Glasgow City Innovation District
The Glasgow City Innovation District is a global hub for entrepreneurship, innovation and collaboration. It is a thriving commercial environment where you can live, work, play and innovate.
Forward-thinking businesses and academia from across multiple industries are working side by side, creating a network of knowledge and skills aligned to the city’s industrial clusters and research strengths.
Significant investment in the district is creating new commercial opportunities for both start-ups and well-established companies.
Glasgow City Innovation District highlights
Technology and Innovation Zone
The facilities here provide a mix of accommodation for academic and industry engagement activity, ideal for collaboration and innovation.
Plans for further development are underway, creating opportunities to co-locate with the University of Strathclyde and access their world-class research and technology.
The zone will focus on 5G and advanced communications, fintech, healthtech, industrial informatics, quantum and space.
Innovation
The District has an established ecosystem, with the highest concentration of Scottish Innovation Centres and co-located Catapults in the UK. It offers support and access to funding and markets for companies seeking to grow and invest and include:
- UK's only Fraunhofer Institute (Europe’s largest contract research organisation)
- Five UK Catapults – Offshore Renewable Energy, Satellite Applications, Connected Places, High Value Manufacturing and Compound Semiconductor Applications
- Four Scottish Innovation Centres CENSIS, IBioIC and Digital Health & Care Innovation Centre and the Data Lab
- University of Strathclyde links to National Manufacturing Institute Scotland (NMIS) Group (NMIS, AFRC, LMC, Digital Factory, Skills Academy), Power Networks Demonstration Centre (PNDC) and Medicines Manufacturing Innovation Centre (MMIC)
Met Tower
Once the Glasgow College of Building and Printing, this listed building is being transformed into a state of the art, carbon neutral, collaborative workspace for digital and tech businesses.
Building owners, Bruntwood SciTech opens in a new window , offer specialist support to directly access highly skilled talent, funding and finance, and new markets. They also encourage like minded businesses to collaborate, co-innovate and share challenges whether that be within the Met Tower or their 1100-strong, UK-wide community.
Tontine, South Block and the refurbished Garment Factory
These new developments offer increased office capacity for digital, tech and creative businesses in the city.
Watch our video introduction
Find out more about Glasgow City Innovation District in this short video.
Contact us
Think Glasgow City Innovation District could be right for your business? Get in touch today to discuss what you're looking for.
Explore Glasgow City Innovation District
Want to take a look around? Take a virtual tour with our interactive map.
Want to explore in virtual reality?
Get the full virtual experience with our VR tour, best experienced with a VR headset. Depending what device you're using, you should also be able to scroll, drag or use your mouse to navigate the VR space.
Benefits of setting up in the District
Access to talent
Glasgow has a consistent track record of attracting and retaining talent and an education system highly responsive in preparing the next generation workforce. Glasgow universities produce nearly 20,000 graduates a year, giving your business a steady stream of talent from renowned institutions.
The University of Strathclyde, Glasgow City College and the Hunter Centre for Entrepreneurship are located within the area.
Strategically located
Glasgow benefits from a well developed transport network that ensures excellent access and connectivity. With Glasgow Airport just 9 miles away, most European destinations are accessible within a two-hour flight and London can be reached in an hour.
Glasgow is served by two main railway stations with London by train only four hours away. Glasgow is also linked to major UK cities by four motorway systems.
Live and work
The District is right at the heart of Glasgow City Centre, a great place to live and work. From restaurants and bars to gigs and festivals, museums, green spaces, sport and theatre, there is so much going on. There is also major investment in hotel, leisure and residential developments, bringing even more life to an already thriving location.
It's also the perfect base to explore the rest of Scotland and take in its natural beauty. Rolling hills, glens and lochs are only a half-hour drive from the city centre.
Get in touch
If you're thinking of setting up in Scotland and think Glasgow City Innovation District could be right for you, get in touch today to discuss what you're looking for.