Hillington Park Innovation Centre evaluation: final report for Scottish Enterprise Renfrewshire

The Hillington Park Innovation Centre (HPIC) aimed to support the creation of new knowledge-based, technology, product and process enterprises, providing low displacement, high value add businesses and jobs in Central Scotland. The early evaluation aimed to assess how HPIC had progressed, indicate any areas which could be improved upon and make recommendations to plan for the future.

The methodology consisted of: creating baseline data, from original papers and interviews; desk research; a questionnaire of past and present HPIC tenants; and a focus group of seven companies.

Suggests that HPIC is a successful innovation centre, performing well against poor market conditions across technology sectors. It achieved unanticipated, good early results in economic development terms and generated rental incomes. Nearly 50% of companies reported an increase in turnover since moving into HPIC. Seven of the nine original objectives have been achieved, well within the anticipated timescale. An original target (to incubate 15 new start companies and attract 15 existing companies in the first three years) has been exceeded (within eighteen months, 54 companies have gone through the centre, of which 35 are currently resident). There was a wide range of satisfaction levels for the Innovation and Business Development support available within HPIC.

Recommends reviewing the marketing approach periodically to ensure a steady flow of new tenants continues, and moving companies on after a set period of time to maintain a vibrancy and within HPIC. Suggests that the centre director, involving the high growth team, manages all business development activity. Concludes that new projects should be taken forward, but only if they can be fully resourced. In order for Phase 2 to occur, recommends that SE Renfrewshire must either convince Caledonian Land to commit, or source another private sector partner to take an alternative forward. Notes that a clear strategy is now required to confirm the role of HPIC as either a business, a SE Renfrewshire facilitator or a property manager. SE and the Scottish Executive should consider rolling out the HPIC experience more widely, perhaps to launch and deliver a national incubation process.