City Region Deal at halfway point - Innovation Hub a major benefit

The Edinburgh Innovation Hub, which welcomed its first tenant in December last year, is one major benefit for East Lothian thanks to investment and partnership working as part of the Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region Deal (ESESCRD). 

Almost 30,000 jobs have been created or supported across the Deal region since 2018 thanks to ESESCRD, which is at the halfway point in its 15-year delivery timeline and has already contributed £3.6 billion in economic growth. 

From Fife to the Scottish Borders, the Deal is delivering investment across housing, transport, innovation, culture and skills and employment.

The Edinburgh Innovation Hub (EIH), next to Queen Margaret University (QMU), is one of seven across the area designed to increase links between university research and industry.

The Council welcomed an update report on the Hub in October last year, which showed that the completion of this £40m flagship development by the council and QMU signalled the project partners’ ambition to create a nationally significant facility to capture, support and grow innovation-led enterprise in East Lothian and the Edinburgh region. 

EIH is a joint venture between our organisation and QMU featuring flexible laboratory, office and fully equipped meeting and conference spaces for rent by small to medium enterprises. The venture has been supported by £10m from our council budgets as part of ESESCRD, £28.6m from UK Government and £1.4m from Scottish Government

It will help to initiate development of the wider Edinburgh Innovation Park on land adjacent to the QMU campus. The development was granted planning permission in principle in March 2019, as part of a wider mixed use development, including new homes and a new primary school, business & industry use and community facilities.

Read the full story in the news section of our website. More information on the Edinburgh Innovation Hub is on the website and Blindwells updates are on our website.