Bletchley Park Innovation Centre signs up first tenant

Bletchley Park Innovation Centre signs up first tenant
Bletchley Park has signed up the first tenant for its innovation centre and is about to begin construction work.Christine Large, director of the one-time code breaking centre and home to the world's first supercomputer, says the tenant is "a small IT company", although it cannot yet be named.

"We expect the centre to appeal to scientific entrepreneurs, particularly those who have a theme or product that resounds with Bletchley Park," she said.

"It's taken longer to get planning permission than we would have liked, but it was only 15 months ago that we first mooted the idea of the innovation centre."

The 1800sq m centre, a joint venture with Oxford Innovation, will open in the autumn. Meanwhile, Bletchley's main mansion building now has "about half a dozen" tenants.

Since opening as a technology heritage site, Bletchley has seen visitor numbers reach 50 000 last year, up from just 57 in 1992.