Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

New £4.5m life sciences building opened at Inverness Campus

John Swinney will stress it is in the "national interest" for power to to be transferred to local communities
John Swinney will stress it is in the "national interest" for power to to be transferred to local communities

A robot gave a helping hand at the opening of a new £4.5million life sciences building at Inverness Campus yesterday.

Deputy First Minister John Swinney admitted being nervous as he pressed the button to instruct the Meccano machine to pull the ribbon for the official opening of the latest addition to the growing campus, called Solasta House.

Thankfully, the unveiling of the plaque went ahead without a hitch and Mr Swinney was then given a first-hand look at the research and development activity on site.

He said: “Solasta House represents the latest stage of the development of the Inverness Campus and reaffirms our commitment to invest and grow the £5.2 billion Scottish life sciences sector.

“The new laboratory and business space will support the development of innovative products and services in health science and technology, such as those demonstrated at today’s business showcase, and bolster the region’s reputation as a place for state-of-the-art facilities and company growth support.”

The project was led by Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) and built by local firm Robertson Construction.

More than 900 employees are based at the campus with future plans including the development of a new hotel and collaborative work with the University of the Highlands and Islands.

Mr Swinney added: “This will provide a lasting legacy and provides an opportunity for HIE to have an impact across the globe in this field.”

Eight firms are already housed in the building, which is expected to be 75% full by summer.

HIE chairman Professor Lorne Crera said: “We have been developing Inverness Campus with a strong ethos of collaboration between commercial, research and education activities and an emphasis on life sciences.

“Of equal importance to us is that activities here should benefit communities and economies across the region.

“I am delighted that the Deputy First Minister has been able to see some examples of that today, as well as meeting some of the young people attracted to the region by the opportunities presented by the growth in life sciences and technology.

“The growth of activity here reflects the attraction of Inverness Campus to investors and businesses, as well as the continued growth in the life sciences sector in our region.”