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Gravity is expected to generate up to 7,500 jobs as the 24/7 campus will attract high value businesses that operate in shift patterns.

The figures reflect working patterns of real innovative business occupiers that the market is demonstrating the site and its 24/7 campus environment will attract.

The benefit of operating in shift patterns means that the number of jobs is maximised whilst the number of staff on site at any one time is limited to those required for each shift.

The job predictions will strengthen the opportunity to create a new era in advanced manufacturing at Gravity, based on the former Royal Ordnance Factory near Bridgwater, at the center of the South West.

The Gravity site is proving a unique proposition in the UK, offering a large-scale and readily available site as a destination for international investment.  With a number of enquiries now in play to accelerate commercial responses to climate change, the Gravity team is ready to respond to deliver investment on the ground and realise opportunities for economic transformation.

As the government shifts the UK towards a zero-carbon economy, Gravity is at the centre of the national clean growth revolution. The project aims to make the 616-acre site a blueprint for a cleaner and smarter future, creating a campus that integrates work, homes, leisure, and green space, supported by a sustainable transport system and smart technology.

Gravity’s director of planning and economic development, Claire Pearce, commented: “The type of advanced manufacturing and commercial space that could be built here isn’t business as usual. As such, we’ve looked carefully at how we predict the number of jobs that could be created here in a 24/7 day a week scenario where we could have three shift patterns each day. The community, businesses and other stakeholders are telling us they want to see quality jobs created at Gravity and we are working hard to make that a reality”.

Cllr Gill Slocombe, deputy leader of Sedgemoor District Council, said: “This is great news for Sedgemoor and the wider region. We need to face the challenges of climate change head on but we also need to ensure we are creating jobs for the future. Gravity is an opportunity for us to do both.

Andy Berry, Principal of Bridgwater and Taunton College (BTC) said: “These new jobs at Gravity will be underpinned by new pathways to work, with training opportunities for our students and the wider community. The college will work with the Gravity team and wider partners in the education sector including universities and the Institutes of technology to offer workforce development as part of a Skills Charter to ensure there is a local labour approach developed with each occupier to bring the greatest social and economic benefits the host community”

The revised estimate for Gravity follows detailed technical analysis on what may be possible in the future.

About Gravity

Gravity will be the UK’s first commercial smart campus and a blueprint for a ‘cleaner’, smarter future. It aims to attract the world’s most innovative companies working in the ‘clean growth’ sectors.

Expected to create up to 7,500 jobs, the 616-acre Enterprise Zone will be designed to shape connections between people and the places they work, supporting a culture of innovation and wellbeing. It will include diverse, flexible workspaces and resilient technologies along with enhanced transport links to, and within, the surrounding area.

“This is Gravity” is proud to be part of an educational on-line learning project in collaboration with YCYW Somerset Cultural Centre (Knowle Hall) and three Yew Wah International Education Schools in China.

Gravity is on track to be the UK’s first commercial smart campus, incorporating the latest technologies and a connected ecosystem creating a new, exciting experience for all – connecting students learning in-class to real-life application is core to Gravity’s beliefs.

The eco-centric driving question for the project-based learning experience asked students aged 10-13 from the schools based in Lingang, Guangzhou and Tongxiang, to develop their thinking about the green solutions that could benefit tenants at the Gravity – Smart Campus.

The driving question for the project was ‘Considering the concept of “Green Economy” what environmentally focused advice, innovations or development ideas can you share with the Gravity Project group. Supported and guided by the Gravity team, the students will work collaboratively to research information and they then have six weeks to develop and present their ideas. All of this is underpinned by Gravity’s vision for smarter, cleaner future.

Project based learning is an alternative educational approach, putting the students at the centre of the learning experience. It enables them to determine the format of their final projects while developing collaborative working skills and investigating curriculum areas they enjoy.

It has been a great experience to virtually assist these students and see their creative process. Teamwork is such an important skill, and turning ideas into a reality is what Gravity is all about. These children are likely to be future employees at Gravity, so we need to make sure Gravity listens to the needs of the next generation. I look forward to welcoming some of these students to the site when they get to visit the Knowle Hall school in the near future

Paul Lowndes – Gravity Programme Director

The students have thoroughly enjoyed researching the Gravity project and investigating green economy initiatives. Being able to communicate with the Gravity team has created a great environment for the students to fully engage in the project.  We really appreciate all the time the Gravity team has given up, making it a positive experience for all of the students involved. We look forward to welcoming students back to The Somerset Cultural Centre very soon and we’re really excited for them to visit the Gravity campus.

Rowan Locke – Curriculum Coordinator at Yew Wah Educational School System

Ends

About Gravity

Gravity, the UK’s first commercial smart campus, is the blueprint for a smarter, cleaner future – faster. It will deliver a new era of possibility by supporting companies making a difference socially, economically and environmentally, driving the UK’s shift to growing through a cleaner economy.

With direct access to the M5 and accessible by rail, air and sea, the site offers over 616 acres for the creation of millions of sq. ft of scalable, flexible and shared working space.

Multinationals and start-ups will benefit from the excellent connectivity and speed of build out Gravity offers. By attracting today’s giants and tomorrow’s unicorns, there will be significant opportunities for collaboration.

With its on-site water provision, renewable and low carbon energy infrastructure and building energy management, dark fibre, excellent transport links, accessible talent pool and knowledge economy including four top-tier universities close by, Gravity provides occupiers with the ability to build, expand, and develop faster and efficiently.

About Knowle Hall

Somerset Cultural Centre (Knowle Hall) is a Yew Chung Yew Wah Education campus based in Bridgwater (Somerset, UK). Students in grades 6, 8 and 10 from YWIES schools visit Bridgwater throughout the year for total English immersion and culture learning. The visits develop students’ awareness and understanding of British history and culture, encourage critical thinking and allow students to acquire an appreciation of other viewpoints. The YCYW Somerset Cultural Centre promotes environmentally friendly lives; students participate in ecology and horticulture lessons, as well as forest school and visits to local recycling centres to aid their knowledge. Collaborations with local schools and integrated lessons enhance the aims of the centre.

About Yew Chung Yew Wah Education

An education pioneer rooted in Hong Kong, Yew Chung Yew Wah (YCYW) offers a unique education journey merging the best of Chinese and Western cultures, with a mission to raise globally competent and compassionate leaders for a better world.

The first Yew Chung School and Kindergarten was founded in Hong Kong in 1932 with a vision to educate students beyond the classroom and to instil a sense of societal consciousness.  In the 1990s, Yew Chung was invited to Shanghai and Beijing to open schools to meet the needs of foreign communities in mainland China. The network expanded with Yew Wah International Education Schools dedicated to nurture Chinese students with international perspectives.

Celebrating nearly 90 years of heritage and milestones, YCYW now plays a major role in promoting global education, multicultural understanding, leadership and stewardship from Early Childhood to Tertiary education, actively contributing to our home nation and beyond.

Today, YCYW is an unrivalled network of international kindergartens, schools and college that spans over 20 prime locations in Hong Kong, mainland China, Somerset in the UK and Silicon Valley in the US, providing high quality education and advancement to more than 10,000 teachers and students worldwide.