Innovation Centre’s Fast Track Growth

Innovation Centre’s Fast Track Growth

A new £3.5 million centre set up to fast track the growth of young innovative high technology companies is on the verge of running out of accommodation only weeks after being launched.

Three months after opening its doors the Alba Innovation Centre has outgrown its temporary home and requires additional space to meet the demand for its services.

Established as part of the West Lothian Strategic Action Plan, drawn up in the wake of the Motorola and NEC plant closures to revitalise and diversify the local economy, the Alba Innovation Centre provides much more than accommodation.

It was developed as a model of best practice incorporating an intense level of business development support for young client companies.

Key to the centre’s innovative approach is a package of assistance that includes entrepreneurship training, business support services, technology and innovation support, and finance.

Accommodation and facilities are provided on flexible terms to ensure that the centre achieves the objective of assisting the formation, growth and survival rates of young companies.

An added attraction of the new facility is its location at the heart of the Alba Campus, giving young companies a presence in the community that forms Scotland’s world class centre of excellence in the research, design and development of microchip and associated technologies.

The formula has achieved early success, with three companies taking up four of the initial six units of temporary accommodation within weeks of the project launch.

Negotiations for an additional 3,000 sq ft of space, capable of housing another 10 companies have been successfully completed and it will be available for client companies soon.

Innovation Centres (Scotland) Ltd (ICS) was appointed to manage the Alba- based operation, which follows a similar model to the Hillington Park Innovation Centre which they operate in Renfrewshire.

Opened in November 2000 the Hillington Park facility has incubated 127 businesses with a very high survival rate of 95 per cent..

Ross Clark, Innovation Manager, ICS, said: “We are delighted with the initial success of the Alba Innovation Centre which has been even better than we anticipated. We got off to a flying start and expect that will continue as a formal marketing campaign gets underway. We are seeking to replicate the success we have had at Hillington.”

He added: “The Alba Campus combines quality accommodation with a world class technology research and development environment that is attractive to young innovative companies. When you add to that the tailored support package we offer then we have a winning formula that will foster and support new enterprises that will continue the development of a dynamic, high value economy.”

Neil Francis, Scottish Enterprise Cluster Director for Micro and Opto Electronics, said: “Simply handing young, dynamic technology companies the key to high quality accommodation and letting them get on with it is not enough. We also need to build in a package of specialist support, which involves a high level of commitment from them, to help them through the initial period of their existence.”

“It’s a tough, competitive world out there and if we want Scotland to be a hotbed of innovative and enterprising companies working at the cutting edge of technology then we need to be just as innovative and enterprising in the support we offer them. The Alba Innovation Centre is part of the pipeline of assistance available to companies with high growth potential.”

David Srodzinski, Managing Director of semiconductor design company Elonics, which is one of the tenants of Alba Innovation Centre, said: “The centre provides the flexible accommodation and support that are suitable for a growing company. It also offers market analysis and business mentoring that we have been able to tap into. That kind of assistance is vital to us.”

In order to initiate the support as speedily as possible, the Innovation Centre was provided with temporary accommodation on the Alba Campus

A new 25,000 sq ft building that will be the permanent home for the Centre is under construction on the Alba Campus and will be ready for occupation next year.

The new premises, capable of accommodating up to 50 young technology companies, will have the potential for further expansion.

It is anticipated that the facility will help create in excess of ten new companies a year while injecting £3.6 million into the local economy over 5 years.

Notes to editors

• Scottish Enterprise is the main economic development agency for Scotland covering 93 per cent of the population from Grampian to the Borders. The Scottish Enterprise Network consists of Scottish Enterprise and 12 Local Enterprise Companies. Working in partnership with the private and public sectors the Network aims to build more and better businesses, to develop the skills and knowledge of Scotland's people, and to encourage innovation to make Scotland's businesses internationally competitive.

• Microelectronics supports more than 8,000 jobs in Scotland and has a 47% share of UK production capacity and 7% of the European capacity.

• Optoelectronics employs 4200 people Scotland-wide and accounts for 34% of the UK’s Government research spend in the sector.

• Electronics provides employment for 43,000 people which 12% of Scotland’s manufacturing jobs, it contributes 14% of Scotland’s GDP and more than 50% of the country’s exports.

For further information contact

Fiona McGowan

Network PR Manager

Scottish Enterprise

Tel: 0141 228 5249

Email: fiona.mcgowan@scotent.co.uk