HALO Scotland partners with Onecom to connect Kilmarnock development to the world
The HALO Scotland Kilmarnock urban regeneration project has teamed up with Onecom, the UK’s leading independent provider of business-to-business telecommunications, in a partnership that will ensure the HALO development is among the most connected in the country when it opens its doors in 2020.
As part of the innovative agreement, Onecom, one of the fastest growing telecoms companies in the UK, will use its Belfast office to establish its Scottish operational and sales hub within The HALO’s Enterprise & Innovation Centre.
The Kilmarnock development is one of four planned HALO projects that are being seen as catalysts for urban regeneration. The next HALO project is proposed for Belfast, with Wales and the North West of England to follow. Each HALO development is expected to create up to 1,400 direct operational jobs and 600+ construction jobs, each contributing as much as £120m of GDP annually to their local economies.
Onecom’s office in Belfast will play a key role in delivering the telecoms to all of these developments, managing all future HALO projects and servicing the needs of all tenants on a national scale.
In addition, Onecom will:
- Encourage and enable everyone within The HALO development to access the latest telecommunication technologies, empowering entrepreneurs to realise their full potential
- Provide leading-edge products, services and support to ensure that The HALO has state of the art telecommunications and broadband connectivity
- Provide business and domestic telecommunications services to companies and homes located within The HALO
- Partner with East Ayrshire schools, Ayrshire College, University of West of Scotland and other educational establishments to enhance the employability of young people by providing specialist technical input to student learning and practical skills development
Marie Macklin, Founder and Executive Chair of The HALO Group, said:
“Onecom has demonstrated amazing enthusiasm and energy in their approach to this partnership and I am confident that with them on board The HALO Scotland will be the most connected development in the country. Onecom is the leading innovative telecommunications company in Northern Ireland and their support has been crucial in also establishing a base in Belfast for HALO. This partnership demonstrates the benefits of our multi-site approach to developing The HALO concept.”
Gary Deans, Enterprise Director for The HALO Scotland, said:
“Telecommunications has never been more important than it is in the 21st century and the sector is developing rapidly, at the centre of the fourth industrial revolution, the digital revolution. I am confident that through this partnership with Onecom we can ensure that The HALO and everyone located within the development have access to the latest telecommunications products and services.”
Darren Ridge, Chief Executive Officer of Onecom said:
“To describe The HALO Scotland as ‘exciting’ is very much an understatement. Regeneration projects such as these are bold, brave and very necessary in these straitened times; Onecom is proud and privileged to contribute both its technology knowhow and business expertise.”
Paul Lawther, Head of Onecom NI, said:
“The HALO concept is one of the most ambitious projects for city centre regeneration in recent years. This partnership reasserts Onecom’s position as the market leading telecommunications company in Northern Ireland and we are excited to be providing our broad telecommunications services to the HALO.”
The HALO Kilmarnock is an inspired and imaginative brown-field regeneration initiative located on the site of the former Johnnie Walker bottling plant in Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire. It is being shaped as a multi-faceted development that will create a unique urban park with dynamic commercial, educational, cultural, and leisure opportunities and lifestyle quarter. The development will also include a light manufacturing facility and private rental accommodation for key workers.