Park Royal Food Innovation Centre

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Park Royal Food Innovation Centre is located in Cumberland Avenue, London, UK. The Park Royal FIC will provide support to the estimated 870 small to medium-sized food enterprises operate in London. 10% of employment in London is related to the food and drink industry. Park Royal Partnership (PRP) opened its new food innovation centre (FIC), located in Cumberland Avenue, London, in October 2009. PRP is a public and privately funded economic development agency focused on the regeneration and sustainable development of the Park Royal industrial estate in London, UK. The FIC is part funded by a grant of £200,000 from the EU through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), with the remainder invested by PRP. The main aim of setting up the FIC was to provide support to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in London’s food and beverage industry. With the help of the London Development Agency, PRP conducted a survey to understand the nature of the industry in London. It is estimated that approximately 870 food and beverage SMEs operate in London. The survey indicated that the majority of these SMEs require guidance and support on various aspects to help improve their business. The SMEs need support developing new products and guidance on certification to recognised standards and food safety management. They also required networking facilities to expand their businesses. Based on the feedback from the survey, PRP tested the feasibility of setting up a dedicated centre to provide these services to the SMEs. The FIC will provide several services to the SMEs in areas such as product development, packaging, labelling and marketing. It will also assist them in adopting sustainable practices in their operations to reduce their carbon footprint. The FIC will run as a partly funded pilot unit till March 2011 after which it may function commercially. The FIC aims to become a hub of support to all stakeholders and create awareness through the provision of information, guidance and services from specialist bodies. The SMEs need to be London based and not have more than 250 employees to avail the services of FIC. They should be trading for more than a year and should not have annual revenue of more than €50m. Various SMEs such as processors, manufacturers, packers and caterers can avail the services of the FIC. SMEs are expected to benefit from the practical advise offered by suppliers, consultants and industry experts to gain a competitive edge in the market. Park Royal food innovation centre design The FIC includes a modern development kitchen, meeting rooms and training suites. A dedicated kitchen operated by Dephna Kitchens is also available for hire for catering businesses. The kitchen features catering units with areas ranging between 400ft² and 4,000ft². The units are Environmental Health Standards compliant and feature loading and storage areas. Meeting rooms are available at the FIC to be used by the SMEs to conduct discussions with industry consultants, suppliers and other partners. The training suites of the FIC can be used for conducting seminars, and holding networking events and expert briefings. The FIC will also provide research and advice services free of charge in partnership with Campden BRI. The company will provide legal and technical support through a dedicated telephone helpline. It will also conduct regular seminars to provide advice and consultancy services to the SMEs. Additional testing, analysis and networking opportunities will be provided to SMEs that take up Campden’s membership. FIC site It is estimated that more than 250 food and beverage companies operate in the Park Royal industrial estate. About 140 of these companies are SMEs. Together these companies generate about 30% of London’s food and drink production and contribute about £8bn a year to London’s economy. About 10% of jobs in London are related to the food and beverage industry. Lack of proper support and training services, however, limited the annual turnover of majority of these companies to less than £1m each. PRP, therefore, felt the need for a dedicated facility in Park Royal to serve the needs of these companies and others located across London.

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