As the Bus Station in Whitehaven marks its second anniversary, Bridget Dempsey meets some of the businesses benefitting from the space

Last month marked two years since the opening of the Bus Station at Whitehaven.

The project was part of the North Shore scheme, led by BEC, with the help of partners including Copeland Council and the Whitehaven Harbour Commissioners. Sellafield Ltd put £5.7m of funding into the project, as part of the company’s corporate social impact programme.

The derelict former bus station in the centre of the town was transformed into a hub for creative and digital start-up businesses and is also home of the first Barclays Eagle Lab outside of a major conurbation. Now 22 businesses use the hub, most on an ‘agile basis’ with five using it as a permanent base.

Ian Stephenson, 77, of TCL Cumbria, has a background in mechanical engineering and ran a company for 25 years, but for the last ten years he has been working with Lancaster University on a number of ideas for new energy solutions.

He came up with an idea of creating a turbine to generate electricity by pumping water through jets, a revolutionary idea for the generation of power. The development of this idea led to the creation of The Stephenson Turbine, the first turbine to be invented in over 100 years.

Ian applied for an Innovate UK grant last year, which enabled him to get a space in the Bus Station. However, Ian was missing a key aspect – expertise in electronics. He says: “It was the catalyst to getting this concept off the ground, without a shadow of a doubt. I had some reservations because I was looking for somewhere with more engineering facility, however having got the maker space downstairs and the 3D facility, the prototypes we have built have been 3D printed.

“So, the whole thing about having somewhere to work, design, meet the right skill sets, pull it all together, has been tremendous. Lo and behold just down the corridor was this young chap, he had the expertise in electronics, and we have been working on this since March this year.”

The young chap in question was 26-year-old Klyne Albertelli, founder of Co-Lab Engineering. He has a background in the nuclear industry, starting out his career as an electrical and instrumentation apprentice for Babcock, moving into Sellafield as a system engineer three years ago.

He left Sellafield in August 2022 and created Co-Lab. After moving into the Bus Station he has collaborated with Ian, working on the electronics for their new project.

He says: “So, the whole thing about having somewhere to work, design, meet the right skill sets, pull it all together, has been tremendous. I looked at all the different locations locally as a start up of where I could go and there is nowhere that offers this kind of service and that incubation space for new start-up businesses, because of the flexibility you have got with the lease arrangements it makes it viable, we are probably reaching the limitations now in terms of capability.

“We probably would have struggled to collaborate if we hadn’t been under the same roof.”

The pair are now collaborating on the ‘CHED’, the compact hydro energy device, and launching a new business named Alternative Technology Solutions.

3D 360, co-directed by Paul Bullock and Lee Fogg, is also based at the Bus Station.

The company works to provide ‘an alternative route to adult education and technical skills in education’ with the business saying their USP is ‘levelling the playing field’ around education and skills, working on the realisation that 3D printing is the future of manufacturing.

After receiving funding in November, the business is rolling the programme out to provide funded training in Cumbria working in schools, businesses and educational establishments.