pleiad europe
balmoral suite royal british house
leonard street perth ph2 8ha
scotland UK
Scottish Incubator Lands a Tenant ‘Sight
Unseen’
(4-10 July 2003- Boston Business Journal)
CAMBRIDGE – A Scottish company has signed a lease sight unseen
for space in the Scottish government’s new incubator in Kendall
Square, which opened less than a week ago.
Pleiad Inc, a biotech and medical device consulting firm, will
be the first to take advantage of the incubator space overseen by
Scottish Development International, the government’s economic
development arm.
“The US is the biggest market for us as a service company
and consultancy”, said Pleiad Chief Executive Officer Helen
Colquhoun.
SDI has leased 5,000 square feet in Cambridge, enough to house
four more companies. Pleiad, a three year old company, had made
strides advising companies on product development and European regulations,
but now wants a bigger audience.
“They were so excited about the marketing information that
we were able to pass on to them about all that is going on here,
that they actually took space here without physically seeing it”,
said Lorna Jack, director of SDI’s operations in North America.
The Cambridge site will be the first of many satellite offices
for Pleiad, Colquhoun said. She hopes to have one employee in Cambridge
this fall and as many as three people by early next year.
And in Scotland, officials are putting millions of dollars on the
table to attract foreign investment. To attract foreign scientists,
the government established ‘Intermediary Technology Institutes’
near universities in key areas of research, including biotech. The
first two institutes will cost the government approximately $56
million, with a commitment of about $23 million for each one every
year thereafter.
“We’re moving into a more competitive global market”,
said Frank McAveety, Scotland’s minister for tourism, culture
and sport.
Other countries have established economic development offices here
in recent years to foster relationships between their homegrown
companies and companies in the United States.
“At the end of the day, they have to differentiate themselves
from the rest of the market, but we can make the initial connections
for them”, Jack said.
