The initial phase will offer £15m in funding and support to developers over five years. Industrial property developers are invited to bid for a share of £15m support to build at least 15,000 sq ft of new premises or refurbish existing premises within Scottish Enterprise’s locality.

This is the economic development agency’s first targeted intervention to be introduced following its refocussed strategy for economic transformation and the full programme aims to create the equivalent of 14 football pitches worth of manufacturing accommodation and lever £175m of private sector investment into the economy.

Deputy First Minister and cabinet secretary for economy and Gaelic, Kate Forbes, said: “This programme will kickstart manufacturing opportunities in central and North East Scotland to secure new investment and boost our economic growth.

“EY’s Attractiveness Survey published last week found that Scotland attracted 45 manufacturing inward investment projects in 2023, ten more than the previous year.

“Manufacturing contributes a staggering £17 billion to Scotland’s economy and we are developing the Advanced Manufacturing Innovation District Scotland to attract more manufacturing inward investment projects, which will create more high-value jobs.”

Scotland’s manufacturing sector employs around 170,000 people and is responsible for more than 50% of the country’s international exports.

Managing director of productivity and business growth at Scottish Enterprise, Rhona Allison, said: “Scotland has a strong manufacturing base across many sectors including renewable energy, life sciences and food and drink. If we want businesses to keep growing as well as new companies to invest here we need the right infrastructure.

“From our research and feedback from companies we know there is limited availability of high-quality space for high value manufacturing in Scotland. I encourage property developers to work with us to create more modern, productive, sustainable premises that are vital for Scotland’s future economic growth.

“This programme is one of the key building blocks of our capital investment mission and supports our ambition to stimulate investment and create more world-class facilities for Scottish manufacturers which in turn will drive economic growth and increase productivity.”

Scottish Enterprise undertook research prior to launching the programme and found that there is a lack of modern, good quality, mid-size buildings (>15,000 sq ft), especially in areas such as Glasgow and Edinburgh. Industrial accommodation in Scotland is also limited and some of the buildings are often sub-optimal for modern, industrial processes.

Cost was also raised as a major issue for speculative development therefore the programme from Scottish Enterprise will aim to tackle this and provide an injection of funding and support to get projects off the ground.

The programme is open for applications until 18 September 2024 and interested parties can find out more about the Manufacturing Property Challenge Programme on the website.