Operator sought for new innovation centre

16th May 2025

Photograph of Operator sought for new innovation centre

Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) is looking to contract a specialist operating company to run a new multi-million-pound innovation centre under development in Moray to support manufacturing.

The three-year contract will involve developing and managing the service offering of the new Manufacturing Innovation Centre Moray (MICM), as well as stakeholder engagement, marketing and promotion of the facility.

MICM is a Moray Growth Deal project that includes more than £4m of UK and Scottish Government funding and £2.56m investment from HIE.

HIE has been leading the creation of the centre through the refurbishment of a building at Enterprise Park Forres, which is nearing completion.

MICM will provide support and advice to manufacturing companies throughout Moray and is expected to support up to 300 manufacturing jobs in the next ten years. The centre's primary focus will be on stimulating innovation and growth in product and process development, with a strong emphasis on transitioning to low carbon practices.

It will include business incubator spaces for start-up ventures alongside project spaces where existing businesses can innovate. There will also be a demonstrator suite for showcasing the latest concepts in advanced manufacturing technology and equipment.

David Reid, HIE area manager in Moray, said:

"This is a really exciting project and a great opportunity for an experienced specialist service operator to develop, operate and manage the MICM service.

"We welcome bids from single suppliers as well as collaborative bids, for example with sub-contractors and/or consortium members.

"While there are specific contractual service requirements and milestones, we'd expect the supplier to bring new thinking and approaches to deliver the collective services."

There are currently around 7,000 manufacturing jobs in Moray in sectors such as fabrication, technology and advanced engineering, forestry and textiles, and food and drink. This is more per head of population than any other part of Scotland.

The deadline for bid submission is 12 noon, 8 July, with the contract due to start in September.

Details are on the Public Contract Scotland website at View Notice - Public Contracts Scotland - https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/search/show/search_view.aspx?ID=MAY530251

 

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