ONE Newsletter May 2023

ONE BioHub team prepares for launch

ONE BioHub will formally launch as the innovation hub for life sciences research commercialisation at the end the month.

The new-build was handed over by main contractor Robertson Construction in early May and now has its core team in place.

It has already played host to the UK BioIndustry Association’s latest regional showcase event – putting a spotlight on growing Aberdeen biotechs – and welcomed Scotland Office Minister John Lamont MP during his recent visit to Aberdeen.

The BIA event, on 10 May, saw 70 guests from as far afield as Brighton hear from innovation-driven Aberdeen businesses in a panel discussion chaired by Deborah O'Neil, CEO of NovaBiotics and chair of ONE Life Sciences and ONE BioHub. The panel included Rebecca Andersen from TauRx Therapeutics, Obinna Ubah from Elasmogen and Ayham Alnabulsi from EpitogenX.

ONE chair Sir Ian Wood, CEO Jennifer Craw and Deborah O'Neil met Scotland Office Minister John Lamont MP the following day. With a tour of ONE BioHub demonstrating how investment in the region supports national life sciences priorities to commercialise innovation, tackle health challenges, improve patient outcomes and wellbeing, create high-growth businesses and high-value jobs.

The ￡40 million ONE BioHub investment project has turned the shared vision and ambition of the region’s life sciences cluster and the project partners into a focal point for commercialising innovation. Located on the Foresterhill Health Campus at the heart of the region’s 2,500-strong life sciences community.

The five-storey new-build provides an innovative place, specialist space and entrepreneurial ecosystem to enable bio-entrepreneurs to develop next-generation solutions in spinouts and start-ups. Alongside grow-on space and customisable accommodation for scaling businesses bringing new therapies, treatments and products to market.

ONE developed and delivered the project working in partnership with the UK Government, Scottish Government, Scottish Enterprise, NHS Grampian and the University of Aberdeen, and supported by the Aberdeen City Region Deal.

Entrepreneurship focus for annual event

Founders, business leaders and stakeholders will explore the role of entrepreneurship in transforming the region’s economy at the ONE annual event on 19 June.

The engagement event will update on the impact of ONE action and investment and focus on investing in entrepreneurship to create more high-growth businesses and new jobs.

A combination of presentations, keynotes and panel discussion will lead into a working session where all attendees can shape priorities and delivery based on their experiences, ideas and insights.

Regional investment, national impact

ONE made the case for investment in north east Scotland’s growth sectors at a meeting with First Minister Humza Yousaf and Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero and Just Transition Màiri McAllan in Aberdeen in early April.

ONE chair, Sir Ian Wood KT GBE and CEO Jennifer Craw highlighted the strategic importance of the region – one of the most productive in the UK – to Scotland’s future economy and the need for funding to drive diversification and create new jobs.

ONE and partners, including Aberdeen City Council, Aberdeenshire Council and Scottish Enterprise, have established a unique regional model for economic development, including impactful project partnerships with the Scottish Government. Aberdeen City Region Deal and Just Transition Fund support for ONE industry innovation projects are notable successes – ONE BioHub, ONE SeedPod and North East Adventure Tourism.

Jennifer Craw said: “Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire have the sector strengths, innovation and entrepreneurial environment to drive economic transformation and achieve a just transition. With a best-in-class economic development model and private sector leadership in ONE. A record of working with industry and Government to deliver national priorities. And a consistent ambition to realise the potential of the city region, its industry clusters and its people.

?"The message is clear. More investment here is essential to deliver a just transition for the region and to ensure that Scotland continues to benefit from a strong, entrepreneurial economy that delivers high-growth businesses and high-value jobs."

Skills for growth

The North East Adventure Tourism project enables businesses and individuals in the sector to develop their capabilities and skills for growth.

More than 17 businesses and 40 people have benefitted from funded training in coaching and guiding, first aid and child protection, social media content creation and digital marketing, supported by ONE and the Scottish Government’s North East Economic Recovery and Skills Fund (NEERSF).

Transforming seafood processing

Seafood processing is the most significant part of the region's food manufacturing industry, with an annual turnover of more than ￡700 million and supporting over 4,000 jobs.

ONE is working with industry and partners to develop the region as a leader in market-focused value-adding processing, drawing on a sustainable fishery and transforming productivity, scale and sustainability.?

Investment in processing capacity and automation are critical to the Seafood Transformation Project. ONE supports businesses to apply for funding provided by the Scottish Government and UK Government. North east projects valued at more than ￡50 million have successfully secured grant funding.

The project partners are now exploring routes to secure additional government funding to accelerate innovation and unlock further private-sector investment from the processing businesses. The focus areas for innovative solutions include automation to address critical skills shortages and improve unit margins, value-adding processes and products for whitefish, and cost reduction and sustainability measures in existing and new processing sites.

Leap Automation case study

Aberdeen-based Leap Automation is an intelligent robotics business enabling the food and drink industry to cut costs and drive efficiency through automation.

Co-founders Ben Stuart and Ben Bamford pivoted from energy in 2020 with support from ONE after identifying the low level of robotic uptake within UK food and drink manufacturing.

Visits to food production sites across the UK by the entrepreneurs revealed that businesses of all sizes rely heavily on manual labour to deliver packing operations. Customers repeatedly told them robotics were too expensive, too complicated and lacked the flexibility to work with a dynamic product range.

“We saw the opportunity to modify our then energy-focussed robotic and software technology to automate these tasks and address these challenges through a simple, intuitive user experience,” explains co-CEO Ben Stuart.

The founders joined the ONE digital tech business growth programme to benefit from sector knowledge and expertise and become part of the region’s entrepreneurial tech community.

Ben explains: "ONE has supported us from the very beginning of our pivot – helping us to map out the food industry and its challenges with further support from the digital team as we developed our strategy."

"Being included in the business growth programme was a real highlight. Taking time out from the day-to-day to assess our value proposition, strategy, and business challenges provided an increased level of focus."

Leap Automation’s value proposition enabled the business to secure early investment and customers.

“We are clear on what problem we're solving, why we're solving it and the value that has to customers. Attracting early customer partners to support the technology development was crucial in validating this and ensuring we delivered a successful product,” says Ben.

Having a peer network and safe space to discuss their business was an added benefit.

“We have a super tech and entrepreneurial community in the region developing exciting and innovative products. It’s reassuring to hear that others are grappling with similar challenges and helpful to share learnings - whether it’s on team development, fundraising, training or product development,” adds Ben.

Leap Automation is now rolling out its first product, the PikPak. It plans further investment to expand its team and product portfolio.