Four major public sector organisations have agreed a new plan to develop Edinburgh BioQuarter.
The five-year collaboration agreement involves The City of Edinburgh Council, NHS Lothian, Scottish Enterprise and the University of Edinburgh as official partners at the health and science campus.
The four organisations have appointed a Programme Team, led by Director Hans Möller, to develop and implement a new business plan in 2018.
On behalf of the four public partners, Hugh Edmiston, Chair, Edinburgh BioQuarter Strategy Board, said: “This signifies a commitment and determination on behalf of all four partners to the future development of Edinburgh BioQuarter campus.
“The capabilities and expertise across Edinburgh BioQuarter is unrivalled. It is a place which offers outstanding healthcare, world-class scientific medical research, ground-breaking life science collaborations and commercial opportunities.
“Ultimately, by working together, we can improve patient care and positively contribute to the economy at a local and national level.”
The new joint vision will see the development of an integrated campus-wide approach which involves building better collaborative links between academics, scientists, clinicians, healthcare professionals and entrepreneurs. This also includes a cross-partnership focus on improving travel and transport and local amenities for people visiting the site.
Hans Möller, Director, Edinburgh BioQuarter, said: “I’m delighted an agreement has been reached between these four influential public partners.
“This is an exciting time for Edinburgh BioQuarter with over £200m of construction projects currently taking place and more to come. There are plans to build a new facility for the Usher Institute for Population Health Sciences, a medical teaching school building for the University of Edinburgh, and the potential for NHS Lothian’s Princess Alexandra Eye Pavilion to relocate here.
“We want to develop more opportunities for the 7,000 people who work across Edinburgh BioQuarter campus. This means partners working together to create networks, events and to improve local amenities including travel and transport options.
“One way of ensuring that innovation and commercial opportunities are realised is by improving experiences and by making it easier for people to meet, collaborate and share ideas.”
A masterplan for Edinburgh BioQuarter, which allocates space to create a modern high density urban environment, received outline planning approval from the City of Edinburgh Council in 2013. Proposals will see a hotel with conference facilities, gym, cafes, multi-storey car parking and more office and lab space for SMEs.
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