Chris Gorman signs up to nurture new generation of software ventures

CHRIS Gorman, recently named UK e-Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst & Young, was yesterday appointed chairman of the management board at the £5m Hillington Park Innovation Centre.

The centre is the most advanced incubator in Scotland, if not the UK, for high-growth, high-risk, software-based companies.

Mr Gorman, the chief executive of Reality Group, is one of Scotland's most dynamic business people and a sup- porter of initiatives in the new economy.

He will provide practical guidance, contacts and inspiration to the businesses which locate there.

The centre, just off the M8, near Glasgow Airport, is a joint enterprise between the landlord and developer, Caledonian Land, and Scottish Enterprise Renfrewshire, with support from the Strathclyde European Partnership.

Modelled on the incubator facilities of Silicon Valley in California, the centre offers all-inclusive accommodation and support facilities for up to 65 young businesses.

Mr Gorman said: "Scotland needs to nurture the creative ideas of its people and to nourish its young entrepreneurs. We need to keep our best thinkers here and to make sure their work develops to the benefit of everyone in the country."

The centre's official opening is planned for early next year, but about a dozen companies have already been signed up and will move in within the next few weeks.

One of the first to take an office at the centre is Hanlon Solutions, a trend-tracking medical statistics software company.

The firm's partners, Roy Hawes and Neville Cannon, will use the site to develop their software system, which is designed to reduce the 850,000 adverse clinical incidents recorded annually and could save the National Health Service about £1bn a year.

The software, which is known as Saint (Strategic Analysis of Information against National Trends), acts as an early warning system, reporting on clinical incidents and highlighting trends.

Hanlon Solutions has already received contracts worth more than £100,000 to integrate hospital and GP records in four areas in the west of Scotland and is in talks with the department of health and the Scottish executive.

Speaking at the centre yesterday, Mr Hawes said: "If our new site was introduced countrywide, doctors would enter patients' cases into a national database and the technology would produce detailed reports on relative performance of hospitals, GP practices, health authorities and individual clinicians."

Hanlon is projecting a first-year turnover of £500,000, rising to £11m in 2002.

graeme.stewart@businessam.co.uk

green shoots

Making a fresh start

Hillington Park is a mixture of industrial, warehouse, retail and office premises. About three-quarters of the accommodation, more than 1.5m sq ft, is owned by Caledonian Land.

The Innovation Centre was designed by a Glasgow architect, Cooper Cromar, and built by HBG Construction. It has 63 suites on three floors, ranging from 104sq ft to 654sq ft.