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R&D assistance doubles turnover to £200m

FM: Scotland is blessed with many strengths in innovation. 

Turnover of Scottish research and development companies assisted by the public sector has doubledin the last year to over £200 million First Minister Alex Salmond has announced yesterday.

The First Minister made the announcement as Glasgow prepares to host the Commonwealth Business Conference, next Tuesday and Wednesday.

The conference will see businesses and representatives from across the Commonwealth gather in Glasgow to build trade links, international connections and learn from each other’s economic successes.

Companies who have benefitted from R&D support include:

  • Sports Lab – the only Scottish company which do FIFA accredited testing on artificial sports pitches
  • Endura – a company which produce sportswear with a specific R&D emphasis on mountain biking
  • Alexander Dennis Ltd – support to design, development, manufacture and demonstrate a new ADL bus which is capable of zero emission electric operation within cities

Speaking ahead of the conference later this week, the First Minister said:

“Scotland is blessed with many strengths in innovation - Aberdeen has long been Europe's oil and gas capital while Glasgow has become pre-eminent in the development of offshore wind technology, for which it is now the leading research centre in Europe.

“The very fact that turnover of public sector funded research and development companies has doubled in the last year to a staggering £200 million is testament to the confidence in Scotland’s ability and skills.

“That research base is strengthened by the quality of our higher education. In global terms, Scotland has more universities in the world's top 200, per head of population, than any other country.

“Scotland has a long history of excellence in engineering, especially marine engineering. A century ago, Scotland built almost a quarter of the world’s shipping tonnage. Now, our oil and gas supply chain is a global leader in subsea technology with operations in more than 100 countries worldwide and exports worth over $13.5 billion dollars last year.

“Nova Innovations Ltd is just one of the 1,100 companies who engaged with innovation specialists last year. Nova, which designs, manufactures and installs commercial tidal energy devices, received R&D funding to support the development of a 0.3MW Shetland Tidal Turbine Array to deliver the electricity of North Yell. Work done by Nova is not only building confidence in the tidal investor market generally, but also in the commercial viability of their product, which is planned for both export and Scottish locations.

“Today’s announcement follows confirmation this week that Scotland’s economy has surpassed pre-recession levels with employment at a record high and supports the Ernst & Young Attractiveness Survey which showed that foreign investment to Scotland in 2013 reached its highest level since 1997, increasing at a higher rate than the UK as whole, and creating over 4,000 jobs.

“The Scottish Government, alongside Scottish Enterprise, Highlands & Islands Enterprise and Scottish Development International, will continue to work with these keys sectors and companies to grow Scotland’s long-standing international reputation of innovation.”

Lena Wilson, Chief executive, Scottish Enterprise, said: 
“Investing in innovation can make the difference between a successful business and a world leader.
"All our evidence shows that innovation and international success go hand in hand. That's why our extensive support for R&D has been enhanced to help companies work with their customers to develop new products, processes and services to fill gaps in the market.

“This culture of innovation and ambition will see Scotland's competitiveness on a global scale go from strength to strength.”

Notes To Editors

For more information on the Commonwealth Games Business Conference please visit:http://news.scotland.gov.uk/News/Commonwealth-Games-Business-Conference-616.aspx

 
 
Channel website: http://www.gov.scot/

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