New hub will be a hive of expertise

Gary McKeating was appointed as managing director for the Industrial Solutions Hub (iSH), in Cleator Moor, earlier this year on a two-year secondment from Sellafield Ltd, where he was head of community and development.

Throughout his career Gary has worked in inward investment and stakeholder relations for Sellafield Ltd on projects such as the Bus Station business hub and The Edge Coastal Activities Centre, in Whitehaven, and plans to transform the former Whittle's furniture store in the town into a digital and gaming hub.

The iSH Enterprise Campus will be developed at Leconfield Industrial Park with funding from the government’s Towns Fund (£22.5m) and Levelling Up Fund (£20m), alongside support from Sellafield, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority and Cumberland Council.

Work on the iSH Hub - which will combine work and office space, workshop space and meeting areas - is due to begin at the end of the year, with work on phase two - the construction of workshop space for SMEs of varying sizes - following soon after.
The Sellafield Centre of Engineering Excellence, which develops robotics, RoVs and other technologies to solve problems at the nuclear site, is already located at the industrial park alongside SMEs such as Forth Engineering.

Gary says his focus is on supporting the growth of business on the site alongside developing its “cluster capability” specialising in robotics and AI, engineering and manufacturing.

It will aim to bring together businesses in these sectors, not just from West Cumbria but other parts of the county, to solve technical problems, including on the Sellafield site.
Consultation is under way with businesses to assess the demand for space at the site. Any companies which are potentially interested in taking space are being asked to get in touch.

This is part of a wider mission to work with local businesses to push the project forward.

“We want to help businesses grow and flourish,” says Gary.

“They are the businesses that are here now, the businesses that are not here now and businesses that will be - hopefully - moving into the area.

“We want them to look at what the market opportunity is, primarily at Sellafield because it is the major economic anchor.

“There is a 100-year programme for businesses to go at at Sellafield - if we can help them achieve their goals, then that’s a success for iSH.

"The Leconfield estate businesses are thinkers, doers, problem solvers, hands-on organisations that will take a problem in pretty quick time and help to resolve that problem," says Gary.

"It's about harnessing that knowledge from the people we have got locally and we can bring in as well. Part of it is around inward investment and making sure that we are seen as a hotbed of capability and technology.”

iSH will play an important part in promoting West Cumbria’s status as a location brimming with nuclear expertise, attracting business to the area as well as helping the region create greater revenues through sales growth and exports.

iSH is also working with local organisations to enable further training and upskilling of West Cumbria’s people to tackle skills gaps and create economic opportunity.

"It's not our job to upskill people, but it's our job to work with the organisations and skills providers to make sure that the skills they are providing are relevant. An extension of that is making sure people in the areas have access to opportunities,” says Gary.

Despite Cleator Moor’s relatively remote location, he believes the potential for work at Sellafield and in the associated supply chain will provide a draw for businesses.

"It doesn't matter whether the infrastructure is challenging, if you're getting companies to locate they will be locating because of opportunity. For me it's about the positivity and the opportunity and just about £1.5bn going through the Sellafield supply chain," he says.

"We shouldn't think of it as being difficult to get to, we should think of it as being at the centre of a massive opportunity.”