Hustle Awards 2025 Special: Oxford Innovation Space, Winner of Readers' Choice Award

0:00Welcome back to the Serial Entrepreneur, I'm your host Anna Wood. On today's episode, I'm joined by Jo Stevens, the Managing Director of Oxford Innovation Space. We discuss being founded by the University of Oxford's first spin-out, how the organisation encourages the creation of regional innovation ecosystems and winning the Reader's Choice Award at the Hustle Awards 2025. Let's dig in. Hi Jo, welcome to the podcast today. How are you? I'm good, thank you Anna. Thank you for having me. Yeah, thank you for coming on. So we begin every episode with our signature icebreaker question, which is what's your favourite breakfast cereal and why?

0:43Well, so for many years, I didn't eat cereal at all because I don't really like milk. And so I wouldn't have been able to answer that question. But in more recent times, I've started having for breakfast a cereal called Surreal, S-U-R-R-E-A-L, which is a high protein, high fibre low sugar and actually tastes good and so I have that pretty much every morning with some yoghurt berries and cinnamon oh lovely which flavour though well I like the chocolate one the best but I do also quite like the salted the caramelly one as well biscuit caramelly type one but I used to order they do sort of selection boxes of the full size and I used to order six of selection ones and then I realised the only ones I was really eating with the chocolate so now I just get a delivery of six chocolate ones every now and then.

1:35Honestly, that's fair enough. I've also tried the chocolate ones, which I really enjoy. Yeah, no, they're good. There's a new one out, actually, which I got a free sample of the other day, which is very similar. I can't remember the name of it now, but that's quite nice. They're sort of balls rather than the hoops. Oh, interesting. I'll have to check it out. So to begin, would you be able to also introduce yourself and tell me a bit about your background? Yeah, so I'm Jo Stevens, I'm the Managing Director of Oxford Innovation Space. I'm actually in November of this year, I will have worked for the company for 25 years.

2:14So I've probably done most jobs in the company in that 25 years as well. So when I joined, I joined to open two of our innovation spaces, one in South Oxfordshire and one which is going to be our first centre actually outside of Oxford. So as our name suggests, we were founded in Oxford and 25 years ago, we opened our first innovation space outside of Oxfordshire in Bracknell. And I opened that one. Prior to joining Oxford Innovation, if I can remember that far back, I was working supporting social enterprises and early stage startups in Oxford and in Reading, but more focused on sort of more general business support and running training courses for people who had low educational attainment and were thinking about starting a business.

3:07So it was a bit of a change when I moved to Oxford Innovation. But yeah, obviously staying 25 years, I've loved it. yeah I was gonna say that's a long time to spend in a company so it really is it is I was only gonna I was only gonna stay for two years that was my sort of my career plan was stay for a couple of years and then find something else to do but I guess I just loved what we do so much and really enjoyed working for the company and seeing the the companies that we supported go on to do great staff that yeah I just I guess I was hooked and so I think I am now the longest serving member of staff so yeah in November it's 25 years.

3:50Wow so this place that you love so much what is Oxford Invasion Space and what are you trying to achieve? So it's probably worth me just reflecting a bit on on our history and and why we were founded because I think that then sort of tells the story of what we do now. So we were originally a wholly owned subsidiary of a charity and that charity was called the Oxford Trust and that had been set up by Sir Martin and Lady Audrey Wood who were the founders of a company called Oxford Instruments and Oxford Instruments was the very first Oxford University spin-out company. So in 1959 they set up Oxford Instruments and I guess it's sort of legend now and I guess if you say something often enough it becomes true I really hope it is true but they the sort of the story is that Oxford Innovation was set up to provide the support to early stage and startup technology and innovation led companies that they wanted in 1959 for Oxford Instruments but couldn't find so that was access to flexible workspace so they started Oxford Instruments in their garden shed, building a magnetic resonance for body scanners, for example, in their garden shed.

5:06So they want that they would have really valued some flexible workspace. They wanted access to good quality business support targeted and tailored for innovative technology companies and also access to early stage finance. So that bit of funding between what you can raise yourself and what a venture capitalist will fund, which now typically we know is filled by the likes of business angels and things like EIS and SEIS funds. And so the original Oxford Innovation was set up to do those three things, flexible workspace, business advice and support, and access to early stage finance. As you'll know, because our sister company, Oxford Innovation Finance, also entered the Hustle Awards, we're now sort of in three parts of Oxford Innovation.

5:54So there's Oxford Innovation Finance, which is the business angel networks. There's Oxford Innovation Advice, which is the government funded business support programs. And then there's Oxford Innovation Space. And what we provide is flexible workspace, whether that is offices, labs, workshops for innovative technology, knowledge based and science based companies. We started in Oxford nearly 40 years ago in some port-a-cabins and we've now grown to a network of 900 or so companies across England, Northern Ireland and Ireland in 30 plus innovation spaces, just under a million square foot of space.

6:39and that space is everything from you know offices to co-working space to meeting rooms to event space to drop-in lounges and cafes and it's basically the sort of space that a startup needs but you know all in one place a bit like typical serviced office space that you might find from WeWork or Regis but the difference is we also then provide business support to all of the companies in our centres. So that's the critical bit that we then deliver. We want them to grow, we want them to thrive, and we actually want them to move out. So we want them to get so successful that they leave us and that we then celebrate their success and they've moved into their own premises somewhere locally.

7:27So that's really what we do. It's all about us creating spaces for startups, early stage, innovative technology companies to thrive and grow. That's amazing. So what kind of support do you offer to startups, both kind of services and programs? So in each of our centres, we have a member of staff whose job it is to support those companies. And that typically ranges from one-to-one coaching and mentoring. So they might sit down with a company and go through their business plan, advise them on where they can get other support or funding from. It also often is the sort of one to many type opportunities as well.

8:09So we run a lot of workshops. We do that with quite a lot of partners. So we might work with a local accountancy firm or patent agent or legal firm who specialise in particular issues that typically we focus on the sort of support that innovative technology companies might need. So that's sort of, you know, if they've got regulatory issues that they need to address, if they've got trademark or patent issues because they're dealing with complex IP, you know, if they need to raise money and they need to get pitch ready, then all of those sorts of things that those sorts of companies might need because they're going to go through serious rounds of funding or incarnation or quite rapid growth.

8:57growth we also then obviously it's you know one of the benefits for them of being in a in one of our centers is that they're co-located with lots of other interesting companies and entrepreneurs and people probably going through similar things to them so we do a lot to bring those groups together so we have quite a lot of peer-to-peer type meetings and events where we're bringing together CEOs or senior people but also then just some social stuff because you know one of the is to meet other people and being an entrepreneur can be really lonely. So for us, one of the things that we can provide is a space where they can also meet other people in a social environment, can relax and they can focus on then hopefully getting back to their business and working on making it grow.

9:45Yeah, that's great. I think, what do you think differentiates Oxford Innovation Space from kind of the competitors that are out there currently? So I think it's just that. So we are very focused on the companies and what they need to grow. And we don't just pay lip service to that. So we have members of staff who are dedicated to that. Lots of people say they provide support to startups and lots of organizations say they run innovation spaces. And then when you actually look at what they're doing, I would say it's not really that differentiated. There are lots of great serviced office operators out there, but we are quite different to them.

10:27The other bit is that we typically tend to be in quite a lot of places where other operators aren't. So some of our innovation spaces are in places where, you know, a local authority has recognised that that place needs an intervention to encourage businesses to be successful. and so quite a lot of our innovation spaces are in towns and cities that are not the big sort of London Manchester but they're in you know places where actually what you're trying to do is to create an opportunity for businesses to thrive and grow so they don't have to go to some of the big cities and those those smaller places don't then lose that talent to other places so I think that's another difference.

11:16We also, we work very closely with the universities. So we're on a number of university campuses. We're also on some large research sites such as Harwell and Cullum in Oxfordshire. And I guess, I guess that breadth of expertise that we have, and working in different locations across a range of sectors is also quite different. So a number of our competitors are probably sector focused. So they only work with life sciences or biotech companies We work across any sector as long as it's innovation or technology or knowledge base led, then we will work with that company and we will work in that space.

11:56So it sounds like you're really encouraging kind of more regional ecosystems to come up rather than getting people, as you said, to go to London or Manchester or the big hubs and really actually trying to, instead of making the cities bigger, instead kind of like improving innovation across all areas. Yeah, exactly. Exactly that. And actually, I mean, place is a really big part of how we think about what we do. So, you know, our mission includes a statement about what we're doing helps local economies thrive. So we're helping the companies to thrive. But actually, that in turn helps those local economies and those places to thrive.

12:38And that's really important to us. And if you look at the way in which we position each of our centres, it has a brand that is absolutely embedded in that place. So we don't call them Oxford Innovation Space. If I actually I'm often asked, you know, how would we even know Oxford Innovation Space runs this? And that's probably, you know, that's maybe that's a maybe that's to our detriment. But actually, you know, each of our buildings is branded according to the place that it's it's in. So in Belfast, we run the Innovation Factory. In Bristol, we run Future Space on the University of West England campus.

13:16In Fairham, we run Fairham Innovation Centre. In Manchester, where we've got several, you know, each of the buildings is branded according to its place. So we run an old, an innovation space in an old Victorian swimming baths in Thameside and it's called in Ashton under line. And it's called Ashton Old Baths because that plays to the history. But also there's a nice play on that sort of AOB and any other business type acronym. So each place is really important to us. And it's actually it's important to us that we have a role in supporting local economies as well as local businesses. So in the question I asked about your competitors, and you said how some of your competitors will be, they focus on certain sectors within the space, whereas you will look at anyone.

14:08What kind of startups have you found tend to thrive within your centers? I mean, I think so. We are, although we will work across any sector, what we tend to find is that each of the centres does end up with a sector focus or there is a sort of gateway policy. so we're already being selective in a way so we're sort of selecting companies that we think will thrive but the ones that tend to thrive the most I guess are the ones who engage the most actually and therefore get the benefit of all of the other support that we provide you know you do find some companies who you know who don't really engage and don't really benefit from that co-location and you know all of the people that are around them and that can help them and then and then suddenly they they go bust and you're like well if only we'd known we could have helped you um you know we all know those of us that work in with startup companies that you know there are lots of things that can cause you to fail and if you look at the business survival rate in the UK over the first five years, it is still quite low.

15:24We're really proud that our survival rate of the companies across our centres is much higher. It's about a 90 % survival rate. But that doesn't mean that there aren't companies that still struggle. And I think certainly in more recent years, with the sort of volatility in the economy, the challenges around funding in particular on the back of that you know those companies that do seek out help and support do still still tend to be the ones that that thrive and do well and then you always have some who don't get any help and support but are absolutely flying because what they've got is the most amazing business and idea in the world and that you know they don't they don't really need help they just need money and a good place to work and that's absolutely fine we're you know we don't make it a criteria that that or a condition that companies have to have to use our support but we're there if they need us yeah that is truly amazing and kind of like this that you're saying how so many of the companies within your spaces do thrive and don't fail i think that's really impressive as well yeah it's we're really proud of that actually and i mean obviously we only play a small part in their success but um you know it it i think we do create an environment in which success is celebrated and that whole piece about you know we celebrate when somebody moves out is quite rare I mean obviously that financially affects us but you know our job is our job is to help the companies grow so that they will leave us.

17:01So I think I like you work not just in the workspace market but there's more but the workspace market has seen a real shift in the last couple of years have you seen any significant change in what founders are looking for in a space in the last few years? Well I think what founders are looking for hasn't necessarily changed enormously, I think the thing that has changed is what they know their staff are looking for, so we know that you know well-being aspects to workspace are a lot more important you know and when they are as founders when they are in competition for you know the brightest talent to come and work for their company what they want is a really nice working environment that will attract people to come and work for them so part of what what we know we have to do is is respond to what those their staff are likely to want so those sort of well-being things you know having spaces where people can relax where they can chill out where you're putting on activities to bring people together so we've had things like gardening clubs pop up where there are you know lunchtime walks yoga happening in our centres but I also think you know spaces where they're well located easy to get to we're also very focused focused on the net zero and the carbon emissions of each centre.

18:31And I think that's becoming more and more important to staff of the companies that we see in our centres. So they want to see that we're recycling, they want to know what we're doing. And those sorts of things matter much more than they used to. As well as, you know, we all want good coffee and good Wi-Fi. So, So, you know, we've always sort of looked at it as a, you know, there are certain things now that are just a given in that sort of Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Good coffee and Wi-Fi are right there at the bottom of what everybody wants. And if you haven't got that, no one's going to move in.

19:08I think that's just become more important. um but we also i mean the the other thing is that you know we certainly see access to equipment and specialist facilities becoming more important in some places too but fundamentally i don't think it's changed enormously i just think the the big thing that's changed is that people don't want to travel very far and people want good amenities in in their workspaces and they're more and more important and I think they'll only become more important over the coming years particularly you know post-covid when we've all been working at home and could go out and get fresh air whenever we wanted and have a nice environment around us I think that's become even more important.

19:53Yeah definitely so I kind of wanted to move on to the reason why we're here which is Oxford Innovation Space won the Reader's Choice Award at the Hustle Awards this year so congratulations on that thank you so how did that make you feel what does that mean for the company well the first thing it made me feel was quite surprised um I have to say given who we were up against and I was sort of thinking could little old us really garner that much support I guess and um I I think that that's the thing that has meant the most and and look this is you know Oxford Innovation Space is a team of 150 people who most of whom work far closer to the companies in our centres than I do and so really the award I think was for all of our centre teams because they had absolutely garnered support from the customers in our centres.

20:50We benefited from having a community of 900 startups a lot of whom voted for us and told us afterwards that they had voted for us and I guess that's the bit that for us was the most important thing I'm not at all saying that we wouldn't have been delighted to win one of the other awards judged by the judges but for us to be judged by our startups that we work with that that was the thing that meant the most um and that was the thing that certainly meant the most to to our team i think um there was also a nice little bit of healthy rivalry between oxford innovation space and oxford innovation finance so that that you know that was one of the things that we also like nothing wrong with a little bit of healthy rivalry between sister companies um but look yeah for us that the thing that was just um so nice was that it was actually genuinely voted for by our customers and they wanted us to have some recognition for the work that we've been doing over the last coming up for 40 years.

21:55So that was really nice. Yeah. And I think if anything, obviously winning a category judged for by the judges is amazing as well. Always competition for the awards is very tight. I think to win the reader's choice, you're up against everyone at that point. So it is like winning that is such an impressive feat, especially as we get hundreds of votes. and knowing that so many people would have voted for you out of everyone else that that was just amazing yeah no it was and I yeah I think we were um I think we were absolutely thrilled I sort of I'd you know I'd put my sunglasses back on my head when we'd gone when we hadn't won our category award and then when you started announcing it and I and I was like oh my god that's us before you'd even said our name because you sort of described us and I was like oh my god I've got to take my I've got a goblin stage.

22:47So yeah, we were, we were not expecting to win that. So we were absolutely thrilled. And yeah, it's, yeah, any award is nice. We don't enter many awards, actually. I mean, I think that's the other bit we haven't really focused on ourselves ever, really, we focus more on the companies that we work with. So it was nice for once to recognise our own contribution and to have that voted for by our customers just, yeah, made it even more meaningful, I guess. Definitely. So what would you say have been some of the biggest challenges on the Oxford Innovation Space journey? Well, look, you know, it'll be our 40th anniversary in 2027.

23:30So I'm sure that there have been lots of challenges. I mean, clearly, you know, changes or issues in the economy. So recession can create challenges. The sort of volatility of, you know, across the world, really globally, always has an impact on, you know, the confidence of businesses. And for us, the confidence of businesses and investors is absolutely critical to our success. We need people to feel confident about starting and running businesses. And we need investors confident and prepared to take the risk in investing in those businesses for us to have customers that want to move into our spaces.

24:12So absolutely, those sorts of challenges are, you know, regular things that we have had to deal with over our history and probably never more so than in recent years. You know, it does feel at the moment like it's sort of one thing after another, really, post-COVID. I mean, clearly, COVID in itself was a massive challenge for us. we're an organisation who runs workspaces and everybody was told to work from home. And so that immediately makes you think, oh, my gosh, how on earth are we going to survive this? But we did. And I think it's testament to our team and our centres and our clients and our customers that we did.

24:58One of the things we realised was that the sorts of companies that we work with often can't work at home. so if they need lab or workshop space you can't just suddenly uproot that and put that at home and actually therefore keeping our buildings open through COVID was absolutely crucial for us in order to keep supporting those those companies we also then launched a virtual business support network to so that we could still provide support to those companies so I think although that was a challenge actually we learned a lot about the resilience of us and our business and the businesses in our centres and we learned a lot about how we could pivot and change what we were doing to to deal with those things and I think also just you know there has been a massive growth in flexible workspace across the world and and you know certainly in the bigger cities it's become a far more competitive market.

26:01But that's why we've spent a lot of time focusing on our differentiation and a lot of time working out who we are and what we're trying to achieve and not trying really to compete with the big global brands, but having something that's absolutely embedded in a place that is about supporting the businesses in those places rather than trying to compete with people. rather than trying to you know just slash our prices to fill our buildings with anybody for us it's really important that we have the right sorts of companies in our buildings and that we can therefore really add value to what they're doing so lots of things that we've had to deal with I'm absolutely certain there will be other things in the future that we can't possibly predict now you know some of the challenges that we're kind of dealing with now are you know how do we use AI effectively but lots of businesses are dealing with that I don't see it as a way to you know reduce staffing and overheads I see it as a way to enhance what we're doing and enable us to do more because a lot of things can be simplified or done more quickly but through the use of AI and we're starting to roll some things out so yeah I think lots of challenges to come I'm sure but we've been going for nearly 40 years so I've got a lot of confidence about our ability to deal with those again in the future.

27:22Yeah, of course. And kind of like on the flip side of that, what would you say have been some of the more recent highlights? Hey, look, you know, it's always amazing when we see companies that we've supported doing really well. And we've most recently celebrated 25 years of one of our innovation centres. So the Harwell Innovation Centre in South Oxfordshire. And what was really nice, um in we had a sort of party uh lunchtime party one uh one day close to the the anniversary and what was really nice was to see some of the entrepreneurs that so I was around obviously 25 years ago and so I knew a lot of the the entrepreneurs that have been there in the early days and it was really nice to see some of those people still going with their businesses doing really well some that were serial entrepreneurs and were on their third or fourth business since then and that for me is always the biggest highlight and the thing that I love the most is just talking to the entrepreneurs I'm not I don't consider myself to be an entrepreneur I'm an intrapreneur I can be innovative within you know a company that had already been set up for me to run so you know I love listening to entrepreneurs and the way that their mind works and how and how they see opportunities in things that the rest of us wouldn't and so just those conversations and hearing their stories of what's happened over the last 20 years or so since since we um you know maybe said goodbye to them is just yeah that for me is always the highlight it's always seeing those companies how they've done you know and and some of them are in now employing hundreds of people and really creating value and wealth in this country and that's just amazing and and I will never ever get tired of hearing those stories and hey look I said that's one of the reasons why I stayed 25 years so that for me is always the highlight yeah definitely I guess seeing the impact that kind of what you're doing can make on these people and like for someone just starting a business and then you see them 25 years later either multiple businesses down the line or same business but it's now huge I think that kind of jump to be able to see that must be so rewarding as well as like the fact that that's kind of your mission as well yeah it is I mean it makes you feel old when you realize that it was 25 years ago we first met and there's we've all got a few more gray hairs than we did but yeah it's absolutely amazing and you know it's especially I think what's really nice is that they do often remember what we did to help them in the early days and the difference that we made and you never you don't I don't think you do would do this job because you want that recognition from those companies.

30:11But it is always really nice when, you know, when they write a quote for something or they speak at an event and they say how we helped them. And, you know, that always makes you feel like you've made a difference in not only their lives, but in the lives of all of the people who subsequently have got a job with them. So, or whose lives have been changed because what they've developed is a life-changing device that's that saved lots of lives you know those things they they really make you feel good about the job that you do yeah I think we've done some looking back so for my final question I want to kind of look forward which is what do you think the future holds for the innovation space and do you have any big plans in the pipeline that you can discuss uh yeah so well we are as i've said um 2027 will be our 40th year we are currently at 31 centers and so we've got a plan or an aim to get to 40 centers in our 40th year so we have big ambitions to keep growing so we recognize the value of what we do and we think there are more places that could benefit from the support that we provide so yeah so that's sort of our big headline plan sort of more imminently we've got three new spaces that are going to open in um in the next year so one in Bolton in Greater Manchester called the Wellsprings Innovation Centre which will literally be opening on the 1st of September we've got another one in Crawley the Crawley Innovation Centre which will be opening probably a month or so later than that and then early next year a building in Cumbria that will be opening so lots to keep us going both for the next couple of years and then also sort of imminently big plans and big things afoot with three new innovation centres that again you know between them we'll be able to house another 150 or so startup companies in those areas, places where there isn't currently an innovation centre.

32:15And so we're absolutely thrilled to be working with partners there to bring an innovation space to those towns and cities. Yeah, that's really amazing to hear that there's kind of like even more on the horizon and more kind of growing and being able to help more people. Yeah, and I mean, it's quite, you know, for us, we've gone through various periods of growing quite rapidly. And I think that puts us in a really unique position. You know, we are a growing business who is supporting growing businesses. That means that we understand quite a lot of the pains that they're going through, but also, you know, the moments to celebrate when something you've been working on for a long time comes off.

32:55So the building in Bolton in Greater Manchester has been, you know, a few years in the making, and so we're absolutely delighted that that's about to open and the first companies have started moving in, and that for us is just yeah it's amazing to see um and yeah lots lots still to come definitely I may have been here 25 years but I'm not I'm not going anywhere just yet well that's good to hear and I think my final quick fire question is there anything else you wanted to add or plug at the end of the podcast no I just I like to say you know thank you very much um for we were shortlisted obviously for an award and then we won the the hustle award it is nice to have recognition we are delighted continue doing the great stuff you're doing you know highlighting what startups are doing and and what they need because i think you know they are the sort of unsung heroes of the economy really we you know we need more support for startups not less so it would be great if the government could uh put more funding into it and more support into it more tax breaks into it make rather than making it harder for businesses um so keep uh waving that flag for startups and thank you very much.

34:09Yeah well thank you and thank you for everything that Oxford Innovation Space is doing obviously you're supporting so many startups so really you are also a part of that but yeah it's been amazing speaking with you and learning more about what Oxford Innovation Space does how you support startups and obviously catching up about the awards as well so thank you for coming on the podcast. If you like this episode be sure to Subscribe to the podcast and check out Startup Magazine's socials to stay up to date on the latest startups news.