Although our core offer is direct business incubation and scale-up support, Sheffield Technology Parks engages in wider economic development initiatives whilst supporting the sector’s grassroots community and the next generation of entrepreneurs.

As a not for profit organisation, our surplus is put back into the tech ecosystem. Whether that’s improving the building and services for our residents, or through supporting wider economic activities, including:

Sheffield Spine

The 'Sheffield Spine' is designed to create an incubation and innovation area in the heart of the city. This is a collaborative effort between key civic partners including Sheffield Technology Parks, Sheffield City Council, the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA), and the two universities.

The Spine connects key points between The University of Sheffield and Sheffield Hallam University, strategically linking up development sites to create vital clustering, incubation, and scale-up space for deep-tech/med-tech/life-science companies.

STP's involvement is rooted in our experience of establishing and managing science and technology parks, and in our mission to support business incubation and contribute to Sheffield’s economic growth. 

Photo by Benjamin Elliott on Unsplash.

The South Yorkshire Incubator & Accelerator Network (SYIAN)

The South Yorkshire Incubator & Accelerator Network (SYIAN) brings together practitioners and programme leads to create a thriving, supportive economic ecosystem. STP is a founder member of the network and part of the SYIAN Delivery Team.

What started as a simple information sharing group quickly grew to include spin off projects and support services. SYIAN now offers up to date information on all support and investment opportunities, a region-wide co-founder platform to make it easier to find a co-founder for your startup, and a collaborative PR project to boost regional and national coverage.

Leah’s Yard

As well as developing our own facilities, we recognise that tech businesses want to locate in a wider economy rich with culture, leisure and business activities. That’s why we’re proud to be seeding the opening of Leah’s Yard – a Grade 2 listed former Little Mester’s Works. This will be brought back to life with a café, restaurant, retail spaces for independent businesses and studio and workshop space for local traders.

Talent pipeline

A healthy tech ecosystem relies on a healthy pipeline of talent coming out of schools, colleges and universities in the city. We work closely with local educators on projects such as pitch competitions and sponsorship of young entrepreneurial initiatives like The BiG Challenge. We create opportunities for young people to meet and learn from founders and for business owners to get in front of the future workforce.

Meetups

STP has been supporting the region’s tech-focused meetups for over five years – offering a free home to host out-of-hours group sessions. We’re proud to work with the digital sector’s grassroots community and support their voluntary activities. The role of meetups is essential in any ecosystem; they provide a safe place for people to meet like-minded colleagues, share challenges around particular technology barriers, and are a great introduction for people outside of the community to engage.

You can get a feel for the meetups taking place across the city on Sheffield Digital’s Events Calendar.