A technology centre which generates millions of pounds has announced substantial growth.

The Sussex Innovation Centre houses 30 businesses at the University of Sussex, providing a nurturing environment for start-up technology and knowledge-based companies.

Executive director Mike Herd said: "The centre is making a major diff-erence to the local technology sector. A key area of growth is in employment generated by centre companies. More than 280 jobs have been built through work done here."

Total revenue for companies based at the centre reached £16million during 2000, up from £11.7million the year before.

At the same time, external investment in centre-based firms has almost doubled from £935,000 in 1999 to 1.78million last year.

Mr Herd said: "We operate as a business incubator and we expect to see companies based here graduate to bigger and better things. Last year, we saw many move on with spectacular success, making way for new ventures.

"Obviously, new businesses do not generate as much revenue as established companies but this evolution has not hampered our overall development."

One of the first businesses to thrive at, and graduate from, the centre was Genpak. Founded by Dr Julian Burke in 1996, it has become a specialist in reagents and equipment for use in DNA analysis.

Last year, it was bought by Genetix for £6.5million and the merged group recently reached a value of about £100 million when it floated on the stock market.

Destiny Pharma has been operating from the centre for four years and is now set to equal or surpass Genpak's success. The company develops new medical healthcare ideas and is worth about £10million.

Managing director Bill Love said: "Over the last two years, our medical projects have achieved key milestones and the value of the company has been significantly enhanced.

"We may become a listed company within the next couple of years.

Similar listed companies are valued between tens and hundreds of millions of pounds.

"The innovation centre has been a valuable asset, especially in our early days. It offered excellent facilities so we could get on with conducting our core medical business without diverting valuable time to office infrastructure requirements."

Rhodes Harvey is a newcomer to the centre. The company provides a range of education services, including a unique online placement service linking students with universities anywhere in the world.

Managing director Nick Rhodes said: "We know we have a set of winning ideas and we want to be able to develop them in the shortest time possible. We wanted to have offices at the centre as we recognised the business support and day-to-day access to similar-minded entrepreneurs would be of major benefit."

Mr Herd said firms at the centre financially outperformed most small businesses in the new city. Eighty per cent of the companies achieved a revenue in excess of £100,000 in their first year and 16 per cent reached more than £1million.

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