A £1.5 refurbishment is to get underway on the former administration building of Aberdeen's Robert Gordon University (RGU).

The development will include the construction of a new 20,000 square foot regional hub for digital and entrepreneurship activity.

It is being developed by private sector economic development body Opportunity North East (ONE) in partnership with CodeBase and RGU.

The ONE Digital & Entrepreneurship (ONE D&E) Hub will provide the base for the ONE CodeBase partnership between ONE D&E and digital tech incubator CodeBase, and for RGU's new entrepreneurship accelerator programme, which will fund and support teams of entrepreneurial students, staff and recent alumni in creating new businesses. RGU also plans to deliver its innovation programme activities from the Hub.

The Hub will combine hot desking, co-working and office space for early stage digital companies as they grow towards investor readiness with flexible accommodation for established and growing digital companies. It will also support existing entrepreneurs and their companies, facilitate creative interaction between businesses and their customers, and inspire the next generation of entrepreneurs to create and grow new businesses in the North East of Scotland.

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Sir Ian Wood, chair of ONE D&E, said: "Building digital capacity and capability in North East Scotland is central to delivering the shared ambition of a long-term regional economic renaissance. ONE D&E is investing in activity and a dedicated space to support digital cluster growth in the region. The development of the D&E Hub in Aberdeen city centre will provide a focal point for digital tech business incubation and growth and wider entrepreneurship activity."

Gordon McConnell, vice principal of commercial and regional innovation at RGU, ADDED: "We share an ambitious vision with ONE to drive digital and entrepreneurship activities in the region to support company creation and growth and new generations of innovators and entrepreneurs. The development of the Hub will see one of RGU's iconic and historic city centre buildings reinvigorated as a centre for new activity involving ONE D&E, RGU and ONE CodeBase. This is an important evolution in the relationship between RGU and ONE as we invest in the future success of the North East economy."

The refurbishment of the Hub will begin this autumn and it will open in spring 2019.

(CM)