Supported by Michelin and its partners Dundee City Council and Scottish Enterprise, the Michelin Scotland Innovation Parc (MSIP) will be created over the next ten years and aims to deliver new economic and employment opportunities across the region.

The Parc will be an ambitious centre for innovation and skills where industry and academia come together with a focus on sustainable mobility, clean transport and low carbon energy. It will include an innovation hub which will offer office space and business and innovation support services, becoming the focal point for collaboration between industry and academia.

The joint funding commitment comes a year after it was announced the Michelin plant would close in June 2020.

Finance secretary Derek Mackay was in Dundee today to meet workers from Michelin and to attend the Michelin Dundee Action Group.

He said: “This joint funding commitment from the Scottish Government and Michelin demonstrates our shared determination to transform the site to be a global destination for innovation and investment.

“MSIP will attract companies, research institutions and a highly skilled workforce. We want Scotland to lead the way in developing and manufacturing the technologies of the future and MSIP will be vital in helping us achieve this.”

Leader of Dundee City Council, John Alexander, said: “These announcements are testament to the hard work done by all the partners over the past year.

“We share a determination to deliver a vibrant long-term future for the Baldovie site, built around sustainable mobility and low carbon energy, and that vision is becoming a reality.

“With the funding agreed, work about to start on-site and a fantastic brand we can sell to the world, everything is in place to create something really special here in Dundee.

“There will be no let-up in our efforts to attract investment and create employment, and I look forward to welcoming tenants to this world-leading facility.”

Michelin Scotland Innovation Parc chief executive, John Reid, added: “This funding marks a significant milestone and allows us to move ahead with the construction of the Innovation Hub, the Skills Academy and the other works to prepare the site for its new companies.

“It will allow us to develop a vibrant site with a long lasting benefit for Dundee and Scotland, as well as being a key part of Scotland’s response to the global climate emergency.

“Throughout the last year our priority has been to support our employees and their families and 414 people have already secured their next role. A year ago, I wouldn’t have believed we would have been able to make this much progress. We still have a long way to go but we should be encouraged by how things have progressed in the last year.”

Steve Dunlop, chief executive at Scottish Enterprise, said: “Diversification is key to sustainability and we are helping Scotland grasp the climate opportunity. This investment will see the site become a world-leading facility for developing sustainable mobility and low-carbon energy, building on Michelin’s legacy of innovation and manufacturing excellence in Dundee.

“With Michelin Scotland Innovation Parc we’re creating jobs, economic opportunities and solutions for the future. This funding package will be the catalyst.”