"Science in the Corridor"

According to the STEM* web page

The East coast corridor between Inverness and Elgin has become the focus for 'P4 Digital' healthcare which aims to promote the delivery of Predictive, Personalised, Preventive and Participatory healthcare using digital technology.

And, 

Life Sciences is an emerging sector which is rapidly growing in importance both regionally, nationally and globally. More than 50 organisations employ around 1,800 staff in the Highlands and Islands.

More information is given on the HIE web page here and on the Inverness Campus page here

The HIE web page (as above) reveals that:

...Scotland is home to around 600 bioscience companies employing approximately 30,500 people. 

...Across the Highlands and Islands, between 40 and 80 organisations make up a dynamic and growing life sciences industry. 


It is not clear from these facts how many organisations will sit within the Inverness to Elgin Corridor' and how many they will employ in the Corridor (The SRUC (SAC?) Labs are  relocating from Lochardil - maybe around 20-25? people).  Certainly it looks to be that Lifescan in Inverness employs around 1100 people.  Details of the 'Centre for Health Sciences' can be found here.  STV has reported on a new Enterprise area in Moray 

It will be interesting to see how the Third National Planning Framework represents the sector and what additional development will be needed.  Of course that does not guarantee any funding since not only is a National Planning Framework not supposed to be a 'prescriptive blueprint' but it does not provide a guarantee of funding either.


*STEM North of Scotland is an initiative developed by Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) to increase the number of young people with STEM qualifications to ensure a skilled workforce to support the region’s key sectors: energy,life sciences, food and drink, financial and business servicesand the creative industries.