Somerset’s newest innovation hub will finally open in early-May more than two years after construction first got under way.

Somerset County Council begin building the Firepool Centre for Digital Innovation (FCDI) in Taunton in November 2021, having secured planning permission for the Taunton facility in March the same year.

Work has been slowly but steadily progressing since then on the £11m facility, which will provide a base to small and medium-sized businesses within the digital sector.

Somerset Council has now confirmed the facility will finally be open to its new tenants early next month – around the same time that the latest phase of the Firepool regeneration scheme is set to get under way.

The centre lies at the northern end of the Firepool site, just across from Taunton railway station.

Of the nearly £11m which has been spent on the project, £7.3m has come from external grant funding, including contributions from the governent’s getting building fund (£5.45m), the European Union’s European regional development fund (£1.69m) and growth deal funding from the Heart of the South West Local Enterprise Partnership (£235,000).

The council has provided the remaining £3.6m through its capital programme, and will retain ownership of the building for the duration of its lifespan.

The new facility includes four floors of flexible office space, along with event spaces, co-working hubs, a reception area and a café.

The building benefits from ultrafast broadband, allowing for high-resolution video conferencing, and also includes a dedicated audio-visual podcast room.

Councillor Ros Wyke, portfolio holder for economic development, planning and assets, said: “The fact that we have, once again, successfully secured such significant external funding underlines our commitment to supporting innovation in Somerset’s key growth sectors.”

The centre has already been used to host a number of private events, including a cyber-security conference hosted by the South West Cyber Resilience Centre, the annual conference of the South West Infrastructure Partnership,  and a Tech South West AI network evening.

Dan Pritchard, founder of Tech South West said: “Our recent AI South West event at the FCDI worked really well.

“It’s bang in the centre and has a great open space, good tech – it’s all kitted out. It’s a good location for events and I’m sure for innovative companies looking for a home and hub to be part of.”

The council has been seeking to move forward with the wider Firepool regeneration scheme, which will see the former cattle market site regenerated with a mixture of residential, commercial and cultural development.

The new access road linking the site to Trenchard Way was completed in early-June 2023, and new connections to the local sewer system were installed over the summer, with a one-way system being in place on the A3038 Priory Bridge Road.

The council announced in late-January that it would shortly begin the delivery of the new boulevards running through the site, which form part of a wider active travel route linking the railway station to Vivary Park via the Firepool and Coal Orchard regeneration sites.