Science parks give Edinburgh a £100m cash boost

The firms employ nearly 1,100 staff between them, a figure that has risen by 5 per cent year-on-year.

Some 35 per cent of sales came from overseas, with Europe and North America listed as the two most important markets.

About 40 per cent of the companies were financed entirely by sales - either directly through themselves or via their parent companies - with a further 24 per cent listing a mixture of sales and grants as their main source of funding.

Grants accounted for 23.5m of funding, while venture capitalists pumped 3.4m into the companies and business angels added a further 1.7m.

Only one of the 68 companies said it had approached a bank for "significant funding".

Businesses based at the Alba Innovation Centre in Livingston, Heriot-Watt Research Park, Pentlands Science Park and Edinburgh Technopole were polled for the research, which is published today by the triangle. Their responses were added to data collected from companies based at Midlothian's Roslin BioCentre, which took part in a pilot study in October.

In the past 12 months, the 68 companies spent 35m on research and development (R&D) - a 13 per cent increase. Between them, they developed 162 products or services, while more than a third of them filed patents and half were engaged in activities involving patents or licensing.

Malcolm Bateman, Edinburgh Science Triangle chairman, said: "These are difficult economic times and it is really encouraging to see the progress that the tenant companies are making.

"What stands out is the investment in R&D and the international dimension of these businesses, which is vital for Scotland's economic development."

Councillor Russell Imrie, the economic development Cabinet member for Midlothian, which hosts three of the science parks, said: "The Edinburgh Science Triangle study highlights some welcome signs of business growth. This underlines the importance of the science sector to the local and national economies."