The partnership will see Commsworld provide communication solutions for the HALO Enterprise and Innovation Centre (HEIC), currently completing construction, and the HALO’s low carbon emission smart homes, while providing health and education benefits to those living and working at the HALO.
Commsworld will deliver digital connectivity to the four storey HEIC, phase one of the HALO Kilmarnock, an industry-leading digital, data and cyber training and learning facility, placing the HALO at the forefront of the digital “Fourth Industrial Revolution”.
The company will also assist the HALO’s Kickstart scheme by supporting a digital and cyber skills training programme and providing work placements for the HALO’s 200-strong “digital army” of young people. The training will result in a HALO accredited qualification to support future employment opportunities.
At the HEIC, Commsworld will develop a thriving community hub of collaborative technical innovation. Digital, manufacturing and cyber businesses of all sizes including start-ups, spin outs and scaleups, will collaborate and develop their own technology with HALO’s blue-chip commercial partners and world-renowned academic partners.
The HALO Kilmarnock is a £63m brownfield urban regeneration project on a 23-acre site, formerly the home of Johnnie Walker, the world’s leading Scotch whisky.
The state-of-the-art HEIC in Kilmarnock is set to open its doors in autumn 2021. With a vision for a dynamic commercial, educational, cultural, leisure and lifestyle quarter where people can ‘Live, Work, Learn and Play’, the HALO will provide a sustainable community approach to a mixed-use development powered by electricity with a low carbon footprint.
Marie Macklin, founder and executive chair of the HALO, said: “Commsworld is the perfect partner to deliver digital connectivity to the HALO. The company’s world class service will see the HALO as one of the most connected developments in the UK.
“My vision is for the HALO to create a digital army of young people who will gain the skills necessary for successful employment in Tomorrow’s World and I look forward to working closely with Commsworld in supporting our best in class cyber and digital training.”
Bruce Strang, Chief Operating Officer of Commsworld, said: “We are delighted to have been chosen by Marie Macklin and the HALO to help deliver such a critical project.
“Together we aim to achieve massive, transformational change for Kilmarnock, Ayrshire and beyond, through providing super-fast connectivity to HEIC, as well as supplying the high-quality training through Kickstart that can create a new generation of highly-skilled digital workers in an area crying out for skilled employment of this kind.”
The HEIC’s state of the art 49,000sqft building will include a 15,500 sq ft floor to drive enterprise and innovation. This floor will be home to enterprising business entrepreneurs with 110 co-working desks and a resident Barclays Bank PLC Eagle Lab.
Headline sponsor, Scottish Power and gold partner, Anderson Strathern, will support business growth on the HALO’s #Rockme co-working and accelerator floor.
In a UK first, the HALO’s Tomorrow’s World Globe is a unique virtual communication facility with weekly international conferencing being streamed into the HALO Enterprise Floor.
The HALO’s 210 low carbon emission smart homes will be built in the second phase of the development.
