Minister puts cyber security in range with visit to new centre

Robert Jenrick, Secretary of State Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), visited the Hereford Enterprise Zone recently, finishing with a tour of the new £9 million Cyber Quarter – Midlands Centre for Cyber Security at Skylon Park. 

The Minister officially cut the ribbon on Hereford’s Shell Store, newly refurbished into a modern business incubation and innovation centre, before taking a tour of the Cyber Centre and meeting the University of Wolverhampton Cyber Team and local business leaders who are taking advantage of the services on offer at the site. 

The centre is a joint venture between the University of Wolverhampton and Herefordshire Council and part-funded by the Government’s Local Growth Fund, via the Marches Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). 

The Minister was accompanied by the Financial Secretary to the Treasury, Jesse Norman, MP for Hereford and South Herefordshire as well as the Leader of Herefordshire Council, Councillor David Hitchiner, Zone Chairman, Andrew Manning Cox and Mandy Thorn, Chair of the Marches LEP. 

Welcoming them to the new building, which is due to officially open later this year, were members of the University Cyber Centre team – Professor Nazira Karodia, Pro Vice-Chancellor for Regional Engagement, Professor Amar Aggoun, Dean of the Faculty of Science & Engineering, Professor Prashant Pillai, Head of the School of Mathematics and Computer Science and Digital Project Manager, Hugo Russell. 

Business leaders included C4i Systems, SEPAR International and Kinetic Six Ltd.