Bournemouth & Poole, home to digital creative agencies and big ambitions, is now making waves in education, healthcare and transport too.
Its success is powered by strong graduate talent from the highly acclaimed National Centre for Computer Animation and Visual Effects at the University of Bournemouth, Bournemouth & Poole College and an increasingly dynamic ecosystem.
More than 1,000 students attended the Digital Wave digital careers conference last year, learning from and networking with inspiring speakers who could become their future employers.
In September 2016, a new accelerator was launched by Creative England and Silicon South. Called First Bourne, its mentors include representatives of the leading digital companies in Bournemouth & Poole – such as Amuzo and Bright Blue Day. Skills in the area are also being supported by Digital Horizons, which aims to help students enter the digital tech industries.
Meanwhile, digital and creative agencies such as Salad Creative and Zeta go from strength to strength, as do the cluster’s healthtech startups such as Nourish. New co-working spaces are opening up to support this success – THIS Group, for example, have opened a 24/7 creative hub.
Plans are afoot to create a programme of events, following the huge success that festivals and social events have had in the area. Silicon Beach, for example, expanded into London last year, while the town’s Meetdraw Meetup event drew in more than 900 people.
The big news, however, is that Ordnance Survey and Bournemouth Council are testing a 5G mapping and planning tool in the town. Improved connectivity could unlock huge potential across the region.
We are a creative experience agency, driven by design to help to connect brands on a human level. We deliver strategy, creativity and UX across brand and identity, campaign creation, digital design, motion graphics, CGI, VR and film.
Bournemouth is an area where property and architectural development complement all of our internal services. Plus, a good quality of life helps to build a great internal culture while we remotely serve our growing client base throughout Europe. We also have close transport links to get to our London and Dutch offices easily and within a few hours.
We help organisations to refine digital tech product ideas, (mobile apps, websites, IoT, wearables, APIs), through prototypes and user testing, and then develop the commercial models, production versions and marketing strategy that help them to succeed.
Bournemouth is a vibrant coastal town with easy access to both London by train and Manchester by plane. This provides a combination of beach living with the infrastructure needed to get in front of customers. The talent pool here is mature too, both from the university and those looking for a better work life balance.