New manufacturing centre to be built near Glasgow Airport

Scotland"s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon visits the Rolls Royce plant at Inchinnan

A £65m manufacturing centre of excellence is to be built near Glasgow Airport, the Scottish government has announced.

The National Manufacturing Institute for Scotland (NMIS) aims to support businesses across the country and attract investment.

Strathclyde University will be the anchor university for the institute.

The centre will be located at Inchinnan in Renfrewshire, next to Glasgow Airport and the M8.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and Economy Secretary Keith Brown made the announcement during a visit to Rolls-Royce's manufacturing facility in Inchinnan.

Rolls-Royce is a founding member of the University of Strathclyde's existing Advanced Forming Research Centre.

NMIS is a key part of the Scottish government's manufacturing action plan, which aims to help Scotland become a world leader in advanced manufacturing.

'Global leader'

Ms Sturgeon said the facility would be an industry-led international centre of manufacturing expertise.

She said: "Research, industry and the public sector will work together to transform skills, productivity and innovation, attracting investment and making Scotland a global leader in advanced manufacturing.

"It will help companies right across Scotland embrace new manufacturing techniques, support cutting edge research and help to further develop the skills of our workforce.

"Although the centre will sit on the Clydeside, the benefits will be felt throughout Scotland."

Ms Sturgeon and Mr Brown made the announcement during a visit to Rolls-Royce's manufacturing facility in Inchinnan

The Scottish government will invest £48m in NMIS, with £8m coming from the University of Strathclyde.

Renfrewshire Council will provide a further £39.1m through the Glasgow City Region Deal to support wider infrastructure work at the site.

Ministers said the new centre would build on the Advanced Forming Research Centre at Inchinnan and the new Lightweight Manufacturing Centre which is due to open in Renfrew next year.

Mr Brown said: "Manufacturing is a key industry, already accounting for 52% of Scotland's international exports, and nearly £600m of Scotland's spend on business research and development.

"Our investment in NMIS builds on our support for the Lightweight Manufacturing Centre and will support that and our ambitious target of doubling business expenditure on research and development by 2025."

Glasgow Chamber of Commerce chief executive Stuart Patrick welcomed the announcement that NMIS would be built in Renfrewshire.

He said: "We are confident it can help attract new business investment, stimulate a fresh approach to growing manufacturing in Scotland and benefit very many of our member companies.

"This is a good step to re-emphasising our engineering prowess."