TOP UK RECOGNITION FOR SCOTTISH INNOVATION CENTRES

A Scottish company providing innovative business incubation services for fledging technology companies has been acclaimed as a model for the industry across Britain.

 The praise for Innovation Centres Scotland (ICS) has come from the industry body UK Business Incubation (UKBI) who benchmarked their operations against its new accreditation standard.

The ICS managed Hillington Park Innovation Centre has now become one of the first business incubation hubs in Britain to achieve the industry’s highest accreditation standard.

The company’s Alba Innovation Centre in Livingston has also been recognised by UKBI after only two and a half years in operation with the second highest level of accreditation.

UKBI has awarded Hillington Park Innovation Centre its prestigious Leading Edge status under its Inspire monitoring, development and accreditation process.

The accolade confirms the standing of the centre in Britain’s premier league of early stage business support environments.

The internationally recognised standard has only recently been introduced to encourage and recognise best practice within the industry.

It benchmarks an incubation operation against:

• impact on socio-economic factors
• investment in supporting innovative and entrepreneurial ideas and business
• four core principles: selection policy, business incubation strategy and delivery, skilled business incubation team, exit policy
• four core elements: processes, infrastructure, operations, people (management)

The Inspire process offers accreditation at three levels: foundation, development and leading edge phases.

Tom Ogilvie, Chief Executive of ICS, said: “We are delighted to receive the industry’s endorsement for the work we do at both our centres. The highest level of accreditation for the Hillington Centre is a prestigious award and one that recognises ten years of commitment to building a business support team and environment capable of nurturing the best of Scotland’s young, innovative technology companies. Alba is itself an early stage operation but one that embodies our ethos and culture and this has also been recognised by UKBI. These awards will inspire us to develop and improve services to ensure Scotland has a pipeline of cutting edge technology companies that will drive our economy in the 21st century.

” Peter Harman, Deputy Chief Executive, UKBI, said: “Innovation Centres Scotland have proved their dedication to identifying, developing and growing their clients through a bespoke and tailored suite of business support services and processes. Although the Inspire monitoring, development and accreditation process is a thorough and rigorous investigation of operations and management systems, it became clear that Hillington Innovation Centre is a prime example of leading edge business incubation - providing the right people, processes and infrastructure to really support the growth of innovative businesses now and in the future. Alba Innovation Centre, although a relatively new environment, benefits from ICS’s dedication to providing best practice business incubation. ICS have proved they are an exemplar in the business incubation industry.”

ICS delivers business support services at Hillington Park Innovation Centre and the Alba Innovation Centre on behalf of Scottish Enterprise, the agency responsible for supporting growth among Scotland’s most ambitious companies.

ICS have developed their own unique brand of ‘innovation services’ which are designed to accelerate business growth and provide access to an extensive network of high-level business contacts whose experience can be brought to bear to inform decision making and early stage planning.

The accelerator programme, only available to client companies, includes:

• access to a panel of experts in a ‘Dragon’s Den’ format where feedback on the business is given
• teaming up with a leading legal firm to examine and manage Intellectual Property issues
• provision of legal document templates covering employment contracts, non-disclosure agreements, licence agreements, contractor and supplier agreements
• an individually structured funding package covering equity, debt and grants

The unique E3 programme developed by ICS has also been added to the portfolio of support available to client companies. E3 matches leading entrepreneurs, executives and experts with start-up or young companies to help them achieve their growth potential.

ICS also manages two national sector initiatives, Wireless Innovation and Wellness and Health Innovation.