NorthernNet opens for business in the North East
Feb 25 2010 by Karen Dent, The Journal
A super-fast broadband network and the latest technology located at pay-as-you go hubs around the region is aiming to put Northern creative businesses on the map. Karen Dent reports.
Although super-fast broadband is not uncommon – and there is of course the Sohonet network which has helped to establish London as one of the world’s most successful creative hubs – there are other facets of NorthernNet that make it a unique proposition.
“It’s pay-as-you-go, there is no one else in the world doing this,” said Ms Clark-Smith.
And key to the project is its aim of persuading more small, creative businesses to collaborate to win the bigger contracts.
“It’s getting companies to do a mind-shift about collaboration. There is little collaboration in the North and most of the companies are small companies,” she said.
“To get tenders, people need to pull together to get that work. It’s about the supply chain part of it – networking, getting people together to facilitate collaborations.
“It’s filling that gap, facilitating and collaboration. That combination of a collaborative project or technology – usually people do one or the other.”
And persuading smaller firms to work together will help to persuade the big customers that the region is a serious player in the global creative industry.
“By small companies collaborating we can get those contracts and keep talent in the North,” said Ms Clark-Smith.
“The North is competitive. It’s got a strong supply chain and there are all these skills.
“We are getting these great opportunities in the North and we want to keep that money in the North. It’s making the North a real hub.”
Digital City Business’s Mark Elliott agrees but he says that creating that mind shift among small firms used to operating alone will take time to achieve.
“The idea of collaboration across geographic boundaries is very new,” he said.
“You have to build the appetite for it. You have to build a critical mass of interest. I think what it will take is a project that really, really nails it in people’s imagination – a big win for a company in Newcastle, a company in Manchester and a company in Leeds, and that will take time.
“There is definitely interest. People are realising the possibilities of collaboration or are taking a closer look.
“This is potentially one of the most important projects for the creative and visual industries in the North East to help them to compete on a worldwide level.”
The MABs have been open for business since December but the real push to make businesses aware of the project has only just started. However, a number of firms have already been taking advantage of the technology in different ways.
Ms Clark-Smith said: “The way it is being used is unexpected. One PR company which deals a lot in video, came back and said they had saved a lot of time. Another company has been getting a lot of work at short notice from places like Dubai.
“It would cost them about £30,000 for their own connection and another £25,000 for Asperta. This makes them look so much more professional and their spend on it is small.
“If you’ve got a NorthernNet account, you’ve always got connectivity, even if yours goes down. People are using NorthernNet accounts to show continuity.”
