Invest in success - September 2011
 Why Aberdeen City and Shire is the place to be
Aberdeen City and Shire has, for several decades, been the engine room of the Scottish economy driven by the resources off its shores. It has become a global centre for excellence in the oil and gas industry which has assured its long term future in that sector and it is now stepping up the pace to become a total energy hub by drawing in worldwide expertise in renewables. It has a huge amount to offer inward investors from its exceptional skills base and outstanding educational facilities to a quality of life which is, officially, second to none.
Rita Stephen, Development Manager of ACSEF, the public-private partnership which drives economic development in the region, said:
“There is nowhere better to invest than Aberdeen City and Shire and some of the property deals carried out recently have put this area on investors’ maps. There have been significant transactions on a scale which hasn’t happened in too many other cities or city regions in the UK.
“But it should be no surprise that Aberdeen City and Shire is proving attractive to investors. We have a very educated workforce, low unemployment and a quality of life which is the envy of many cities throughout Europe and beyond.
“Aberdeenshire was recently identified as having the best quality of life in Scotland for the second year running and Aberdeen has two great universities with Robert Gordon University being chosen as the Scottish University of the Year by The Sunday Times last year.”
An indication of the buoyancy of the city’s economy, which is recognised as a global economy, is that German fund Aerium recently bought its first Scottish asset – Hazledene’s new £50million office development in Justice Mill Lane which broke the record for the highest rent outside London in May.
ACSEF, like Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce, has lobbied the Scottish Government to ensure there is a clear understanding of the impact which the North-east can have on the national economy by leading it out of recession. It has urged them not to continue to focus on short-term need but to invest in the long term opportunities available in this area to enable Scotland to grow and compete on an international stage.
GVA (Gross Value Added) measures the contribution to the economy of each individual producer, industry or sector in the UK and this region has the highest in Scotland and the second highest in the country generating £27,388 per person.
The region contributes £266 million in business rates ever year, accounts for £6 billion of international exports from Scotland and supports 200,000 Scottish oil and gas jobs.
ACSEF’s strategy is to achieve annual growth of 2.5% in GVA by supporting the region’s role in the global oil and gas industry, by capitalising on the opportunities which the emerging renewables sector can provide.
Other sectors on which it is focussing are life sciences – it wants to double to number of life sciences companies to 36 by next year; tourism – it wants to grow tourism revenue by 50% to £750 million by 2015; food and drink – it aims to help companies in this sector grow turnover by 30% to £1.1 billion by 2017.
ACSEF’s flagship project Energetica, is at the heart of its efforts to become a global energy hub.
Aberdeen City and Shire already has the highest concentration of energy expertise, experience, skills and technology in the eastern hemisphere combined with fast-growing infrastructure and exciting new developments. Energetica aims to create the world’s greatest concentration of energy technology companies, housing and leisure facilities along a 30-mile coastal corridor.
It aims to emulate the success projects like the Research Triangle Park in North Carolina which has attracted 160 companies with 40,000 employees and around $3 billion of capital investment.
Energetica will be unique - bringing together talented people and providing them with a stimulating environment in which to be creative over the next 20 years as a range of commercial investment opportunities are brought forward.
The corridor, from Aberdeen’s Science Parks to Peterhead and west to Aberdeen’s international airport and heliport, will be a lifestyle zone intended to attract and retain the very best talent.
Donald Trump’s £1 billion golf resort, at which the first visitors will tee off next summer, is within the corridor.
A unique business, leisure and residential destination is being created which is built on low carbon, highly sustainable principles and capable of competing with the best locations in the world.
Intertek, a leading provider of quality and safety services to a wide range of industries around the world, is one of the most recent to announce its arrival. It will locate its exploration and production support services headquarters at the gateway to Energetica.
Intertek has signed a 20 year lease for over 40,000 square feet at the Excel Centre on the Energy Park, part of the Aberdeen Innovation Parks which are currently undergoing major refurbishment and investment as part of Energetica.
From these new headquarters, the group will establish a centre of excellence for exploration and production support, including a state-of-the-art laboratory complex with research and development, analytical testing and training facilities, as its platform for further international expansion.
Intertek employs 240 engineers, chemists and technical experts in Aberdeen. Approximately 170 will be based in the new centre from where it will also manage its offshore workforce. The company will retain warehouse facilities in Dyce.
Sara Budge, project director of Energetica, said: “Intertek is exactly the type of global business Energetica is seeking to attract. It has a strong research and development base, founded on and inspired by the energy industry. We are delighted it has chosen Energetica as its upstream headquarters and see this announcement as a catalyst for further inward investment which will help encourage a critical mass of diversified energy services companies to Energetica, positioning Aberdeen City and Shire as a global energy hub for the long-term.”
|
