A new £65 million National Manufacturing Institute for Scotland (NMIS) is to be built in Renfrewshire.

The centre will help manufacturing businesses throughout the country become global leaders in innovation, attracting investment and connecting all engineering Universities and colleges. Strathclyde University has been announced as the anchor university.

Work to build the facility will begin next year. Located next to Glasgow International Airport and the M8 at Inchinnan, the Scottish Government is investing £48m in NMIS with £8m from the University of Strathclyde.

A further £8.9m was announced in June 2017 for the Lightweight Manufacturing Centre as a first step towards the wider centre. In addition, Renfrewshire Council is providing a further £39.1m through the Glasgow City Region Deal to support wider infrastructure work at the site.

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The NMIS' location was announced during a visit by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and Economy Secretary Keith Brown to Rolls-Royce's manufacturing facility in Inchinnan.

Speaking after a meeting with some of Scotland's leading manufacturing companies, Mrs Sturgeon said the facility will be an "industry-led international centre of manufacturing expertise".

"Research, industry and the public sector will work together to transform skills, productivity and innovation, attracting investment and making Scotland a global leader in advanced manufacturing," she said.

"It will help companies right across Scotland embrace new manufacturing techniques, support cutting edge research and help to further develop the skills of our workforce. The manufacturing jobs of the future offer exciting and rewarding careers for young people. We want to inspire them to work in this sector and revive Scotland's proud tradition of manufacturing and engineering.

"Inchinnan  provides a gateway to the world through proximity to the airport and revives Scotland's proud tradition of manufacturing and engineering

Professor Sir Jim McDonald, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Strathclyde, said: "Today's announcement marks the beginning of a new chapter for Scottish manufacturing, building on a great tradition of innovation. By capitalising on world-class, industry-relevant research and supporting skills-development, the new institute will attract inward investment to Scotland, stimulate the creation of jobs and help companies compete globally."

(LM/MH)