Kinewell opens Newcastle head office & creates five jobs

Kinewell has opened a new head office at The Catalyst at Newcastle Helix and created five jobs, following more than £1 million of investment.

The British cleantech business said the new Newcastle base gives it more room to grow as demand rises for its offshore wind optimisation software. Its tools have supported the design of offshore wind farms in markets around the world.

The five new hires are Business Development Manager Hannah Smiles, Marketing Coordinator Jagoda Waszkowiak, Modelling and Optimisation Specialist Dr Tim Whitbread, Full Stack Software Developer Muhammad Bilal Akbar, and Research and Development Engineer Tejjus Bhat.

Kinewell's move places it at The Catalyst within Newcastle Helix, a £350 million city-centre development of 11 buildings designed to bring together businesses, researchers and industry organisations.

The office opening follows a year of expansion for the company. Kinewell has also acquired ForeCoast Marine, added David Pinches and Craig Lilford to its board, and received a King's Award for Enterprise for International Trade.

Kinewell develops software used in offshore wind project planning. Its work has included optimisation in areas such as inter-array cable layout, turbine placement, transmission design, construction planning, and operations and maintenance campaign planning.

The latest investment has been used to expand both its technical and commercial teams. The business is also looking beyond offshore wind and assessing how its technology could be applied in other sectors.

Dr Andrew Jenkins, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Kinewell Energy, said: "We are thrilled to welcome our new members to the team and to have joined the fantastic business community at Newcastle Helix.

"The new office at The Catalyst puts us right at the heart of one of the North East's largest innovation hubs and will be key to helping us attract and retain the best talent as we continue to grow."

The company operates from North East England and works with customers internationally. Organisations Kinewell lists among its users include SSE Renewables, Equinor, Parkwind and Xodus.

Its software offering was originally developed for offshore wind, but the business is now assessing how the same underlying technology could address problems in other industries.

The additional staff will support product development as well as commercial activity. They will also help oversee diversification efforts as the business broadens the use of its technology.

In a second comment, Jenkins linked the office move and hiring directly to the recent fundraising. "The new office and hires demonstrate the investment we secured earlier this year being put to good use, through the expansion of our technical team to speed up product development and the building of a commercial team that can market and sell our software to customers across the globe and, ultimately, increase our revenue while accelerating and de-risking offshore wind deployment.

"The optimisation solutions we have developed may be rooted in offshore wind, however we are increasingly looking at how our technology can also be used to overcome challenges in other sectors, and our new recruits will play a key role in overseeing this diversification.

"They all bring a wealth of experience and knowledge to their roles and will provide the company with the perfect platform to continue growing as we look to the future. We are delighted to have them on board."