Speech: V&A Dundee is ready to open its doors

Scotland Secretary David Mundell has hailed the arrival of the V&A Dundee, which opens on Saturday ( 15 September).

It is an incredibly important moment.

An amazing treasure trove from one of our greatest cultural institutions is about to be shared with millions of visitors from Scotland, the UK and around the world.

It was a great privilege for me to speak at tonight’s (Wednesday 12 September) gala dinner and enjoy an all-too-brief tour of the exhibitions.

Architect Kengo Kuma’s new building, on Dundee’s wonderfully redeveloped waterfront, is simply breath-taking.

Iconic is an overused word – but it is an instant icon.

I love the juxtaposition with that much-loved symbol of Dundee, RRS Discovery; the old and new side by side in city that is redefining itself for the 21st century.

But V&A Dundee is about much, much more than a stunning building.

Ultimately, it will be judged by its exhibitions and events.

Having been inside, I’m in no doubt it’s going to be a huge success.

Inspired by the richness of Scottish art and design down the centuries, backed by the world-renowned strength of the V&A’s collections and driven by an exceptional team of curators, it is a place people will want to return to time after time.

It is a place that people will cherish and a source of real pride for Dundee.

It will delight our senses, challenge our preconceptions and – of course – nurture generations of young minds.

I firmly believe V&A Dundee will quickly become as well-loved as our other great institutions. Our National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh, for example, or Glasgow’s Kelvingrove Museum and Art Gallery. Or, indeed, ‘V&A London,’ as we’ll have to start calling it.

The UK Government awarded an additional £5 million for the project in the 2016 Budget.

We all owe a huge debt to everyone involved in the delivery of this inspiring project – surely the biggest single investment in culture and the arts in our lifetimes.

So I want to put on record my thanks all those who have turned the dream into reality, from the City Council to the V&A staff, from the builders to the architect.

They have worked wonders to enrich the cultural life of Dundee, Scotland and the whole of the UK.

Speech: V&A Dundee is ready to open its doors

Scotland Secretary David Mundell has hailed the arrival of the V&A Dundee, which opens on Saturday ( 15 September).

He said:

It is an incredibly important moment.

An amazing treasure trove from one of our greatest cultural institutions is about to be shared with millions of visitors from Scotland, the UK and around the world.

It was a great privilege for me to speak at tonight’s (Wednesday 12 September) gala dinner and enjoy an all-too-brief tour of the exhibitions.

Architect Kengo Kuma’s new building, on Dundee’s wonderfully redeveloped waterfront, is simply breath-taking.

!!1 — V&A Dundee Scotland ©HuftonCrow_070

Iconic is an overused word – but it is an instant icon.

I love the juxtaposition with that much-loved symbol of Dundee, RRS Discovery; the old and new side by side in city that is redefining itself for the 21st century.

But V&A Dundee is about much, much more than a stunning building.

Ultimately, it will be judged by its exhibitions and events.

Having been inside, I’m in no doubt it’s going to be a huge success.

Inspired by the richness of Scottish art and design down the centuries, backed by the world-renowned strength of the V&A’s collections and driven by an exceptional team of curators, it is a place people will want to return to time after time.

It is a place that people will cherish and a source of real pride for Dundee.

It will delight our senses, challenge our preconceptions and – of course – nurture generations of young minds.

I firmly believe V&A Dundee will quickly become as well-loved as our other great institutions. Our National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh, for example, or Glasgow’s Kelvingrove Museum and Art Gallery. Or, indeed, ‘V&A London,’ as we’ll have to start calling it.

The UK Government awarded an additional £5 million for the project in the 2016 Budget.

We all owe a huge debt to everyone involved in the delivery of this inspiring project – surely the biggest single investment in culture and the arts in our lifetimes.

So I want to put on record my thanks all those who have turned the dream into reality, from the City Council to the V&A staff, from the builders to the architect.

They have worked wonders to enrich the cultural life of Dundee, Scotland and the whole of the UK.

News story: £1 billion housing delivery fund launched by Brokenshire in partnership with Barclays

Housing Secretary James Brokenshire MP has today announced a new partnership with Barclays Bank to provide £1 billion of loan finance to help support small and medium sized developers, speeding up the delivery of thousands of new homes planned across England.

Support, ranging between £5 million to £100 million, will be made available to those developers who are able to demonstrate the necessary experience and commitment to building excellent new homes, whilst boasting a track record of delivering challenging projects on time and to target.

Overseen by the Government’s delivery agency Homes England, the funding will put greater emphasis on opening up the housing market, which sees almost two-thirds of new homes built by just ten companies at present.

The Housing Delivery Fund will support the delivery of new homes, including social housing, retirement living and apartments for rent, whilst also encouraging greater innovation on how housing is delivered such as brownfield land and urban regeneration projects.

Housing Secretary Rt Hon James Brokenshire MP, said:

My priority as Housing Secretary is to get Britain building the homes our country needs. This new fund – partnering Homes England with Barclays – is a further important step by giving smaller builders access to the finance they need to get housing developments off the ground.

This is a fantastic opportunity to not only get more homes built but also promote new and innovative approaches to construction and design that exist across the housing market.

John McFarlane, Barclays’ Chairman, said:

There is a vital need to build more good quality homes across the country. This £1bn fund is about helping to do exactly that by showing firms in the business of house building that the right finance is available for projects that help meet this urgent need.

We are very pleased to be working with government to get the country building more homes, more quickly.

Chairman of Homes England, Sir Ed Lister, said:

Homes England has been established to play a more active role in the housing market and do things differently to increase the pace, scale and quality of delivering new homes.

The Housing Delivery Fund demonstrates Barclays’ commitment to the residential sector and will provide a new funding stream for SME developers to help progress sites and deliver more affordable homes across England.

Today’s agreement with Barclays forms part of the Government’s wider commitment to increase the pace of housing delivery in England. Ministers have been clear on their ambition to achieve 300,000 new homes a year by the mid-2020s, which follows 217,000 homes built last year, the biggest increase in housing supply in England for almost a decade.

News story: Investment drive could help Met Police and London Fire Brigade go green

As the world’s first zero emissions vehicle summit closes in Birmingham closes in Birmingham, International Trade Secretary Liam Fox celebrated a series of major investments in clean tech and the automotive industry.

Over £500m worth of investment was secured around the summit creating more than 1,000 jobs across the UK. This includes Aston Martin creating jobs in south Wales, the UK’s largest independent vehicle battery manufacturing plant opening in Coventry and a new R&D centre for electric vehicles opening in Birmingham.

The summit also saw major investment from American automotive firms. Lear Corporation invested £54m in its UK operation – creating 220 jobs and safeguarding another 600 – and Cummins committed to investing £210m in R&D over the next three years.

Dr Fox was also on hand to see the LEVC (London Electric Vehicle Company) announce it is starting trials of its new electric van in London. Backed by Chinese firm Geely, the makers of the iconic electric taxi could see their electric vehicles introduced into the fleets of the Met Police and London Fire Brigade – helping them achieve their target for all new vans to be zero emission capable from 2025.

International Trade Secretary Liam Fox said:

At the summit, the Prime Minister and I sat down with 14 automotive investors to ask them why they invest in R&D in the UK and what more the government can do to support. Around that table it was clear that there is already confidence in the UK’s investment proposition and that’s why we remain the number one destination for investment in Europe.

International firms are building their futures in the UK – investing in research and development, creating jobs and ensuring the UK maintains its edge in the industries of the future.

Take LEVC for example whose growth and technological advance is made possible by foreign investment. This, in turn, allows them to export their iconic electric taxi around the world and now sees them applying this technology to vans which could reduce the carbon footprint of iconic UK fleets like the Met and London Fire Brigade.

This is British innovation in action and with the launch of our new Export Strategy, my international economic department will help even more innovative UK firms to reach markets around the world.

The automotive roundtable was the third in the Government’s series of investment roundtables, led by DIT, which promote UK industry opportunities to a global audience, and drive foreign direct investment into the UK as we prepare to leave the European Union.

News story: UK and Texas medical centre agree partnership to drive life sciences innovation

The UK’s life sciences industry received a major boost today (Wednesday 12 September) as the Department for International Trade (DIT) agreed a landmark ‘BioBridge’ collaboration with the world’s largest medical complex.

The Texas Medical Center (TMC), home to more than 60 world leading innovators, including the US’ leading cancer hospital, will now offer UK companies a unique package which will help boost exports and drive forward scientific innovation.

British life sciences businesses will now be able to locate themselves at the TMC in Houston, where they will have access to a network of advisors, investors and medical experts from both the Center and DIT.

The partnership will allow for a significant research collaboration on a wide range of medical issues, including the development and advancement of Genomics and Cancer treatments.

Additionally, shared priorities will focus on entry into new markets through accelerators – providing legal, business, regulatory, and mentorship to startup companies from both countries.

Speaking at an event to celebrate the launch in London today, Minister of State for the Department for International Trade, Baroness Fairhead, said:

The UK is a world leader in healthcare innovation, and this partnership is clear evidence of the opportunities that exist for our companies in exciting markets such as the US.

Our recently launched Export Strategy will help even more British life sciences companies to reach new markets – bringing together some of the brightest minds in science to advance the availability of innovative healthcare across the globe.

President & CEO of TMC, William McKeon, said:

This truly unique collaboration is a testament to the Texas Medical Center’s and the United Kingdom’s joint commitment to further fostering the cross-pollination of ideas, people, and innovation in the life sciences.

We believe this new relationship will serve to create a tactical alliance between TMC and a nation that has been at the forefront of substantial medical innovation for centuries.

The collaboration is also a step forward in harnessing the UK’s world-renowned research and development capabilities. Healthcare trusts in Oxford, Cambridge and Manchester are in talks with TMC institutions that are actively looking to formulate partnerships.

Three UK companies have already made use of the BioBridge:

Paxman Scalp Cooling A company which specialises in cooling therapies to help breast cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy, have set up a subsidiary in Houston gaining traction due the entrepreneurial attitude of CEO, Richard Paxman.
SurePulse Medical and FirstKind Limited Both companies are in the initial stages of engagement with TMC ahead of major presentations to hundreds of investors, industry leaders and hospitals at ‘Demonstration Days’ in Texas.

Chief Executive of UK Research and Innovation, Sir Mark Walport, said:

This unique opportunity will prove to be a valuable asset to UK and US healthcare professionals who are working tirelessly on the advancement of medical treatments for people all over the world.

With the recognition of the UK as a leader in research and development, I hope to see further collaboration between the Texas Medical Center and the UK in the near future.

To celebrate the announcement of the partnership in London, representatives from the TMC and UK partners will meet to discuss further opportunities for collaboration, including foreign direct investment.

Further information

The US spent $3.3tn on healthcare in 2016, which was 18% of GDP. National health expenditure is projected to grow to $5.7tn in 2026, which would be nearly 20% of GDP. This presents a significant opportunity for UK companies who currently export more than £6bn of pharma and £750m medtech to the US each year.

The government recently launched its Export Strategy which sets out how we will support businesses of all sizes to make the most of the opportunities presented by markets around the world.

A collaboration with business, developed after extensive engagement with a range of UK firms – the Strategy sets a new ambition from government to increase exports as a proportion of UK GDP to 35%.

The BioBridge agreement is the culmination of over 18 months of preparatory work by the entire government team at the British Consulate General in Houston, including the DIT team and the Science and Innovation Network.