Michelin Scotland Innovation Parc

Ahead of their involvement in our free-to-attend online event – Invest in Dundee: Key Sectors for Economic Recovery – we’ve been speaking to Michelin Scotland Innovation Parc (MSIP). MSIP, one of the event speakers, is creating a new future for people, place and plant, and they’ll be a key enabler to fresh investment and economic growth across Dundee and the wider region. We’ve spoken to Chief Executive Officer Greig Coull…

Q. This year the Michelin Scotland Innovation Parc (MSIP) welcomed its first tenants to the site – which will focus on sustainable mobility and low carbon energy to drive growth and diversity across the Scottish economy while addressing the global climate emergency. Tell us a little about how the Parc first came about and why Dundee is the perfect location?

Michelin made the difficult decision to close its Dundee factory in 2018. Once that decision was made, a team from across Scotland – Scottish Government, Scottish Enterprise, and Dundee City Council – met with Michelin to discuss how the site could be repurposed. [emaillocker id=”71749″]

What evolved over the next six months was the Michelin Scotland Innovation Parc (MSIP) – an ambitious joint venture between Michelin, Scottish Enterprise, and Dundee City Council, formed to drive growth and diversity in the Scottish economy while addressing the global climate emergency.

Our vision is to be a global reference for collaboration across innovation, manufacturing, and skills development in sustainable mobility and decarbonisation. I believe Dundee is the ideal location to make that happen.

MSIP has space – 32 hectares that encompasses buildings of various size – that is being transformed to accommodate businesses to locate there. It has a green energy provision, offering competitive sustainable energy options. And its Skills Academy will launch later this year, creating a ready supply of skilled workers.

With Dundee’s strong history in manufacturing, transferable skills from the previous Michelin workforce and a site of high specification, we are not starting from scratch and have a strong competitive edge already to get things underway.

Q. Three organisations have moved to the Parc this year – MEP Technologies, Low Emissions Resources Global and Arcola Energy – what was the draw for these companies moving to the site?

We have a very clear vision and mission for MSIP and a competitive offer in terms of space, green energy, and skills provision as part of that. But we also have a strong brand ethos that underpins everything that we do – we want to make a positive impact on the world, fight climate change and create jobs and economic growth. One can no longer be done without the other, and our vision and mission makes that clear.

I have found that companies relate to this ethos quickly and want to be a part of it. Yes, we can offer them flexible space and competitive sustainable energy, and we can help them attract a skilled workforce, develop collaborative projects, and access funding and support from our strong partnership. But our values that underpin why we are doing what we are doing resonate well, and is attracting not just those initial companies, but many more as well.

Q. Where is the Parc up to in terms of development – is work still be completed on site and what is the pipeline for completion?

The site was transferred from Michelin to MSIP ownership on 1 January 2021. We have a transformation plan in place and the physical works for that will begin in March 2021. We anticipate by late Summer/early Autumn we will have some exciting new spaces ready for companies to move into, complementing those buildings which are now tenant-ready. Our Skills Academy space will also be ready to accept students by Autumn 2021.

Our Innovation Hub, our new flagship building for collaboration, will start construction this year. As part of that, we will also start to develop our Innovation Campus, an open, flexible space for collaboration, events, socializing and ideation.

From all the conversations I have had already, I don’t think that our transformation work will ever reach an end point. We have plenty of land and a lot of interest. As long as we have companies and collaborators seeking space, with a clear goal to create growth and jobs, we will continue to react to that and evolve our site as required.

Q. With a core mission and vision on decarbonisation and sustainable mobility there this Parc isn’t just going to have an impact locally, but also nationally. How do you fit into Scotland’s green economic recovery?

I view MSIP as a key part of Scotland’s green economic recovery. When MSIP was formed, it was already considered an important part of economic policy in terms of the climate change agenda. And now, with everything that COVID has thrown at us nationally, MSIP will be a leader in generating opportunities for green economic growth.

We were already well positioned for this and have not had to adapt our plans in any way. We have experienced some delays due to COVID, primarily in the physical transformation of the site and getting ready for our tenants to move in. However, the pace at which my team has moved at in 2020, and will continue to do so in 2021, will ensure that we maximise every opportunity to fulfill our vision and mission, and improve the economy so it can bounce back from these hard times as quickly as it can.

Q. These sectors are still quite new – is there enough investment going into the training of new skills and the upskilling of workers to meet the needs of green business practices? And how are you also playing your part to tackle the skills challenges?

I have mentioned that we will have a dedicated Skills Academy at the Innovation Parc. From the inception of MSIP we understood that having the right skilled workers is critical when businesses are making the decision of where to locate. The sustainable mobility and decarbonisation sectors may find this a particular challenge, given as you say, these technologies are new.

That is why there will be a dedicated Skills Academy at MSIP, run in partnership with Dundee and Angus College. The Skills Academy will build a curriculum with direct input from the private sector, capturing the skills needs of the future. The curriculum will flex and adapt as needed and will benefit from core Michelin content to ensure it is of the highest specification. It will produce a skilled workforce for our tenants and industry to access. We aim to have 250 people go through our Skills Academy each year.

As well as this, we work closely with Skills Development Scotland, the Universities, Colleges, and other skills providers. We listen to the companies we are working with, and we share feedback on their skills needs, as well as share intelligence with them on the support that is available in these sectors.

Q. Tell us about the green credentials of the site – with such a focus on sustainability I assume you’ve incorporated green energy at the Parc?

By 2017, Michelin had invested £90 million in the Dundee site with the intention of making it the first carbon neutral Michelin factory in the world. With the closure, this goal was sadly not achieved. But what it does mean is that we have inherited a site with excellent green credentials and a sustainable energy infrastructure already in place.

We have two wind turbines that offer off-grid electricity. Several of our buildings are designed to fit solar technology on their roofs, and thus provide power directly from sunlight. And we have a partnership with our neighboring business, MVV Energy Baldovie, which offers electrical and steam energy from waste via a pipeline feeding directly into our site.

We are currently reviewing our carbon footprint, to better understand what our energy use and needs are, now and in the future, and from there we will work towards our own carbon neutral goals. We know our sustainable energy provision is a big part of what we offer – we practice what we preach and those located here can do so too – but we also want to do more, better and quicker. That is now a clear focus for us as a team in 2021.

Q. What could the economic impact be of the Parc to the wider Dundee city region – is this set to be a catalyst for wider growth, and if so how are you working collaboratively to help maximise this with the public and private sectors?

Everything that we do at MSIP is to create an environment that allows for collaboration between the public and private sector. After all, we ourselves are a strong example of that. We have a strong programme of activity which demonstrates this.

We have two MoU’s signed with two leading Scottish Universities – the University of St Andrews and the University of Dundee – with the objective of generating innovative projects where academia and industry meet. We have strong relationships across the Scottish public sector support organisations, and we introduce these bodies to the companies we are working with to help maximise their growth potential. We are linked into the Innovation Centre network across Scotland. We are running an Accelerator Programme, with the first cohort of eight start-ups currently on week 10 of 16. And we have a strong pipeline of current and future tenants, who we continually connect into opportunities as they emerge. It is a busy space with lots of exciting activity already underway!

We have clear targets for ourselves – to create 850 jobs and put £50m back into the local economy by 2028, and I am confident we will meet those targets. However, I believe the economic impact of MSIP will go much wider and further than that, with the supply chain across Scotland benefiting from the growth that the businesses located at MSIP will generate.

The environment we are creating for collaboration to take place at MSIP will be a key part of that.

Q. You’re set to be involved in Dundee City Council’s upcoming event focused on the exceptional work happening across the region which is driving investment and development. Who are you looking forward to engaging and connecting with at the event?

Yes, I am excited to be speaking at this event. It’s a great programme and I am in good company. MSIP is a key part of Dundee’s future growth, and I think it is important that for an event like this, the audience can see where we fit into the landscape.

I am looking forward to sharing more about MSIP and our vision and mission, along with perhaps some details on the types of companies we are working with and the opportunities we see emerging. I’m keen to speak to anyone that wants to explore a future relationship with MSIP.

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