Christchurch's EPIC celebrating extended lease and second birthday

The Enterprise Precinct and Innovation Campus (EPIC) tomorrow marks its second birthday with the celebration of a seven-year extension to its ‘peppercorn’ lease on the land it occupies in central Christchurch.

“The Christchurch City Council understands our vision for an innovation hub and the collaborative success we have achieved in two years,” EPIC Executive Director Colin Andersen says.

“The Council has approved an extension for the ‘peppercorn’ rental of the land EPIC sits on until 2024. We are very grateful for that acknowledgement of the value EPIC represents to the Christchurch business community,” he says.

Christchurch Deputy Mayor Vicki Buck says, “EPIC has filled a huge gap in the city in so many ways and the manner in which businesses there have worked together has been fantastic.

“We’re keen to encourage innovation and different ways of doing things and EPIC has been great at both,” she says.

EPIC’s Colin Andersen says, “It is clear from our liaison with more mature innovation hubs around the world that the success of the hub is strongly dependent on the contribution from those inside it.

“We have been granted an extra seven years on this site and it is crucial that we make this effort sustainable,” he says.

EPIC’s success has been made possible by a lot of ongoing pro-bono and volunteer effort and funding/sponsorship by Bank of New Zealand, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, Humphry Rolleston, Duncan Cotterill, the Canterbury Business Recovery Trust, Warren and Mahoney and Soutar and Associates.

BNZ Director Retail and Marketing Craig Herbison says, “EPIC is a great opportunity for the bank to show its support for innovative local communities. BNZ is very proud to be the sole banker for EPIC and has supported the campus since its inception.

“Christchurch is home to predominantly small and medium businesses. BNZ’s ability to support these companies through the quakes and assist them to find a new place to work and grow their business through collaboration is a highlight for us,” Herbison says.

“EPIC has been a recipe for growth with many of the tenants increasing their profitability since making EPIC their home. We congratulate the tenants and wider community for bringing EPIC to life and harnessing the collaborative spirit to grow their businesses,” he says.

Some of the EPIC achievements in two years:

• € € € €Many EPIC companies are reporting over 100% growth since moving in
• € € € €Over 200 public events have been run at EPIC
• € € € €Redseed was a finalist in NZ High Tech Awards 2014
• € € € €Concentrate was a finalist in 2014 Canterbury Business Awards
• € € € €Meta Solutions won the Deloitte Fast 50 – Rising Star award 2014
• € € € €EPIC has been visited by ambassadors from the UK, Australia, USA, Japan and China.
• € € € €EPIC and Cerebral Fix were both finalists in 2013 Canterbury Business Awards
• € € € €SLI Systems listed on the stock exchange in 2013 and was very well received
• € € € €EPIC has become the default place to run ICT/high-tech events
• € € € €Colin Andersen toured the UK and Ireland visiting Innovation Parks on a Callaghan Innovation funded trip
• € € € €Wil McLellan was selected for the prestigious Eisenhower Award and has just returned from a seven-week tour of the USA working on methods to increase joint ventures and partnership between NZ and USA organisations.

Colin Andersen is currently helping to create a National Innovation Alliance aimed at connecting innovation hubs across New Zealand and the world. The group includes ATEED, Grow Wellington, Waikato Innovation Park, BizDojo and Chris Kirk (representing the tertiary education sector).

“Since our return from the Callaghan Innovation funded visit to the UK we have formed an alliance to create value by working together, sharing ideas, leveraging networks and establishing a national voice for innovation hubs,” he says.

“We’re looking to share international expertise and learnings and be organised and co-ordinated, rather than regarding each innovation hub as a competitor,” Andersen says.

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