Fairmont St Andrews has announced that its holding company, St Andrews Bay Development Limited, has been acquired by a company led by Hong Kong-based Great Century.
The partners of Great Century have established a strategic plan focusing on global investments within the golf and hospitality industries. It represents Great Century’s first investment.
Fairmont, an Accor brand, continues to manage and operate the hotel under its long-term management agreement.
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Dr Cym Chan, co-chairman of Great Century, said: “As a member of the Royal & Ancient Golf Club and a passionate golfer with over 30 years’ experience in the golf & hospitality industries, it is a privilege and an honour to participate closely in the future enhancement of this great property at St Andrews, Scotland, the Home of Golf.”
Dr Peter Lam, chairman of Lai Sun Group and co-chairman of Great Century, said: “I am extremely confident about the future potential that the Fairmont St Andrews holds. I am proud to be a partner in this long-term investment.”
The Fairmont St Andrews resort covers 520-acres.
Cyan Forensics, the Edinburgh-based start-up whose technology helps police investigators to find evidence faster, has secured a further £1.3m from a consortium of investors.
The funding, which has come from Triple Point Investment Management, Mercia, SIS Ventures, the Scottish Investment Bank and private investors, will support the company’s expansion and allow it to target new markets in Northern Europe.
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Cyan Forensics’ digital analysis tool can find terrorist handbooks or child sexual abuse material on devices within minutes, minimising forensic analysts’ time and allowing police to make decisions quickly and confidently.
A spin-out from Edinburgh Napier University, Cyan Forensics was founded in 2016 by Bruce Ramsay, a former police forensic analyst and now the company’s chief technical officer, and Ian Stevenson, the chief executive, who is pictured above.
Mercia backed the company from its inception, and has worked with the team to attract other investors.
The latest funding round brings the total raised so far to £2.8m.
Mr Stevenson said: “A key focus will be expanding our reach within the UK as a result of our partnership with the Home Office and into international markets.”
It can also help social media companies and cloud providers to find and block harmful content.
It follows its contract with the UK’s Home Office, which will see the technology being used by the Child Abuse Image Database (CAID) and rolled out to police forces nationally.
The company has recently signed a partnership with the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children in the US and been named as a winner of the prestigious PitchGovTech competition at the GovTech Summit in Paris.
Nicola Sturgeon, First Minister, has officially opened Superglass’ newly upgraded glass wool insulation factory today in Stirling.
The opening follows the completion of a £37 million project to redevelop Superglass’s production facility, protecting 180 jobs at the site and cementing the company’s place as a leader in Scotland’s manufacturing sector.
Above: Nicola Sturgeon with Ken Munro
On the visit, the First Minister toured the new facility, seeing how the newly installed 187-tonne furnace and curing oven, cooling, cutting and milling equipment has facilitated a doubling of the site’s production capacity.
The multi-million-pound investment is one of the largest in Scottish engineering and manufacturing in recent years and was supported with £477,000 of Scottish Enterprise grant funding.
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Redevelopment of the Superglass factory is a commitment from the company to maintaining its Scottish base, from which it will now produce around 60,000 tonnes of environmentally sustainable glass wool insulation annually.
Ken Munro, chief executive of Superglass and its parent company, TECHNONICOL International for Western Europe & North America, said: “We are following through on our commitment to expand our manufacturing operations in Stirling, and the tens of millions we’ve invested is a real vote of confidence in both our industry and in the wider Scottish manufacturing sector.
“It’s an honour to welcome the First Minister to the factory to officially open the new, state-of-the-art production facility.”
Ms Sturgeon said: “This new facility is testimony to the commitment by Superglass to Stirling and Scotland, not only creating new jobs, but securing the future of the site and its talented workforce.
“As well as providing long term economic benefits, it’s also significant that this plant will help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
“This plant is an example of the skilled, low carbon industry which is so crucial to Scotland’s future, and I am pleased that it has been supported by Scottish Enterprise.”
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