The Merseyway Innovation Centre - the new office building in the Merseyway shopping centre - is now at one third capacity after only a few months. 

A Merseyway spokesperson announced that the office had "welcomed a wealth of new customers". 

These include a range of businesses, such as a lighting company, a travel company, and a software developer.

The centre is located on the first floor of Merseyway, above Superdrug and McDonalds. It converts what had been described as failing retail space into high-quality new offices. 

The Merseyway Innovation Centre sits at 21-23 Merseyway, above the main shopping area (Image - Alasdair Perry)

The aims are many - to offer accessible office space, provide a place for smaller businesses to grow, and to increase footfall in the town centre. 

All offices are rented - this means no business is too tied to the Innovation Centre. Tenants can come and go fairly easily, allowing businesses to respond to their own changes quickly. 

At the office's launch event in November, musicMagpie CEO Steve Oliver said: "It will be a sad day when you lose a tenant, but if they then move onto a bigger premises in the borough, that will be a proud moment. 

"Here's to the huge oak trees of the future, that will grow from the acorns in this office."

The Merseyway Innovation Centre is now at one third capacity, with several businesses having moved in or in the process of moving in (Image - Alasdair Perry)

Similarly, Rob Kates, centre manager, told Nub News: "It isn't solely about startups, but naturally, it is going to attract startups. The dream is to get them all the way through, and then see them off into their own office."

This centre in Stockport is one of 31 others across the country, falling under the umbrella of national company Oxford Innovation Space (OIS). 

OIS works with local authorities - in this case, Stockport Council - to build office spaces such as Merseyway's Innovation Centre up and down the country. 

As OIS states: "We help to transform local economies by creating environments where dynamic and innovative businesses come together and thrive."

The office space at the Merseyway Innovation Centre is top-quality, and even boasts showers and kitchen space (Image - Alasdair Perry)

Similarly, Stockport council leader Mark Hunter said: "We know that our smaller-scale start-up businesses need good-quality space, and that they should be well-served by our investment. 

"We don't subscribe to the view that shopping centres are dying; they're certainly changing. 

"We know that if we repurpose some of the space to increase local footfall, and continue to attract the right kinds of retail operators, we can still have a successful and thriving use of Merseyway."

The centre boasts a range of 'conventional' rooms and offices, as well as shared working spaces, quiet rooms, and even showers and kitchen space. 

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