Story ID: 548
Scottish Highlands Tout High Tech
By: James Wynbrandt
Caption: Some 2,000 businesses in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland offer aerospace-related products, services and capabilities.
Word Count: 244
The Highlands and Islands of Scotland is touting the region’s high-tech manufacturing an. Some 2,000 businesses across the Highlands and Islands are thought to have skills suitable for aerospace-related work, according to the Highlands and Islands Enterprise, a public sector development agency.

Its Farnborough Airshow pavilion featured 17 of these businesses and regional institutions representing the wide range of its offerings and capabilities: Copernicus Technology, which provides intermittent fault detection expertise and maritime patrol aircraft training and consultancy; Roavr, a multi-discipline data collection, aerial survey, and filming company that utilizes drones; Inverness Airport, a gateway to the Highlands and connects the region to the entire globe; UK Vertical Launch Sutherland, Spaceport 1 and Shetland Space Centre, which are each developing a spaceport to support commercial unmanned launch vehicles; and Northpoint Aviation Services, a boutique consultancy focused on infrastructure investments, economic impact studies, and route and revenue-development programs. 

Scheduled events at the Pavilion underscored the region’s aerospace story and include presentations by Scottish MP Drew Hendry and by Highland Council director of planning and development Stuart Black.

The Highlands and Islands of Scotland are also touting the region as a prime location for inward investment for aerospace enterprises looking for a foothold in the UK or Europe. Scotland’s quality of life is high, and average salaries are below the UK average, as are its housing prices, said Rory Black, business development director at Inverness Airport Business Park.