Bassetlaw Business Innovation Centre -
high hopes for technology powerhouse

Client: Nottinghamshire County Council Economic Development Department

Hot on the heels of the Mansfield i-centre was the announcement of a similar centre for the Bassetlaw district.

Approximately £3.5m funding was allocated to the Bassetlaw Business Innovation Centre - now known as The Turbine - with the plan to create 175 jobs in just three years.

The scheme is a multi-agency project led by Nottinghamshire County Council working with emda and Bassetlaw District Council.

Timing was critical to getting successful exposure for the announcement of the centre and the scheme had to clear a number of hurdles before funding and Government backing for the scheme was granted.

A decision was taken to make a formal announcement complete with virtual reality graphics of what the centre would look like once these goals had been achieved. The results were impressive despite having to compete for news coverage with the Iraq War.

Extensive reports were carried in the Sheffield Star, Nottingham Evening Post and Worksop Guardian. Broadcast interviews were organised on radio stations including BBC Radio Nottingham, and journalists were invited to compare the announcement with the success of the Mansfield i-centre. Some took up the offer and interviewed staff there as well.

More recently, The Turbine was launched to partners at a media event managed by AURA PR. Journalists were taken to the site where initial construction work had begun, resulting in coverage in the Nottingham Evening Post and the Worksop Guardian, and on local radio, such as Trax FM, and on BBC East Midlands Today.

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