ARM Invests £2.5m in Charitable Bond for Social Enterprise Incubation Center

30 November 2010

What: ARM has invested £2.5m in a charitable bond for Cambridge-based social enterprise Future Business to support the development of a brand new incubation center for social and environmental businesses. The investment takes the fundraising campaign, launched in October 2010, half way towards an initial target of £10m in charitable bond investments.

The “Future Business Centre” will offer incubation space for businesses that exist primarily to make a social and/or environmental impact. It will provide 34,000 sq ft (3,167m2) of floor space, creating affordable office, workshop and hot-desking facilities for over 50 start-ups at any one time.

The facilities will be complemented by specialist on site business support, as well as design and operational services intended to encourage innovation and collaboration.

Why: The decision to invest reflects ARM’s wish to support local community initiatives, as well as encourage entrepreneurial activities in the locality of its Cambridge headquarters where the acclaimed UK technology business has been located for nearly 20 years.

When:  30th November 2010

Where:  The "Future Business Centre" will be a £6.5M purpose-built center on Kings Hedges Road near the Science Park, Cambridge Regional College and the new Orchard Park development. The site has already been acquired as part of the Hive campus alongside Cambridge Regional College and Cambridgeshire County Council’s SmartLIFE environmental technology and training centre, and demonstration eco-homes

Who:  ARM designs the technology that is at the heart of advanced digital products, from wireless, networking and consumer entertainment solutions to imaging, automotive, security and storage devices. ARM’s comprehensive product offering includes 32-bit RISC microprocessors, graphics processors, video engines, enabling software, cell libraries, embedded memories, high-speed connectivity products, peripherals and development tools. Combined with comprehensive design services, training, support and maintenance, and the company’s broad Partner community, they provide a total system solution that offers a fast, reliable path to market for leading electronics companies.

Find out more about ARM by following these links:

ARM website: http://www.arm.com/
ARM Connected Community®: http://www.arm.com/community/
ARM Blogs: http://blogs.arm.com/
ARMFlix on YouTube:  http://www.youtube.com/user/armflix

ARM on Twitter:

• http://twitter.com/ARMMultimedia
• http://twitter.com/ARMMobile
• http://twitter.com/ARMCommunity
• http://twitter.com/ARMEmbedded
• http://twitter.com/ARMLowPwr
• http://twitter.com/KeilTools   

Future Business is a new business support service from Citylife for people who want to make a better future. It provides advice, affordable workspace and social impact measurement at all stages of business development from entrepreneurs with an idea to established organisations. For more information visit www.futurebusiness.co.uk.  

Citylife is a social enterprise supporting causes that give people a better future. Its charitable bonds provide a unique and innovative way to raise new funds for social benefit. Later this month Citylife will be rebranding as Allia – the social profit society. This will be followed shortly afterwards by the launch of a new investment service, making its bond mechanism available as a fundraising tool for all charities working to give people a better future.

ENDS 

ARM is a registered trademark of ARM Limited. Mali is a trademark of ARM Limited All other brands or product names are the property of their respective holders. “ARM" is used to represent ARM Holdings plc; its operating company ARM Limited; and the regional subsidiaries ARM Inc.; ARM KK; ARM Korea Limited.; ARM Taiwan Limited; ARM France SAS; ARM Consulting (Shanghai) Co. Ltd.; ARM Belgium N.V.; ARM Germany GmbH; ARM Embedded Technologies Pvt. Ltd.; ARM Norway, AS and ARM Sweden AB

Contact Details:

Kersti Klami
Racepoint Group Europe
+44 (208) 752 3216 / 3203              
kersti.klami@racepointgroup.com

Andy Phillips
ARM   
+44 (0) 1223 400930
andy.phillips@arm.com

Jane Thompson
Future Business
01223 323481
jane@futurebusiness.co.uk