The Biocampus is an

enterprise area A special economic zone (SEZ) is an area in which the business and trade laws are different from the rest of the country. SEZs are located within a country's national borders, and their aims include increasing trade balance, employment, increas ...

Midlothian Midlothian (; gd, Meadhan Lodainn) is a historic county, registration county, lieutenancy area and one of 32 council areas of Scotland used for local government. Midlothian lies in the east- central Lowlands, bordering the City of Edinbur ...

, Scotland. It is part of the larger

Edinburgh Science Triangle The Edinburgh Science Triangle (EST) is a multi-disciplinary partnership between universities, research institutes, the Scottish National Health Service, National Health Service, science parks, the national economic development agency Scottish En ...

, which includes the

Edinburgh BioQuarter Edinburgh BioQuarter is one of the UK’s leading health innovation locations. It boasts an established and growing ecosystem where leaders in healthcare, academia, economic development and local government work together to deliver a shared vi ...

and was the first dedicated national bio-manufacturing campus. Development on the site is supported through financial incentives and business rate reduction through the Scottish Government's enterprise area scheme. The campus was established in 2001 with a site to facilitate large-scale

biomanufacturing Biomanufacturing is a type of manufacturing or biotechnology that utilizes biological systems to produce commercially important biomaterials and biomolecules for use in medicines, food and beverage processing, and industrial applications. Biomanufa ...

, with the initial development costing around £15 million. There are outline plans in place to expand the site with a further for a phase 2 project. The first facility on the campus was opened by Alba Bioscience, a subsidiary of Quotient, a company offering tests related to blood transfusion diagnostics. The firm received a

Queen's Award for Enterprise The Queen's Awards for Enterprise is an awards programme for British businesses and other organizations who excel at international trade, innovation, sustainable development or promoting opportunity (through social mobility). They are the highest ...

in 2016 for their work in Midlothian both at the BioCampus site and the nearby Pentlands science park. The campus has close links to a number of university departments including

Heriot-Watt University Heriot-Watt University ( gd, Oilthigh Heriot-Watt) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was established in 1821 as the School of Arts of Edinburgh, the world's first mechanics' institute, and subsequently granted uni ...

, the

University of Strathclyde The University of Strathclyde ( gd, Oilthigh Shrath Chluaidh) is a public research university located in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1796 as the Andersonian Institute, it is Glasgow's second-oldest university, having received its royal char ...

and the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

. An evaluation in 2005 estimated that enterprise zones across Scotland had generated 58,000 full time jobs at a total public cost of £17,000 per ten-year job. However, some commentators have criticised the tax breaks and financial support given to private companies through enterprise zones, highlighting evidence that very few new high-quality jobs are created with most of the jobs being transferred from other parts of the country.

References

External links

*{{official, https://midlothiansciencezone.com/science/biocampus/ Enterprise areas of Scotland Economy of Midlothian Biotechnology in the United Kingdom Science and technology in Scotland Science parks in the United Kingdom Buildings and structures in Midlothian

See also

References

External links