A £5.6 million avian research centre opened yesterday at Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) near Edinburgh.
The Allermuir Avian Innovation and Skills Centre was officially opened by Lord Henley, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.
The centre, which has been co-funded by the Centre for Innovation Excellence in Livestock (CIEL) and Innovate UK, has been created to bridge the gap between research and poultry businesses.
It will be used to trial innovative ideas under near-commercial conditions at its base.
The first research projects will look at the performance of novel antimicrobials and the role of amino acid nutrition on gut health.
“It’s great to see investment like this in new agri-tech facilities, which will help the sector to innovate and create the highly-skilled jobs of the future,” said Lord Henley.
“Through our agri-tech strategy and our modern industrial strategy, this government has invested more than £250m to help transform food production in the UK for the better.”
SRUC principal and chief executive Professor Wayne Powell said: “The Allermuir Avian Innovation and Skills Centre will be of huge benefit to Scotland, the United Kingdom and globally.
“The people and facilities based here will help attract research investment from across the world. A future with industry, researchers and governments working in closer collaboration is how we will meet the global challenges facing society.”
Scottish Funding Council chairmanMike Cantlay said: “The facility will provide research and skills development for an important area of our economy and will contribute to Scotland’s reputation for world-leading research.”
Once fully operational, the centre will employ between 30 and 35 people and will welcome at least four post-graduate students.