Hills will relocate its South Australian Innovation Centres, product teams and shared support service functions from Port Road in Hindmarsh to the new Tonsley Park precinct by the end of the year.
Hills will occupy part of the new 6-storey, 18,000 square metre Flinders University building at Tonsley, due to officially open in January 2015. Hills Group Managing Director and CEO Ted Pretty said he is excited about the opportunities the move will bring to the company and its employees.
“The move to Tonsley has been under consideration for some time and reflects our need for more collaborative space to support new product development, create new jobs and drive new revenue streams,” he said. “This move is in the best interests of the business both strategically and financially.”
Professor Michael Barber, Vice-Chancellor said "Flinders at Tonsley will be a place where our students interact with business and where business interacts with our researchers in areas such as engineering, medical devices and nanoscale technologies, to make the new products and process of the 21st century.
“The co-location of Hills at our Tonsley site will accelerate the opportunities for collaboration under our proposed Tonsley Technology Alliance, not only with Flinders but also other institutions.”
Hills will also seek assistance through the Federal Government’s Next Generation Manufacturing Investment Programme to move additional medical technology development activities into SA and Tonsley. If successful, this could see Hills develop and manufacture new medical devices in South Australia.
"We applaud both the efforts of Federal Manufacturing Minister, Ian Macfarlane and SA Minister for Automotive Transformation and Manufacturing and Innovation, Susan Close on the $60 million Next Generation Manufacturing Investment Programme. We have had productive discussions with both Ministers and will be providing our formal submission for funding shortly,” Mr Pretty said.
The SA Government is committed to developing Tonsley Park into a community for collaboration between business, education and research & development, as well as a hub for advanced manufacturing.
SA Minister for Manufacturing and Innovation, Susan Close said “the Government is pleased to continue the work with Hills on stimulating more innovation in South Australia.
“The move to Tonsley expresses confidence in our Government’s commitment to creating a hub for collaboration, innovation and advanced manufacture. We look forward to continuing our joint efforts involving the Lance Hill Design Centre and D-Shop through 2017 and beyond."
