Zen moves to Sandbrook with £2m assisted areas award

A £1.95m Selective Finance for Investment grant has been awarded to Zen Internet by the North West Development Agency to expand into a 150,000 sq ft new headquarters in Sandbrook Park, Rochdale.

The internet services provider has consolidated from three separate sites across Rochdale to the new building and pledged to create 250 jobs over the next five years under the terms of the grant.

An undisclosed element of the grant becomes repayable by the company when it achieves agreed targets. The grant is made under the Government's business support programme for assisted areas, which was reduced under a new map introduced in 2006.

Richard Tang, managing director of Zen Internet, said: "By moving to Sandbrook Park, Zen Internet is demonstrating its commitment to remain in Rochdale, the town where it was founded. When I set the company up in 1995 there were four of us, today Zen employs over 290 staff and this additional 150,000 sq ft of high quality office space provides a clear path for the continued growth of the company."

Employee numbers at Zen have more than doubled in the last three years. The new building has the potential to expand to over 1,000 employees.