Royal seal of approval for new hi-tech hub

VISIT . . . Duke of York at Oldham Town Hall to look at the new digital hub with Abdul Alim of Offer Moments

NORTHERN start-up technology businesses will present their plans to the Duke of York when he visits Oldham's new digital hub tomorrow.

Prince Andrew be at the new site on Yorkshire Street as part of his activities to support new businesses.

The digital hub was previously the Wahoo club, but it was refurbished as part of a £1million investment by Oldham Council to help new businesses in the town centre.

The prince saw the hub plans during a visit to Oldham in November and tomorrow will give him the chance to see the venue for the first time.

The hub's main purpose is to help northern entrepreneurs develop new technology businesses to create more jobs and economic growth, organisers say.

The venue is also home to the Open Future North support programme run by Wayra UK, which is part of the O2/Telefonica group. Wayra has selected several businesses for its first phase of support including two Oldham firms.

One is JobSkilla, an online service offering information on skills and training courses for job-seekers and training organisations. It was launched by husband and wife Chris and Lisa Hughes, from Shaw.

The second is Offer Moments and specialises in electronic billboards for shopping malls and high streets. The billboards display instant promotional messages based on passers-by social media activity. Offer Moments was founded by Abdul Alim and Shahzad Mughal, from Oldham.

The hub will also become home to technology businesses and services, and includes shared desk and workshop space, meeting rooms and an events space.

Facilities are available for rent. For example and people who mainly work at home can book space there for work or meetings. The Hack Oldham group will also be based there.

Wayra held its officially opening there last month.

Tomorrow's royal visit is linked to Prince Andrew's business support scheme, Pitch@Palace, which brings together start-up enterprises with advisers and investors. He is touring the country with the programme and the Oldham event will feature 15 entrepreneurs from the north presenting their plans.

Tomorrow's winners will secure a place at a bootcamp at St James's Palace in London, offering further opportunities for support and investment.

Prince Andrew said: "I am delighted to bring Pitch@Palace On Tour to Oldham. It is designed to support, enhance and add value to start-up and scale-up companies by providing a platform for entrepreneurs and audiences to meet, network and hear the great ideas that are being commercially developed and built by the next generation of entrepreneurs. I wish all the entrepreneurs a successful time."

Gary Stewart, Wayra UK director, said: "Pitch@Palace is one of the UK's leading initiatives to help start-ups. It is brilliant to be able to bring it to Oldham through our new tech accelerator programme.

"Wayra start-up businesses have an impressive record in the competition, and I am sure that whichever company wins will use it to reach the next level in their development."

Since it was launched in 2014, Pitch@Palace has supported more than 400 companies.