News: Royal visit to Rotherham's award winning enterprise centre

Matrix @ Dinnington, the £3.4m business centre in Rotherham, was officially opened this week by HRH The Countess of Wessex.

The centre is the latest of the four purpose-built centres created by Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council and operated by their regeneration arm, Rotherham Investment & Development Office (RiDO).

During a tour of the building, she had the opportunity to meet with a number of Rotherham companies located at the centre including Freshlook Furniture (pictured), Benditnow, Castus, 3G Controls and AVA Training.

Currently recognised as the most enterprising place in the UK, the visit to Rotherham also follows the news that in March RiDO won the UK Business Incubation's (UKBI) 2011 Incubation Champion Award for the best integrated incubation and enterprise services in the country. This is the second time that Rotherham has won the award in the past six years.

Matrix can accommodate up to 41 companies in purpose-built office and workshops. It was built by Wildgoose Construction and has been operating since 2009. The two storey office and workshop units incorporate a biomass wood pellet heating system, thermal mass insulation, photovoltaic cells and a grey rainwater system.

Councillor Gerald Smith, Rotherham Council's cabinet member for Regeneration and Development Services, said: "Her Royal Highness saw the work of the centre's companies and heard about the innovative environmental features within the building.

"She appeared to be genuinely interested in both the companies' progress, and how the Dinnington site had been reclaimed and revitalised."

The Countess of Wessex went on to visit Sandvik's £4m European Centre of Excellence (SECoE) at Beighton Link Business Park in Rotherham.

Rotherham Investment & Development Office

Images: RiDO