Animal health companies attend HIE reception in London

Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) and Scottish Development International hosted the event at Scotland House, ahead of the Animal Health Investment Forum 2018 in the city the same week.

Scotland House plays a critical role in attracting investment to Scotland, helping businesses to trade internationally and raising Scotland’s international profile. 

The reception provided an opportunity to promote the Highlands and Islands as home to a growing cluster of academic expertise in the animal health sector such as SRUC (Scotland’s rural college), University of the Highlands and Islands and SAC Consulting.

The animal health sector is a growing part of the life science industry, a priority growth sector for HIE. The organisation is working to boost innovation and support growth in the sector.

Key hubs of life sciences activity are based in the Highlands and Islands including Inverness Campus and the European Marine Science Park (EMSP) near Oban, allowing businesses locating there to take advantage of the collaboration ethos.

At Inverness Campus, aquaculture company Aqua Pharma was the first tenant in the purpose-built life science building, Aurora House, and Scottish Vet Referrals is the north of Scotland’s first purpose-built veterinary referral practice.

Speaking at the event will be George Gunn, Stonehaven Consulting, Dr Adam Hughes from the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS) in Oban, and Ben Perry, from Benchmark Holdings. 

Andrea McColl, senior development manager for life sciences at HIE, said: “The natural resources and research expertise in the Highlands and Islands create the perfect environment for locating businesses engaged in animal health.

“Having welcomed several new firms to both Inverness Campus and EMSP over the last two years, we are keen to discuss the opportunities in our region with more prospective tenants, while reflecting the attraction of the region to investors and businesses as well as the continued growth in the life science sector in the region. We are encouraged by the high number of people who attended our event.

"A variety of contacts were made during the reception which provided an excellent partnership working opportunity between Inverness Campus, EMSP, business and SDI."