Cost of establishing the London Hub, Scotland House: FOI release

FOI reference: FOI/17/01467
Date received: 21 June 2017
Date responded: 9 August 2017

Information requested

Cost of establishing the London Hub, estimated annual running cost and staff numbers currently working in Hub; benefits set out in business case including additional investment expected and a copy of the original business case if possible.

Response

The cost to establish Scotland House, the London Hub was £1.65 million which includes 20% VAT on all eligible charges. This includes legal, design and building management fees, purchasing and fit out of furniture and fittings and the purchase and installation of security, IT, telephony and audiovisual equipment.

The estimated annual running cost for Scotland House is £1.47 million, including VAT but excluding staffing costs. There are currently 14 staff working in Scotland House - 2 from the Scottish Government, 11 from Scottish Enterprise and 1 from VisitScotland. The Scottish Government complement is expected to increase to around 8-10 staff.

The running cost figure includes rent, rates and utilities as well as the operating costs to run the office including the Membership Services offering. It is important to note that in addition to providing an operational space for staff from each organisation, the London Hub also offers event space, meeting rooms and workspace facilities as well as support services for businesses who are members of Scotland House.

The cost of establishing and running Scotland House is shared between four organisations - Scottish Government, Scottish Enterprise, Highlands and Islands Enterprise and VisitScotland. These costs are attributed so that 55% is funded by Scottish Government and the remaining 45% funded by the others.

The establishment of the London Hub arose following a Programme for Government commitment first raised in 2014-15. Innovation and Investment Hubs provide a platform for and a more joined up approach to existing and new activity by the Government, partners and businesses to increase exports and attract investment to Scotland.

Through the Smarter Workplaces Programme, the Scottish Government is delivering new ways of working across the Government estate to help the Government and public bodies deliver better services through, for example, co-location and common use of facilities. Scotland House allows colleagues the flexibility to work more collaboratively with other public bodies also needing space in London. Prior to relocating to Scotland House £390,000 per annum was spent on office accommodation in London including £130,000 per annum for Dover House , which provided minimal limited office accommodation for Scottish Government use only.

We are developing a framework to assess the contribution of ours Hubs in London and Dublin and planned Hubs in Brussels and Berlin to trade, investment and other outcomes though it will be challenging to fully separate out the specific impact of each Hub from wider trade and investment activities. The paper in Annex A sets out the business case for creating the London Hub and whilst it includes reference to aims on investments, no specific numeric or monetary targets were set for inward investment arising as a result of opening Scotland House.

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foi-17-01467 London Hub - Information.pdf

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