Establishing a Life Sciences
R&D Centre in the Scottish Central Belt
A cost/quality comparison
(Based on information from the Financial Times fDi Benchmark tool – June 2011)
Contents
Competitiveness of Scottish Central Belt
Strong Track Record in Life Sciences
Value for Money
Availability of Highly Skilled Staff
Overall Attractiveness
High Quality Business Environment
Quality of the Location
Flexible Labour Market
Annual Operating Costs
Highly Competitive Labour Costs
Life Science R&D in Scottish Central Belt?
Large Size of Industry in Life Science
Benchmarking Study
•
The following analysis is based on fDi Benchmark, an online location benchmarking tool provided by
the Financial Times (FT)
•
fDi Benchmark compared the Scottish Central Belt with the leading locations globally for Life
Science R&D Centres
based on an analysis of over 55 quality factors and 10 cost factors
•
A key emphasis was placed on:
- Presence of industrial cluster – the size of BioPharma industry, track record and R&D
capabilities; and
- General business environment – regulatory environment, operating risk, taxation and
economic growth and stability
- Costs to employ laboratory specialists and scientists
•
Other factors including labour availability and quality, accessibility and the living environment were
also assessed
fDi Benchmark Matrix
The fDi Benchmark Matrix shows the trade off between cost and quality across the 5 selected locations for the Life
Science R&D Centre profile. The average cost and quality score is 100 for the selected locations.
The ‘ideal’
quadrant is the
top left
(high quality/lower
operating costs)
Source: fDi Intelligence, from the Financial Times Ltd
Project Profile Overview
Cost Factor
Property
Total Occupancy cost
(in town office rent)
Employee Type
Weighting Model Overview Weight
Presence of an Industrial
Cluster
50
Labour Availability and Quality
20
General Business Environment
15
Living Environment
10
Infrastructure and Accessibility
5
R&D / Engineering
Head of Research and Development
Laboratory Specialist
Laboratory Technician
R&D Team Leader
Scientist
Administration
Facilities/Office Services Specialist
Usage Amount
3,000 m²
Profile Head
count
1
17
15
4
10
3
5
fDi Benchmark Matrix
•
•
•
The matrix is based on the weighting and
cost model for the Life Science R&D
Centre profile. The weighting model
identifies the key location criteria for the
project and the cost model shows the
primary cost inputs for the operation.
The cost and quality scores are
calculated using real data on all the
location requirements and cost inputs.
The results indicate the different location
solutions for the investor as follows:
 the Scottish Central Belt offers
higher quality at lower cost than the
average of all the selected locations
 Boston and Munich offer higher
quality but at higher cost
 Copenhagen and Rotterdam offer
lower cost, but at lower quality
The Operating Cost value is in GBP United Kingdom Pound
Location
Qualitative
Score
Operating Cost Operating Cost
Index
Value
Boston (MA)
128.4
133.0
4,608,589
Copenhagen
93.8
91.1
3,158,947
Munich
110.6
113.6
3,937,999
Rotterdam
Scottish
Central Belt
46.7
79.0
2,737,827
120.5
83.3
2,886,411
Source: fDi Intelligence, from the Financial Times Ltd
Location Attractiveness Index
The location attractiveness index shows the overall attractiveness of the 5 selected locations for the Life Science R&D
Centre profile. The ratio of quality to cost is 50:50
Source: fDi Intelligence, from the Financial Times Ltd
Cost Quality Competitiveness
The cost quality competitiveness uses the results of the fDi Benchmark Matrix to show the value for money of each
location option. The graph shows that:
 The top location offering the highest quality for a given level of cost is the Scottish Central Belt
 the Scottish Central Belt also offers an above average level of quality and good value for money as its relative
quality is higher than its relative cost
Source: fDi Intelligence, from the Financial Times Ltd
Cost Competitiveness
The annual operating cost calculation for
Life Science R&D centre is based on the
following primary input costs:
Labour Cost
- The average cost across the selected
locations for Life Science R&D centre is
GBP 3,465,954
- The greatest cost saving between the
selected locations is GBP 1,870,762 per
annum
- The location with the lowest operating
costs is Rotterdam
In terms of the individual cost factors, the
location with the lowest costs is:
- Labour Cost: the Scottish Central Belt
- Property: Rotterdam
The values in the chart below are in GBP
United Kingdom Pound
Location
Boston (MA)
Copenhagen
Munich
Rotterdam
Scottish Central Belt
Labour Cost
3,658,046
2,446,628
2,876,395
2,197,275
1,648,393
Property
950,542
712,319
1,061,603
540,551
1,238,017
Source: fDi Intelligence, from the Financial Times Ltd
Quality Competitiveness
The quality competitiveness assessment is
based on the weight model for the Life Science
R&D Centre profile which assesses each
location across the following location factors:
- General Business Environment
- Labour Availability and Quality
- Presence of an Industrial Cluster
Infrastructure
- Accessibility and Living Environment
The average score for the selected locations is
100.
The location with the highest quality score is
Boston
In terms of the individual quality factors, the
location with the highest score is:
- General Business Environment: Copenhagen
- Labour Availability and Quality: Boston
- Presence of an Industrial Cluster: Boston
- Infrastructure and Accessibility: Munich
- Living Environment: the Scottish Central Belt
Location
Boston (MA)
Copenhagen
Munich
Rotterdam
Scottish
Central Belt
Source: fDi Intelligence, from the Financial Times Ltd
General
Business
Environment
Labour
Availability
and Quality
Presence of
an Industrial
Cluster
Infrastructure
and
Living
Accessibility Environment
16
20
11
12
26
23
16
10
73
35
67
10
4
7
7
4
11
9
9
10
16
25
65
4
11
General Business Environment
The quality competitiveness breakdown for
General Business Environment for the Life
Science R&D Centre profile is shown below
The location with the highest overall score for
General Business Environment is Copenhagen
In terms of the individual quality criteria within
General Business Environment, the location with
the highest score is:
- Economic growth and stability: Boston
- Operating risk: the Scottish Central Belt
- Taxation and incentives: Copenhagen
- Access to finance: Boston
- Regulatory environment: Copenhagen
Location
Boston (MA)
Copenhagen
Munich
Rotterdam
Scottish
Central Belt
Economic
growth and
stability
1.29
0.64
0.88
0.50
0.45
Source: fDi Intelligence, from the Financial Times Ltd
Operating risk
Taxation and
incentives
Access to
finance
Regulatory
environment
4.76
2.88
2.33
2.41
2.42
9.19
2.10
2.42
4.20
3.53
3.34
4.05
2.86
3.57
2.63
3.05
6.37
2.63
3.64
2.89
Labour Availability and Quality
The quality competitiveness breakdown for
Labour Availability and Quality for the Life
Science R&D Centre profile is shown
below
The location with the highest overall score
for Labour Availability and Quality is Boston
In terms of the individual quality criteria
within Labour Availability and Quality, the
location with the highest score is:
- Overall size of labour market: Boston
-Tightness and competition for labour: the
Scottish Central Belt
- Experienced industry-specific staff: the
Scottish Central Belt
- Flexibility of labour regulations:
Copenhagen
Tightness and
Overall size of
Location
competition for
labour market
labour
13.41
3.96
Boston (MA)
3.55
4.23
Copenhagen
4.96
2.27
Munich
2.47
4.65
Rotterdam
Scottish
5.61
4.89
Source:
Central
BeltfDi Intelligence, from the Financial Times Ltd
Experienced
industryspecific staff
6.26
11.23
7.87
2.05
Flexibility of
labour
regulations
2.41
3.73
0.99
1.06
12.59
1.80
Presence of an Industrial Cluster
The quality competitiveness breakdown for
Presence of an Industrial Cluster for the
Life Science R&D Centre profile is shown
below
The location with the highest overall score
for Presence of an Industrial Cluster is
Boston
In terms of the individual quality criteria
within Presence of an Industrial Cluster, the
location with the highest score is:
- Size of industry: Munich
- Track record: the Scottish Central Belt
- Research and Development Capabilities:
Boston
Location
Boston (MA)
Copenhagen
Munich
Rotterdam
Scottish Central
Belt
Size of
industry
Track record
Research and
Development Capabilities
16.77
7.93
43.83
6.58
19.61
18.44
13.28
0.00
36.13
8.83
10.11
3.21
24.89
36.17
4.22
Source: fDi Intelligence, from the Financial Times Ltd
Infrastructure and Accessibility
The quality competitiveness breakdown for
Infrastructure and Accessibility for the Life
Science R&D Centre profile is shown below
The location with the highest overall score for
Infrastructure and Accessibility is Munich
In terms of the individual quality criteria within
Infrastructure and Accessibility, the location with
the highest score is:
- Access to major overseas markets: Munich
- Quality of utilities: Rotterdam
- Quality of ICT infrastructure: Copenhagen
Location
Boston (MA)
Copenhagen
Munich
Rotterdam
Scottish Central Belt
Access to major
overseas markets
Quality of utilities
Quality of ICT
infrastructure
2.26
4.12
4.97
1.40
2.25
0.87
0.96
1.12
1.18
0.87
0.62
1.60
0.81
1.37
0.61
Source: fDi Intelligence, from the Financial Times Ltd
Living Environment
The quality competitiveness breakdown for
Living Environment for the Life Science R&D
Centre profile is shown below
The location with the highest overall score for
Living Environment is the Scottish Central Belt
In terms of the individual quality criteria within
Living Environment, the location with the
highest score is:
- Cost of living: the Scottish Central Belt
- Attractiveness for international staff: Boston
Location
Boston (MA)
Copenhagen
Munich
Rotterdam
Scottish Central Belt
Cost of living
Attractiveness for
international staff
4.96
4.06
4.11
5.86
6.01
5.63
5.34
4.96
4.41
4.66
Source: fDi Intelligence, from the Financial Times Ltd
To realise the potential,
please contact:
Scottish Development International
150 Broomielaw, Atlantic Quay
Glasgow G2 8LU
Scotland, UK
T +44 141 228 2828
F +44 141 228 2089
www.sdi.co.uk
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