Postscript: Creating and Managing a University-Based Incubator

This study addresses a research gap by focusing on incubatees located in a UK university-based incubator. INNOSPACE provided the case study for this book and falls between a non-profit incubator and an academic incubator on the continuum developed by Allen and McCluskey (1990). The overall aim was to help university students and graduates start new businesses with a view to creating jobs and enhancing the local economy. The set-up funding for INNOSPACE was provided by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), Manchester Metropolitan University Business School (MMUBS), and the Centre for Enterprise (CfE). A large office space provided by MMUBS was under-utilised before INNOSPACE was established. During the first operational year, management charged incubatees a rent well below market price. Before the ERDF funding was due to run out, the management team was thinking of ways of sustaining INNOSPACE financially. After funding the first year, the University agreed to continue to provide the office facilities but insisted that the management team had to be supported through rental income. Consequently, a tiered rent system was introduced depending on the facilities incubatees wanted (or could afford) to access. The rental packages ranged from postal address only with no other administrative support, hot-desking, a dedicated desk, and a dedicated office on a different floor (rent depending on size of office). Because of the benefits provided to incubatees and the increasing number of tenants, it was possible to increase the overall rent substantially and the incubator became partially financially self-sustaining financially and independent of MMUBS and the CfE. INNOSPACE fits with Todorovic and Moenter’s (2010: 28) definition of a university incubator:INNOSPACE regularly had student visitors from MMUBS and other University departments who had studied or were studying subjects related to entrepreneurship or small firms. Some incubatees offered work experience to students. For example, Jamie Bettles (Sect. 10.6) saw the on-campus location as a platform for collaboration and recruitment (including opportunities for placements, internships, student-led consultancy projects, and part-time and full-time employment). In a sense, the incubator complemented existing educational programmes. The University and the CfE promoted INNOSPACE to students and encouraged them to turn their ideas into real businesses. Hence, MMU students had the opportunity to test out their ideas before or after graduation. When setting up and running INNOSPACE, academics and managers from various MMU Faculties, who were interested in supporting entrepreneurship, were invited to join the Steering Group, which we discuss in more detail below. In addition, most of the business advisors were associated with business support organisations such as Blue Orchid and Winning Pitch, which exposed incubatees to mentors with long experience of supporting new businesses.