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  • The 173rd Royal Highland Show kicks off at Ingliston this Thursday (June 20-23)., Monday June 17 2013

    The 173rd Royal Highland Show kicks off at Ingliston this Thursday (June 20-23). Stephen Hutt, Chief Executive of the the Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland (RHASS), gives us a taster of the main attractions…

     

    What are the key highlights of this year's show?

    It looks like it’s going to be pretty full this year, with something for every taste and pocket. You’ll see the things you’d expect to see, but also some added extras, like a medieval village created by the Clanranald Trust for Scotland where you can step back in time. We also have a full music programme with bands across from the United States, and a full programme of both show jumping and horse displays. There’ll be just over 6,000 livestock in total, 3,000 horses and ponies, 1,000 trade stands and a host of other entertainment including outdoor sports, food and drink exhibitions and craft pavillions.

    Why is the Royal Highland Show important for Edinburgh?

    We’ve averaged 175,000 visitors a year over the last five years and see a significant amount of business being done at the show in terms of agri equipment and livestock. It also has an impact on tourism in terms of the bed nights it pulls in. Edinburgh is seen as the Festival City and the Royal Highland Show is a festival of food, farming and countryside. The show itself is worth over £70m to Scotland. We’ve got 60% of Scotland’s population within one hour’s drive of our location here at Ingliston; we’ve got good road and rail networks – and once the tram starts running out of Edinburgh to the airport, it will be even easier for people to get here.

    What is your role and which aspects do you enjoy the most?

    My role as chief executive of RHASS covers the Royal Highland Show, but also the society’s commercial arm, Highland Centre Ltd. This runs our exhibition halls, which host over 200 events a year attracting more than 1m visitors. The society also has a strong educational role through the Royal Highland Education Trust, which works with Scottish schools to teach schoolchildren about the issues surrounding food, farming and the countryside. My role is essentially to keep the business relevant and make sure we’ve got a sound financial footing to do all the charity work that we have to do. The aspect I enjoy most is just the incredible variety of the things we get involved in.

    What is your vision for the show?

    Last year the Royal Highland Show was voted the UK’s best agricultural event and I want to maintain that. But I also want to expand and develop so we’re reaching the wider population and are known not just for agriculture, but for being a great day out and good value for money. The showground itself is spread over 110 acres and takes a while to get round. There’s just a huge amount to see and most people who come to the show say one day is not enough.

    Facebook: www.facebook.com/royalhighlandshow

    Twitter: @ScotlandRHShow

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  • The Creative Exchange, a new incubator and workspace for creative and digital media businesses, is opened today, Monday June 10 2013

    The Creative Exchange, a new incubator and workspace for creative and digital media businesses, is opened today by the City of Edinburgh Council. Mark Gorman, Chairman of Creative Edinburgh, tells us more…

    What is the Creative Exchange?

    The Creative Exchange is a new business incubator and workspace for creative industries companies based at the Leith Corn Exchange building, 29 Constitution Street, Leith. Originally built in 1861 as a marketing hall, Leith Corn Exchange building has housed a variety of functions in its lifetime and now exists as an award winning, stunning and contemporary office accommodation.

    The space available comprises open plan accommodation planned over ground, 1st and mezzanine levels. It has offices, meeting rooms, gallery space, and it's being wired up for the latest state of the art broadband technology. There’ll be superfast broadband initially (c. 24Mbps), with plans for ultrafast (c.100Mbps) fibre optic broadband later in the year.

    There are a variety of packages you can take out as a member for fixed desk space and hotdesking, for example weekends or evenings only. The important thing is all the extras that come with it, including a good security system and your own locker. Edinburgh has been crying out for something like this. It is happening at places like TechCube in Summerhall, but the Creative Exchange is different in being a completely dedicated creative industries incubator. Leith has traditionally been regarded as an IT and media hub, but the significant development the area has seen over recent years has extended its appeal to many other occupiers including Cisco Systems, Ipsos MORI, VisitScotland and The Scottish Government.

    What has inspired it?

    It has been inspired by the success of the City of Edinburgh Council’s creative industries economic development strategy. This involves three workstreams around the themes of ‘People, Place and Pound’ to develop skills, facilities and funding from both private and public sector sources to grow the city’s creative industries sector. Creative Edinburgh is at the core of this strategy and represents the ‘People’ theme. Our aim is to create living and breathing networks where random collisions can happen of a positive nature. We’ve now got over 700 members and 3,500 people following us on Twitter, so we’ve started really quite a strong network. The council see that they also need to invest in the physical intrastructure supporting the creative industries, and that’s what the Creative Exchange is about.

    Who will be involved?

    The City of Edinburgh Council have led and are part-funding the project with Creative Scotland. Edinburgh College is also a partner. Funding for the ultrafast fibre optic broadband will be coming from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport's Urban Broadband Fund, which aims to create 10 super-connected cities across the UK. Creative Edinburgh will be taking two desks in the Creative Exchange so will have a permanent presence there. Specialist business incubation support will be available through delivery and investor partners. Sir Tom Farmer and other special invited guests will officially open the Creative Exchange on Thursday 11 July.

    What's the vision?

    The vision is to help grow and strengthen Edinburgh’s creative industries sector, which has an estimated 4,000 businesses supporting 26,000 people. The potential for growth is huge – and providing the tailored business support and technology these businesses need is key. The Creative Exchange will provide a really vibrant creative hub where Edinburgh’s creative industries can find a foothold to get going.

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  • Edinburgh’s newly expanded £30m International Conference Centre major boost to the economy, Monday June 03 2013

    Edinburgh’s newly expanded £30m International Conference Centre is expected to boost the economy by £15m before the end of the year. We spoke to EICC Chief Executive Hans Rissmann…

    What's been the response so far to the newly-extended EICC?

    We have taken the wraps off our new space bit-by-bit and many prospective customers visited us throughout the construction phase. They told us then that our decision to invest in EICC would be rewarded with bigger international conferences and events now within our reach in a global marketplace that is still achieving a 4% annual growth rate. Last month over 700 industry leaders attended an opening guest celebration and the feedback confirms that our new Lennox Suite is defining city centre conferences and events for the new era.

    How do you feel yourself now that the work is complete?

    This has been a tremendous team effort and has pushed the boundaries in terms of design and construction. Bridge-building technology allowed us to create a major, new hall for EICC and the city alongside an important grade A office building. We at EICC have been the engine for change throughout the regeneration of our part of central Edinburgh and that is the true scale of the work that has been completed. Our team is immensely proud of its achievements but with new customers to serve each week our job is never done.

    What specific changes/improvements have been made?

    We have doubled our capacity, which allows us to compete in a new segment of the global business tourism market. Our opening client event last month, International Investigative Dermatology 2013, brought 2,300 delegates to Edinburgh. They needed international conference-scale facilities at the same time as exhibition space for a metric mile of scientific posters. Size matters but our hall-wide, moving-floor system is also arresting the attention of event designers worldwide. We offer flexibility in venue set up unachievable in any other venue and that is firing the imagination of clients on every continent.

    How will this enhance EICC's credentials as an international venue?

    We have built a great reputation around the world based on a quality product and the highest standards of customer service. These much-admired characteristics emanate from a highly professional and motivated team of people who are focused on meeting the needs of our customers. Our expanded EICC gives us an additional set of credentials, based on cutting edge technology, that enables our clients to achieve more in a city centre space and in a fraction of the time required in other venues. However, our number one selling point remains the city itself.

    What conferences are in the pipeline and what excites you most about the outlook?

    Before the end of this year new business for the Lennox Suite will bring more than 12,500 business tourists to Edinburgh and Scotland, delivering an economic impact of £15.4m. The important clients we will welcome to the city during this time include: the European Space Agency’s Living Planet Symposium; the 16th British Oncology Pharmacy Association Symposium; the Medical Research Council’s UK Clinical Trials Methodology Conference and premier Institute and Faculty of Actuaries events GIRO40 and LIFE. Our future has been carefully planned and we expect the expanded EICC will deliver a £2.3bn economic impact over the next 30 years.

     

  • Edinburgh’s commercial property market is performing strongly, Monday May 27 2013

    Edinburgh’s commercial property market is performing strongly. Alasdair Ramsay, Head of Real Estate for Scotland & Northern Ireland at Deloitte Real Estate, shares his expert opinion…

    financial district

    What are the key highlights for Edinburgh?

    Edinburgh’s record over the past year tells a largely positive story, as occupier sentiment bucks the regional trend. We’ve seen deals in the city covering 520,000 square feet and displaying the strongest lettings performance in four years, with rental demand increasing by seven per cent in the past 12 months. What’s more, rent has remained at a healthy level with headline properties such as Edinburgh’s Atria under offer at £32.50 per sq ft.

    What does this mean?

    Although demand for rental space is healthy, the low delivery of Grade A stock means that rents will increase. Those willing to build speculatively, and in the right location, could be well rewarded as they deliver into a relatively under-supplied market. However unless more developers are willing to take this risk, the rent, particularly on Grade A property, will be driven ever higher – with a four per cent increase forecast for Edinburgh by the end of 2013.

    What are the strengths of Edinburgh's commercial property market versus other cities including London?

    Despite the significant difference in population and size, Edinburgh does have certain strengths in its favour. The Scottish capital has a readily available supply of skilled labour, particularly in the financial services sector. This makes the city an attractive prospect for any business looking to expand its operation into Scotland or the UK. This is supported by Edinburgh’s growing reputation as the second key financial centre outside of London. The city’s strong cultural heritage together with its attractive and historic setting also make it a desirable city and appealing to top commercial talent.

    What are your predictions for the Edinburgh market?

    Together with the predicted increase in rents, yields will harden to 6.25% for real estate in the right location. There will be opportunities in Edinburgh but they are likely to be limited to specific sectors, for example, there should be scope for hotel and student housing conversions. However, the large number of historic buildings in the city centre could potentially limit new builds so developers may need to look to the Edinburgh fringes for good development opportunities.

    Alasdair Ramsay is co-author of Deloitte Real Estate’s UK Key Cities report.

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  • New hotel group, Sleeperz Hotels, expanding into Edinburgh after acquiring Travelodge hotel on Shandwick Place, Monday May 20 2013

    A new hotel group, Sleeperz Hotels, is expanding into Edinburgh after acquiring the 73-bedroom Travelodge hotel on Edinburgh's Shandwick Place. David Myers, Chief Executive of Sleeperz Hotels, tells us more…

    What is Sleeperz?

    Sleeperz Hotels is a new and innovative UK budget hotel operator specialising in design-led premium budget hotels near mainline rail stations in busy city centres. We are headquartered in Euston, London, and opened our first hotel in Cardiff in 2008. We expanded into Newcastle in 2012 and are now launching a new sister brand called Cityroomz – with our first property opening in Edinburgh’s Shandwick Place this month. We employ around 50 staff across our three hotels and a small HQ of five. The budget hotel sector is the fastest growing in the UK hospitality industry with more consumers keen to secure a comfortable stay at competitive prices.

    Why are you coming to Edinburgh?

    Edinburgh is one of the world’s truly great cities. It’s Scotland’s cultural capital, sustaining a thriving and resilient tourism industry, and is the beating heart of business and politics north of the border. The launch of a new rooms-based sister brand is a bold and exciting move for a young business like Sleeperz. We acquired the site of a former Travelodge for Cityroomz Edinburgh around two months ago and have invested £500,000 refurbishing and renovating the interior, creating a new breakfast room and upgrading fixtures and fittings including new beds and bespoke mattresses and free and fast wifi. The fact that it is one of the best locations in Edinburgh, at the end of Princes Street, is a tremendous opportunity. Shandwick Place is also strategically significant being so close to conferencing venues, leisure attractions and the developing tram network.

    What kind of roles/skills are you recruiting?

    We’re recruiting for a range of roles in Edinburgh, from hotel management and operations to housekeeping staff. Our company ethos is to provide a warm, friendly and personal service and so we are looking for people with engaging personalities who enjoy service and being around the public. A career with Sleeperz is dynamic because our staff are involved in every role in a modern hotel, giving them a more rounded experience of the hospitality industry.

    What's your vision for Edinburgh/Scotland?

    Our vision is that Cityroomz Edinburgh sets the pace for a determined expansion of both Sleeperz Hotels and Cityroomz. We recently secured a 121-room agreement to lease a hotel in Glasgow city centre and look forward to welcoming guests to stay with us in Scotland’s two major cities. We are looking out for another site in Edinburgh and one in Aberdeen. We feel that Sleeperz and Cityroomz is the right product at the right price for today’s leisure tourist and business traveller.

    For more: www.sleeperz.com and www.cityroomz.com

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  • Edinburgh’s iconic city centre is to be revitalised under plans being considered by councillors, Tuesday May 14 2013

    Edinburgh’s iconic city centre is to be revitalised under plans being considered by councillors. Councillor Ian Perry, Convener of the Planning Committee at the City of Edinburgh Council, explains more…

    What is Edinburgh's ‘city centre vision’?

    It’s about making a series of improvements across a number of areas to make Edinburgh the world-class destination that it should be. That’s for residents, visitors, people who study here and people who work and do business here. This is an ideal opportunity to relaunch the city centre. The vision involves delivering improvements to the development, management and promotion of the City Centre.

    What key changes or developments will it entail?

    Some of the day-to-day improvements will focus on cleaner streets and better management of waste. We’re also looking at improving our signs and way-finding, so there are connected routes around the city centre. We’re looking at public realm – that’s really about what’s on the streets and pavements and how we can make a much more enjoyable and relaxing environment. For example there’s the potential for more outdoor cafes, but also market stalls, art and entertainment. It’s about activating that space and making much better use of it rather than having empty or unused pavements. We’re looking at how we can use changes in planning policy to attract different types of businesses, certainly to Princes Street, which is predominantly retail. What can the city centre offer over and above retail, for example dining, events and entertainment? And we’re looking at how we can help energise the upper floors of retail outlets, so these can be brought back into use rather than being used for storage. It’s really just about making better use of our premiere streets.

    How can people get involved?

    Information about the project and how to get involved is available on the Council's website www.edinburgh.gov.uk/citycentrevision.

    Why is this project important for the city?

    The city centre is one of Edinburgh’s main attractions so this is a key project for us to get right. It’s not just about making it better for people that visit; it’s about improving the city centre for the people that live and work here every day. It’s also important that we’re in a position to compete with other similar European cities in terms of what we have to offer, and the City Centre Vision will help us achieve that.

     

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  • A new business park is being developed to the west of Edinburgh, Tuesday May 07 2013

    A new business park is being developed to the west of Edinburgh. Kirsty Palmer, Associate Director for Jones Lang LaSalle, explains more…

    What is West Edinburgh Business Park?

     

    It is a new 1.69 hectare (4.19 acre) business development based at the south side of South Gyle Crescent on Edinburgh’s western periphery, and is located on the site of the former Pentad office development.

    The initial first and second phases of the project will see 52,452 sq ft of modern industrial units in four terraces for business, general industrial and storage and distribution use, including an allowance for 20% of the floor area to be used for trade and retail.

    Phase 1 is expected to be complete in spring 2014. Plans for the remainder of the site remain flexible, with design and build opportunities available from 10,000 to 40,000 sq ft.

    Why is it important?

    Significantly, this is the first speculative industrial development of its kind in the city since 2008, indicating an optimistic outlook in terms of market demand for industrial space in Edinburgh. Almost half of the requirements we’ve received for industrial property in Edinburgh this year are for units less than 5,000 square feet in size. There’s been no new space being brought to the Edinburgh market to cater for this demand due to a lack of speculative development. There has also been a significant increase in the level of take up for units in excess of 10,000 square feet. West Edinburgh Business Park is a flexible scheme, able to accommodate a wide range of requirements, so will help meet this demand.

    Who are the developers/promoters and who are you looking to attract?

    The site is being developed by Edinburgh-based contractors J Smart & Co and marketed by joint agents Jones Lang LaSalle and Burns and Shaw. Both the developers and the agents will be looking to attract new and existing businesses in the area, focusing on small and medium sized enterprises with trade counter and warehousing requirements. The park will be marketed towards occupiers looking for modern industrial warehousing under 5,000 sq ft and for a number of bespoke unit sizes ranging from 10,000 to 40,000 sq ft. The new units will be available to lease on a full repairing and insuring bases, and full quoting terms, including rent, are available from the agents.

    How will this development complement Edinburgh's current commercial property offering?

    Edinburgh’s industrial commercial property market has been relatively slow in recent years with nothing in the way of new development since 2008. Occupiers with smaller requirements have tended to look further afield within the central belt to take advantage of lower costs and good transport links. The development of West Edinburgh Business Park will now provide the industrial market with a major driver for establishing distribution and warehousing units, which will in turn have a positive benefit on the local economy through employment opportunities and its impact on the local area as a place to do business.

     

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  • City of Edinburgh Council’s landmark £85m Atria office development officially launched last week, Tuesday April 30 2013

    The City of Edinburgh Council’s landmark £85m Atria office development was officially launched last week. Ben Reed, director at Jones Lang LaSalle, joint letting agent for Atria, explains more…

    What is Atria?

    Atria is an office development at the heart of Edinburgh’s prime business district, The Exchange. It is being delivered by City of Edinburgh Council and comprises two buildings providing 200,000 sq ft of Grade A offices. Not only will it help fund the expansion of the Edinburgh International Conference Centre, it also provides much-needed Grade A office space to coincide with improving market conditions. Edinburgh had the highest take-up out of the six biggest office regions in the UK outside of London last year and the largest amount of Grade A lettings.

    What are its unique features?

    - Prime location – it really is a fabulous location right in the heart of the city

    - It has the largest floor plates in the Edinburgh market – this allows occupiers to drive efficiency with the ability for larger occupiers to locate on a single floor

    - It is very flexible and can accommodate small and mid cap companies from 5,000 sq ft (30 to 40 people) up to very large occupiers on floors of 32,000sq ft

    - It has superlative green credentials and is the only development in Edinburgh under current regulations to achieve a BREEAM ‘Excellent’ rating for energy efficiency. It also benefits from having green sedum roofs, low E glass glazing, energy efficient lifts, electric car charging spaces and an abundance of cycle spaces.

    Why is Atria so important?

    It is the largest speculative office development over 100,000 sq ft outside of central London this year and this is important to help the city attract inward investors from outside Scotland – while also offering more modern office space to existing occupiers. Atria not only satifies the need for new Grade A office space in central Edinburgh, but with 32,000 sq ft floors could accommodate a large headquarters or bank with 350+ staff, so is key to the city in that respect. The development also marks the completion of Sir Terry Farrell’s masterplan for the Exchange.

    What occupiers are already in place?

    Investment manager Brewin Dolphin last year announced it will take 25% of Atria One and is currently undergoing a fit out. The UK Green Investment Bank also confirmed last week it is taking space. Between the contribution of these two we have 33% of the development let. We also have another interest under offer and if that were to proceed,the building would be 50% let. What excites you most about Atria’s potential? Showing people around, you see it’s a very high quality development. The Atrium space in the middle of the building is stunning and really gives it that wow factor when people walk through the building via either the Conference Square or Morrison Street entrances. The scale and quality of office space, the finishes, and natural daylighting are exceptionally good and it’s exciting that Edinburgh has a building of this stature with strong green credentials to offer at this important time, given the improving market conditions.

     

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  • Moredun Research Institute & Heriot-Watt University in €9 million project to improve safety of European drinking water, Monday April 22 2013

    The Moredun Research Institute and Heriot-Watt University are involved in a €9 million project to improve the safety of drinking water in Europe. We spoke to Professor Elisabeth Innes, Principal Scientist and Director of Communications at the Moredun Research Institute…

    What is the Aquavalens project and why is it important?

    The Aquavalens project is a €9 million EU funded research project to help improve the safety of drinking water within Europe.

    Although water supplies in Europe are among the safest in the world, there are still many hundreds of thousands of cases of water related illnesses due to contamination of supplies with viruses, bacteria and parasites. Small water supplies are the biggest risk and young children the most vulnerable disease risk group.

    The main aim of this 5-year project will be to develop and apply rapid methods of pathogen detection in water to try and prevent and/or reduce the risk of water borne illness.

    How important is collaboration in this programme and who else is involved?

    Collaboration is very important in this project, in particular between academia and industrial partners. The project is bringing together scientists, engineers, policy makers and public health practitioners from 39 organisations and involving 13 countries across Europe.

    The project partners met in Sestri Levante it Italy last week for the launch meeting of the project, which is being led by Professor Paul Hunter from the University of East Anglia. In Scotland the partners include The Moredun Research Institute, Moredun Scientific, Heriot-Watt University and the James Hutton Institute.

    What do you hope to achieve and how does this make you feel?

    With the current technologies available it can take 2 or more days to identify infectious pathogens in drinking water and then it is often too late for those people who have already consumed it. This project aims to develop more rapid diagnostic methods to help protect people from drinking contaminated water.

    The first phase of the project will focus on developing innovative diagnostic tests for pathogens such as Cryptosporidium, Campylobacter and Norovirus. The second phase involves the application of technologies to detect these agents in water using gene probes, nano-technologies and bio-sensors. The third phase will involve testing the platforms in large and small scale water utilities and in the food industry and finally the last stage of the project will look at how these new technologies may be integrated into existing practices and policies to protect the health of Europeans. Links with national and international government agencies will ensure that the project's outputs will influence European policy.

    We’re really excited to be involved in such a large-scale project and to have the opportunity to meet and work with colleagues across Europe. The launch meeting has been really inspiring with lots of late night discussions going into the small hours bringing together multi-disciplinary groups with very different viewpoints. www.aquavalens.org

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  • Venture capital firm Rock Spring Ventures has opened a new £50m life sciences and health technology fund in Edinburgh, Monday March 18 2013

    Venture capital firm Rock Spring Ventures has opened a new £50m life sciences and health technology fund in Edinburgh. We spoke to Managing Partner Sinclair Dunlop...

    What will the fund do?

    It will provide early stage growth capital to the most exciting new health technology companies coming out of Scotland’s universities.

    How are things going?

    The real update is that we’re now beginning to work very closely with our university partners (Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen) and have started looking at a shortlist of very exciting new technologies. We’re now beginning the due diligence process on these and expect to make our first investment later in the year.

    What’s your own background?

    This is my fourth early stage venture fund. I’ve been doing early stage company building for more than 15 years, always with a focus on new technologies and always in the healthcare, life sciences and biotech area. We’re looking for the next big breakthrough, for disruptrive technology that has the potential to have a big impact on health and patient care. We like the idea of a geographic market which has a world-class science base and world-class universities but lacks early stage capital. I have an MBA from Columbia Business School in New York and prior to that a degree in economics from Glasgow University.

    Why did you decide to base the fund in Edinburgh?

    We think the Scottish market has huge potential in terms of the quality of its universities and the quality of the life sciences research here. We wanted to establish a very strong Scottish presence and Edinburgh is the logical location to do that. Edinburgh is where a lot of high quality university research and life sciences work also meets the financial services sector, so in a Scottish context it’s the ideal place to be.

    What excites you most about the potential you've seen so far?

    We believe the science exists in Scotland for having a huge impact on patients’ lives and potentially even cures for certain diseases. We think the science here in Scotland just needs to be combined with better access to early stage capital. If we can bring one, the high quality science, together with two, the risk capital, we think we’re onto a winner.

     

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