Drone Consulting

After a couple of months of a nomadic existence, Drone Consulting is excited to be accepted into the Bournemouth Eagle Labs community.

Barclays Eagle Labs is a startup community and growth incubator with 12 sites around the UK. Drone Consulting is now based out of the Eagle Labs site in Bournemouth - 300 Poole Road in Westbourne.

The environment is relaxed, techy, geeky and incredibly friendly. Free coffee, a nice kitchen, obligatory fussball all help relax the mind but most is exciting is probably the incredible array of technology that is accessible for all members here.

Alexa sits next to the coffee machine, ready to dispense advice and music as required. A full Oculus VR set is in situ, there are two 3D printers, a Vinyl cutter and much else. Regular workshops and events assist the community to explore how new technology can be harnessed for business growth and Eagle Labs provides genuine business expertise through mentoring and back office support services to its members.

 Our new co-workers here are an interesting bunch as well. With designers, developers, robotics experts all in the mix. Why wouldn’t they be?

Drone Consulting is headquartered in Bournemouth, Dorset. Here is why.

 When planning the launch of Drone Consulting, we looked Europe wide for locations to base the business and were lucky enough to be able to weigh up the options almost without restriction. Ben Davidson, the MD of the business, is multi-lingual and has worked and lived throughout Europe, he is married to Maria who is Slovakian with Hungarian heritage and the potential in renewable energy and general economic growth in the Eastern EU was certainly tempting. As was the low cost of living. The other key personnel within the business are spread far and wide with data processing managed from London and design and development in Thesaloniki, Greece. The model of the business is to supply local, qualified drone operators to job sites as and when required so the network of pilots is built with geographical spread in mind. This left the decision on where to base the business to Ben and meant quality of life could be incorporated into the decision as a main concern. The flexibility of the business model coupled with current and future trend communication techniques meant that working from wherever offered the best lifestyle was a genuine possibility.

From experience though, it was felt that although the internet provides a simple way to communicate within a pre-existing network, there is no substitute for personal interaction when building new relationships. We wanted to be somewhere that had a thriving digital economy for networking and to provide an atmosphere of achievement and quality. Here is where Bournemouth comes in.

Traditionally seen as a retirement town, Bournemouth has seen some major changes over the last 20 years. It’s 2 hour proximity to London, miles of golden sandy beaches and California rivalling outdoor lifestyle has all made Bournemouth an attractive centre for the new digital economy and those driving innovation in the UK.

A remarkably instructive and surprising Tech Nation Report in 2015 showed that the Digital Economy in Bournemouth grew a remarkable 212% in the preceding year from an admittedly low base:

The percentage of businesses started in Bournemouth that were technology based is also instructive as to the direction of travel for the local economy:

During the decision process for where to base our Drone Consulting business, it was also noted that Barclays Eagle Labs has a facility in the town that can be useful. The site provides access to a range of devices and technologies enabling testing accessibility of digital assets across platforms much easier and more reliable than traditional rendering processes.