough Today: "The centre will act as a home for start-up companies and provide a central point for local environmentally active organisations. Our philosophy is simple – through eco innovation we can create the technological solutions required for a low-carbon economy whilst creating jobs and wealth in the process.

"For the entrepreneur, this means an enormous opportunity to create new markets for superior and more efficient goods and services. For industry, this allows unheard-of efficiencies."