A snapshot of the night. Video by Influence Media.
10 years ago, the spot of land next to the River Hull where it meets the Humber wasn’t much to look at, it’s fair to say.
Rough land, some abandoned or repurposed warehouses and a disused dock, overlooking The Deep.
If you walk around the area now though, you’ll see it has been totally transformed. The @TheDock campus is a collection of modern, innovative, and stylish offices, alongside sought after eateries that attract people from all around.
At the heart is the original Centre for Digital Innovation building which has been there since the beginning. Home to over 350 businesses, the C4DI and the campus around it is an integral part of the wider, revitalised Fruit Market area.
The recent addition of a fifth and final building means the vision is complete and on Wednesday 22nd November, the campus was lit up all in blue for its grand opening alongside C4DI’s 10th anniversary celebration.
We welcomed over 100 guests from across the C4DI network, Hull’s business community and beyond, to hear about where we’ve come from, join in the celebrations, and check out the new digs!
David Burns, David Keel, Dominic Gibbons, John Connolly, Tim Shaw
A party at the new place
The fifth @TheDock building comprises 11,000 sq ft of office space and provides a fitting final piece of the jigsaw. Its net zero credentials are also a source of pride, including a living rooftop, solar panels, EV charging and an A+ EPC rating.
Taking place on the first floor of this new space, we gathered to hear from MD John Connolly, chairman David Keel, leader of the city council Mike Ross and more. On hosting duties was Hull DJ David ‘Burnsy’ Burns and we were treated to a great set from comedian Jack Gleadow.
There was plenty of entertainment to be had and guests were well fed too. For tea we had the ever-reliable Hull Pie, and the star of the show was arguably a fantastic scaled down cake replica of the original C4DI building, created by none other than our own Tina Swann. And it tasted as good as it looked!
It was a great night of celebration, as many people attested too afterwards, with many of those who make C4DI what it is, in attendance.
Since then, LinkedIn has been full of kind words about the event. “It was a great night, with food from Hull Pie and the comedy was brilliant too! Here's to another 10 years!” said Mattix Design.
“It was great to hear from those at the heart of the C4DI community talking about what a difference it has made to them, their business and the city” said Kath Wynne-Hague at HCC. Glen Halliwell from Principal IT said, “What an evening celebrating 10 years of C4DI and the opening of the 5th and final building of the Hull Tech campus.”
How we got here
It all started in 2013 with the launch of C4DI Beta, housed in the Wykeland offices on Queen Street and it has since made home in the original C4DI building, before launching another site in Northallerton, North Yorkshire and even developing enterprise links with eastern Europe.
Stemming from a collaborative project between numerous parties including Hull City Council, developer Wykeland and broadband provider KCom that dates back to 2010, John Connolly and Dave Keel masterminded an idea to create a tech hub and co-working incubator in Hull. After the success of the original proof of concept, and as part of the soon to be realised regeneration of the Fruit Market area, our striking physical premises were born.
Here about the 10 year journey alongside KCOM.
In the 10 years since, the aim has been to help entrepreneurs looking to build a tech business in Hull and traditional businesses access technical specialists and solutions.
“Where C4DI has succeeded over the past ten years, and where its strength lies, is in bringing those two different groups together to collaborate.” John says. “We sit between two worlds. The new and the innovative and the established and traditional. That mould is unique to C4DI and how we remain self-sustaining.”
David Keel has been a champion of the project since the beginning and pointed out the transformative impact it’s had on the city, saying, “To create something like the C4DI changes the shape of a city. It’s been a huge part of the revival of this area. They even built a bridge to get to this side of town!”
Now the original vision for this area is complete, with the campus fully up and running and bustling with activity.
A ‘beacon’ for Hull
“For me, the new building isn’t just a new building, it’s a statement of intent, a beacon,” says Keel.
As with all things in the tech world, we don’t look back for long. It’s important to take stock of where we’ve come from and what we’ve achieved. But then it’s time to look forward. And there is much to come.
Developers Wykeland have been at the heart of everything that’s happened here, and MD Dominic Gibbons is understandably delighted “to see this final phase of the development complete and ready to welcome even more innovative tech businesses, as well as major global brands who collaborate with the ever-growing digital community.”
“Being born in Hull and with Wykeland being a local business committed to this region, it means so much to see decisions made 10 years ago make a real, lasting impact on the city and wider area.”
Some kind words from people within the C4DI network.
It really has. And it’s testament to the community and businesses that have been built here that many people have so many good things to say about it. Here’s just a few of the glowing words that members and local business peers have had to say.
“You feel like you’ve got a team around you, a team of experts. You name it, it’s in C4DI and you can find the right people to collaborate with to make really solid business growth.” - Lucy Blackley, Bombyx PLM
“It’s really taken off for us - and being in C4DI has really helped that.” - John Polling, Sauce
“For us it’s been a real accelerator for what we can achieve. It’s just a hub of very smart people.” - Daniel Hibbit, Rubicon
“Without C4DI, Hull would undoubtedly be a poorer place.” - Julian Wild, Rollits LLP
It’s been a wild ride so far. Here’s to the next 10 years!