“Our clients are constantly challenging us to find new approaches to help them grow.”

Guy Wieynk
CEO
Publicis Western Europe

Plexal, the innovation destination for technology entrepreneurs and global businesses at Here East announces partnership with Publicis Groupe’s open innovation and startup offering.

Today’s economy is ruled by partnerships across sectors and borders. Large enterprises are keen to test ideas, experiment and work with agile, innovative startups to develop new processes, products or services – but within a managed environment. Startups are keen to explore ways to scale and grow, as well as tap into valuable resources and expertise – but within a creative environment. To help bring the two together, Plexal – the innovation centre based at the creative and digital campus, Here East – has announced a new partnership with Publicis Groupe’s open innovation offering, Publicis Drugstore.

The partnership will help large enterprises and startups learn from each other, innovate to generate new solutions and foster deeper collaboration between larger enterprises and the startup community. It will combine the powerful insights, creativity and data from Publicis Groupe with Plexal’s corporate innovation team to help drive business transformation.

The key components of the partnership include;

  • Creating an open technology ecosystem at Plexal that encourages businesses of all sizes to collaborate, innovate and generate new solutions
  • Harnessing the scale and engineering expertise from Publicis Groupe to take transformative ideas to market quickly
  • Delivering mentorship programmes, entrepreneurship training and a range of bespoke professional services
  • Creating space and an open innovation culture that will allow businesses to learn from each other and find solutions to their most pressing problems

Housing up to 800 people within the 1.2 million square foot Here East campus on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Plexal has been designed on the principles of a mini city. Features include sociable, civic spaces such as the indoor Plexal Park, a high street, an events stage and Monument Square that all aid collaboration. There are also private booths, quiet seating and a choice of meeting rooms for individual work, presentations and private meetings. The layout encourages serendipitous interactions to take place and brings people together while catering to a range of working styles.

The announcement cements Plexal’s key role in realising the overall vision of Here East to bring together businesses, educators and entrepreneurs to innovate and collaborate to create the products and services of the future. Other Here East tenants include BT Sport, Ford, Ladbrokes Coral, Matchesfashion.com, Signal Noise, Loughborough University London and UCL.

Speaking about the partnership, Claire Cockerton, CEO of Plexal, said: “Our vision for Plexal is fundamentally rooted in creating an environment that allows businesses to collaborate and create new technology solutions. Our partnership with Publicis Drugstore delivers this shared ambition and is a real meeting of minds: we’ve joined forces to nurture, accelerate and make business innovation happen, for big and small companies alike.”

Guy Wieynk, CEO of Publicis Western Europe and global lead of Sapient Inside, said: “Our clients are constantly challenging us to find new approaches to help them grow. We experienced the tremendous value of the startup community with our London pilot and Publicis90 global initiative. It’s time to take the next leap, and Claire and her team at Plexal are the perfect partner to help realise our shared ambition to create an open innovation culture with our clients.”

Here East CEO, Gavin Poole highlighted the role Plexal plays at Here East, saying: “The partnership between Plexal and Publicis Drugstore demonstrates the appeal of creating an environment where occupiers can innovate, collaborate and scale their businesses together. Plexal and Here East are creating a completely new offer for the market’s most innovative and ambitious companies which goes far beyond a conventional co-working environment.”

For More Info Contact:

Georgina Bass
Communications Manager Delancey
Tel: +44 (0)20 7448 1991

Katharine Walsh
Head of Communications Delancey
Tel: +44 (0)20 7448 1461

Notes to Editors

About Plexal
Plexal is the innovation destination for startups, scaleups and corporates to join forces, swap ideas and create products that make our lives better.

Founded by Claire Cockerton and clients of specialist real estate investment advisory company Delancey, Plexal’s aim is to nurture an ecosystem that supports innovators in high-growth areas like AI, robotics, the Internet of Things, smart cities, data analytics, fashtech, cybersecurity, fintech, VR, AR and health technology. Plexal is located at Here East: a unique campus in the heart of Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park which has also been developed by clients of specialist real estate investment advisory company Delancey.

As well as offering offices, desks and a choice of meeting rooms, Plexal provides inhouse professional services, intrapreneurship and entrepreneurship training, and mentorship opportunities. As Plexal’s head of innovation services, Francine Stevens develops bespoke workshops and innovation programmes for companies big and small while harnessing proven frameworks and methodologies. She heads up Plexal’s accelerator programme, which launched in June 2017 in partnership with the Global Disability Innovation Hub.

Current members include STEM ambassadors Stemettes, AI consultancy US AI, Glimpse Studio (which is setting up a VR, AR and mixed-reality studio within Plexal) and BuffaloGrid, which develops hardware to power the phones of farmers in rural areas.

About Publicis Drugstore
Publicis Drugstore started as a Publicis Worldwide pilot in 2014 to open the doors of the agency and its clients to the London start-up ecosystem. Since then, it has expanded into eight different global markets including London, Mexico, Sydney, Hamburg, Zurich, Shanghai and Mumbai and has worked with key Publicis clients, including P&G, Sanofi and others. Following the Publicis Groupe reorganization in 2016, Drugstore was elevated to become Groupe-wide, and sought a new operational partner to augment its capabilities and reach.

About Here East
Here East is a dedicated place for individuals and companies who embrace and pioneer technology, share expertise and are creating the products of tomorrow. It is located at the heart of Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London.

Here East provides over one million square feet of dedicated and versatile spaces for creative and digital companies. It combines unparalleled infrastructure with a unique environment to facilitate collaboration and the exchange of ideas. Here East includes shared workspaces and public areas to foster a tight community, alongside a shared yard with space for discussion and events, a landscaped canalside and artisan cafes, shops and restaurants. There are already great examples of collaboration taking place at Here East: University College London, the Global Disability Innovation Hub, the London Legacy Development Corporation and Plexal have teamed up to launch a disability accelerator while Plastic Energy (a Plexal member) is working closely with Loughborough University’s Department of Chemistry on research and development into chemical recycling processes.

Here East is being developed by iCITY, a company owned by clients of Delancey, a specialist real estate investment advisory company. For further information visit hereeast.com

About Delancey
Delancey is a specialist real estate investment, development and advisory company whose activities encompass retail, residential and commercial real estate across London and the UK. Collaborating on a wide range of assets, partners and clients, Delancey is recognised for its innovative and diverse approach to creating long term value from real estate.

Delancey also advises clients on appropriate capital structures, financing and provides asset management and development services.

Delancey has a diverse portfolio of retail, residential, office and corporate assets across London and the UK, including the Alpha Plus Group, Elephant & Castle Shopping Centre and 185 Park Street on the South Bank. Delancey is also a pioneer in the private rented sector and has spent much of the last few years bringing the legacy of the London 2012 Olympics to life; it is delivering over 3,000 homes for rent at East Village, the former London 2012 Athletes Village. For further information visit delancey.com

If you’re a startup, scaleup or large enterprise and would like to learn more about how you might be able to get involved, Plexal’s innovation services team can be reached at: services@plexal.com.

For press, media or content enquiries, please email communications@plexal.com or phone 0203 909 7762. Plexal, 14 East Bay Lane, The Press Centre, Here East, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Stratford, London E15 2GW. Facebook: @Plexal Twitter: @plexalcity Instagram: @plexalcity