Duke of York heads to Oldham’s Open Future_ North startup accelerator

The Duke of York is visiting Oldham for an update on the town’s new Open Future_ North startup accelerator.

Prince Andrew will today (November 7) take a tour of the multi-functional hub, which is designed to scale young digital businesses across Greater Manchester.

Currently under construction, Open Future_ North is being developed by Wayra UK, a programme run by entrepreneur support organisation Telefónica Open Future_, alongside Oldham Council.

The facility forms part of the authority’s £1m investment into helping enterprises thrive in the town’s Independent Quarter.

From next year, startups at Open Future_ North will have access to co-working space and business support including mentoring and training. Firms will also be given access to Wayra UK’s partner and investor network.

Wayra UK director Gary Stewart said: “We are delighted to have the support of HRH the Duke of York, and his backing highlights the potential of this new venture, which could be truly transformative in terms of encouraging digital innovation in the North of England.

“Throughout history, the Greater Manchester region has been an engine driving the UK economy forward.”

He continued: “Now, this new facility will help the next generation of entrepreneurs develop their ideas into real businesses, encouraging the growth of the digital sector in Greater Manchester and creating new highly-skilled jobs.”

Oldham Council Leader Jean Stretton commented: “We are very excited about the development of Open Future_ North.

“When it opens its doors in 2017 to its first set of start-up companies, Oldham can be the birthplace for exciting new digital businesses that will not only create local jobs and investment, but could even develop tech ideas that can change the world.”

She added: “This project really opens up opportunities in Oldham and Greater Manchester to tech entrepreneurs that simply didn’t exist before.”

Wayra UK has been evaluating startup applications to Open Future_ North and will announce the companies joining the 2017 programme during the royal visit

Businesses chosen for Open Future_ North may then be asked to join the full Wayra UK acceleration programme, giving them the chance to receive £68k of investment in cash and services.

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