Expansion

Relocation special: Home of the brave

Jun 06 issue

Average qualification levels in Scotland are among the highest in the UK, with 27 per cent of the working age population having been to university, compared to only 23 per cent in England. The strength of the higher education sector is also evidenced by the close links between university and industry, links that make Scotland a popular location for businesses with a heavy need for R&D. There is even a dedicated national organisation called Interface, set up specifically to match up businesses with university expertise, to help them profit from the vast pools of research knowledge residing in Scotland’s 13 universities. Vortis, for example, has established close links with specialist researchers at Heriot Watt University; while it was the depth of Scottish life sciences expertise that persuaded drug development company Fulcrum Pharma to open a new office in Edinburgh last month, complementing its three existing facilities in England and France.

Sector strengths
Scotland is, in fact, a world leader in life sciences. It is, after all, the birthplace
of Dolly, the famous cloned sheep. There are half a dozen specialist bio-technology institutions in Edinburgh, mainly around the Edinburgh Science Triangle. These are soon to be boosted with the Centre for Biomedical Research, a US$1 billion project to build over 1.4 million sq ft of work space dedicated to life sciences organisations, due to open in 2008.

Sixty miles north, Dundee, Scotland’s fourth largest city, is home to the most significant biomedical community in the UK outside of Oxford and Cambridge. The University of Dundee alone has collaborations with the world's top ten pharmaceutical companies, and the city boasts a roster of world-leading professors that belie its small size.

‘It was Dundee’s tremendous and growing reputation in life sciences that brought us here,’ says Paul Garvey, finance director of healthcare company Axis-Shield, which relocated its diagnostic laboratory from Norway to Dundee in 2003.
‘It is more cost effective and the quality of life is good, but most importantly, the excellent research that is done here has created a vibrant biotech community and a high concentration of skilled graduates,’ he says.

But it’s not all research labs and white coats. Dundee is also the main centre of Scotland’s – if not the UK’s – computer games industry, accounting for ten per cent of the UK’s computer games sector output, while further up the coast, Aberdeen’s pre-eminence in the oil and gas industry has, ironically, led to a burgeoning cluster of environmental technology and sustainable energy companies.

Big cities, big money
If it’s the big money you’re after, however, then it has to be Glasgow or Edinburgh, where financial services are king. According to Paul Nunn of East West Locations, Glasgow’s reputation has historically been more in back office support, insurance and secondary financial functions, while Edinburgh’s reputation was built on core services such as banking, fund management, stock broking and pensions. In recent years, though, the distinctions have faded.

Edinburgh is home to two of the largest banks in Europe, RBS and HBOS, while Glasgow’s International Financial Services District (IFSD) has attracted names such as Morgan Stanley, eSure, Abbey, Direct Line and JP Morgan. The IFSD also qualifies for Regional Selective Assistance, which means grants of up to 20 per cent are available for investing companies. This compares to a limit of 30 per cent in most of the Highlands and Islands region and ten per cent in parts of Edinburgh.

However, the one thing that Scotland can do nothing about is its distance from other major UK commercial centres. And with a standard return fare for the four-and-a-half hour train ride from Edinburgh to London coming in at £220, or an hour-and-a-half return flight from Inverness to London Heathrow costing £173, a grant may at least help to cover your travel costs.