Location:
West Lothian is located in the central belt of Scotland between Edinburgh, 10 miles to the east and Glasgow, 25 miles to the west. 60 per cent of Scotland’s population is within a 60 minute drive.

West Lothian is located midway between Scotland’s two largest cities,
Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Transportation Services:
Scotland’s main motorway network passes through West Lothian. The M8, linking Edinburgh and Glasgow, passes through West Lothian’s main town, Livingston, just 20 minutes from the centre of Edinburgh and 30 minutes from Glasgow. The M9 and M90 give direct access to Stirling, Aberdeen and Inverness in the north. The M73/M74 linking Scotland with the North of England is just 10 minutes drive along the M8. Edinburgh Airport is 15 minutes drive from Livingston; Glasgow Airport is some 40 minutes away. West Lothian is served with regular rail links with Edinburgh and Glasgow, from stations in Livingston, Linlithgow, Bathgate, West Calder and Uphall. The Eurocentral Rail Freight Terminal, located 10 minutes drive from Livingston just off the M8, provides a direct link to Europe via the Channel Tunnel. The port of Rosyth, 30 minutes by road, provides a ferry link to Continental Europe through Zeebrugge.

In an Assisted Area:
Yes, Tier 2, RSA assistance is available providing up to 18% of project costs in West Lothian.

Other Kinds of Financial Assistance on Offer:
WL Ventures is West Lothian’s own venture capital fund; other Scottish equity investment funds that can assist companies locating in West Lothian include the Scottish Enterprise Co-Investment Fund and the Scottish Enterprise Business Growth Fund.

SMART and SPUR grants from the Scottish Executive and the Scottish Enterprise Innovation Fund can all apply to companies developing innovative new products in West Lothian.

Major Business Parks Include:
Kirkton Campus in Livingston is the principal focus for technology based businesses, offering a variety of development opportunities and existing properties in a high quality environment. Kirkton has a mix of office, R&D, and both light and general industrial use (Planning Use Classes 4 and 5), and incorporates the Alba Campus, a centre of excellence in electronic design. The Alba Innovation Centre, a business incubator that nurtures technology based spin-out and start-up companies with high growth potential will benefit from an additional £3.5 million, 25,000 sq ft new build on the Alba Campus in the spring of 2006, providing accommodation and facilities on flexible terms. Eliburn, situated just to the north of Kirkton, is seen as the logical future extension to the Campus.

Modern industrial estates, like Oakbank Park and Starlaw Park in Livingston also offer a high quality environment, which has proved attractive to technology-based manufacturers, with scope for a broader range of uses, including storage and distribution (Class 6).

Oakbank, Starlaw, Kirkton and Eliburn all have excellent road connections and are within 5 minutes drive of the M8 Edinburgh-Glasgow Motorway. J4M8 to the west of Bathgate is a major new location for logistics and distribution with direct access to the M8. All these business parks offer the choice of existing high quality office and industrial units.

The state of the art Distribution Park J4M8 is located next to the M8 Motorway
and is fast becoming Scotland’s Logistics Hub.

Office Developments Include:
Livingston is the major centre for office accommodation, and Taylor Woodrow, whose Almondvale Business Park offers high specification, self-contained office space of around 3,000 to 5,000 sq m, is one of the principal players. HSBC, Quintiles, GE Harris and the Scottish Executive are among those who have found space at Almondvale suited to their needs. Taylor Woodrow’s masterplan allows for a further 15,000 sq m in a minimum of three self-contained blocks.

Also in Livingston town centre, Esk Properties has secured a site at the west end of Almondvale Boulevard, known as the Livingston Hub where a recently completed hotel and restaurant development will be complemented by up to 10,000 sq m of office space.

At the smaller end of the market there is strong demand for self-contained units of 200 to 500 sq m. Locations such as Quarrywood Court and Fairways Business Park in Livingston have had strong support from local developers, and provide business occupiers with good quality space.

Major Companies in the Area:
Bausch & Lomb, Jabil Circuit Limited, Sun Microsystems, Quintiles, Ethicon (USA); Shin-Etsu Handotai, NEC Computers (Japan); Intercell Biomedical (Austria); BSkyB, Intelligent Finance, Grampian Pork Halls, HSBC Bank.

Contact:
Alice Sinnet, Business Development Manager, West Lothian Council, The Enterprise Centre, Almondvale Boulevard, Livingston, West Lothian EH54 6QP. Telephone: 01506 777 400. Fax: 01506 777 919. E-mail: enterprisecentre@westlothian.gov.uk. Web Site: www.westlothian.com/inwardinvestment