I guess we were all concerned about 2010 when we looked at budgets and the economical outlook last year. With an election looming and little sign of liquidity in the lending market it was always going to be an ‘interesting’ first six months.

One of the new University of Nottingham buildings

So I was really interested to see some facts from my friends at Invest in Nottingham about some of the good news stories from the first six months of the year – and it’s not all bad! For a quick rundown…

12th January – a £5 million Energy Centre is announced for The University of Nottingham Innovation Park. The 2,100 sq m facility will provide research and development space for collaborative projects between the University and industry.

19th April – Crytek announce their move the Southside Business District. One of Europe’s leading video gaming companies’s announced it is to move its UK headquarters to the Southreef office development on the edge of Nottingham City Centre. The move will see up to 90 jobs relocate to the new 17,500 sq ft office.

26th April – E.ON announce a new 105,000 sq ft office to be built on part of the city’s Guildhall side following pre-let for Miller Birch.

25th May – Jamie Oliver is set to open an Italian restaurant in the city centre. The Jamie’s Italian restaurant will be the first outside of the South-East.

27th May – the launch of The Portal – a 90,000 sq ft £40 million data centre that will provide the city with carrier neutral national and international high-speed fibre links. The Portal is set to put Nottingham firmly on the UK’s ICT map and could provide excellent data links for schemes in Nottingham including MediPark, Sneinton Market, Eastside, Southside amongst others.

27th May – Launch of Southside Business District at Invest in Nottingham Day. Southside Business District is an initiative to create a world class business environment in the heart of Nottingham. The District is centred around The Hub – Nottingham’s soon to be created transport hub where train, tram and bus will connect the city to national and international destinations.

1st June – Local business Sygnature Chemical Services is set to double in size over the next five years and is investing up to £500,000 in facilities in BioCity, Nottingham. The company now employs 36 people within its team and plans to increase up to 50 by the end of next year.

7th June – The University of Nottingham announce a major new building programme which will further enhance the campus facilities. Over £35 million will be invested in 4 new, state of the art, environmentally sustainable buildings across two campuses.

10th June – Changan Automotive announce a new Research and Development Centre in Nottingham which will create up to 200 jobs over the next three years.

Here’s to the next six months….