New Arrivals

New Arrivals in 2020

A selection of new arrivals to Edinburgh during 2020 is set out below. 

January

  • Huawei (Shenzhen, China): Telecommunications and consumer electronics giant Huawei leased a 929 square metre (10,000 square feet) office at 2 Semple Street in Edinburgh's Exchange District.

  • Equals (London, England): Travel money and international payments solutions provider Equals opened a new office in Edinburgh.

Edinburgh is the UK’s second-largest financial services centre, making it a fantastic opportunity for the Equals Group, and we’re excited to have a presence in the city.

– James Hickman, Chief Commercial Officer, Equals

February

  • AND Digital (London, England): Digital solutions consultancy AND Digital opened a new office at 9-10 St Andrew Square in Edinburgh's City Centre, creating 100 new jobs over 18 months. The office will help companies achieve their technological aims by providing immediate access to tech talent and partnering with them to co-create products.

  • Cynergy Bank (London, England): Cynergy Bank launched a new branch in Edinburgh focusing on property finance.

March

  • Merrion Vaults (Dublin, Ireland): Safe deposit box provider Merrion Vaults opened a new secure storage facility, Edinburgh Safe Deposit, in Edinburgh's West End, creating 15 jobs. 

  • Udrafter (Aberdeen, Scotland): Udrafter, which provides a platform for businesses to recruit students for "micro-internships", opened a new office in Edinburgh City Centre.

April

  • AAC Technologies (Shenzhen, China): AAC Technologies, a supplier of audio components for smartphones, announced the opening of a new research and development centre in the Exchange Tower in Edinburgh's Exchange District, creating 12+ jobs in its first year and up to 30 jobs by 2023. The R&D centre will develop MEMS microphone chips for next-generation mobile phones.

As a globally focused and internationally diverse company, AAC is committed to developing system-level solutions across the world, wherever talent and expertise can be leveraged. The opening of Edinburgh strengthens our ability to continue developing innovative MEMS microphone solutions in an evolving mobile marketplace.

– David Plekenpol, Chief Strategy Officer, AAC Technologies

May

  • The Resident (London, England): Luxury hotel brand The Resident has announced plans for a new 166-bedroom hotel on Drumsheugh Gardens in Edinburgh's West End.

  • Cheval Collection (London, England): Serviced apartment provider Cheval Collection announced that it will begin operating two properties in Edinburgh City Centre - The Edinburgh Grand and Old Town Chambers - from July 2020

We are delighted to announce this new agreement as part of our long-term expansion plans. The Chris Stewart Group with some of the most historically rich buildings in Scotland’s capital was our first choice for Edinburgh when we opened discussions in 2019. These will be our first properties outside London and a huge step in our ever-evolving journey and ambition to become the pre-eminent leader in luxury serviced apartment accommodation worldwide for any length of stay

– George Westwell, Chief Executive Officer, Cheval Collection

  • C&C Group (Dublin, Ireland): Drinks manufacturer the C&C Group is to open a 4,645 square metre (50,000 square foot) Tennent’s lager warehouse and distribution centre in Newbridge, West Edinburgh in October 2020.

June

  • Hachette (Paris, France): Publisher Hachette has announced plans to open an office in Edinburgh within the next 12 months.

  • Rovco (Bristol, England): Remotely opeated vehicles (ROV) and hydrographic services company Rovco has established an office in Edinburgh to support its portfolio of offshore energy projects.

This Edinburgh office represents an important and significant milestone for our company. It accommodates our growing team and enables us to develop and attract additional talent, leveraging the strong academic resource from the local Universities. Additionally, we will bring our significant offshore experience to Scotland, helping maintain existing and near operational wind farms, whilst supporting ScotWind seabed leasing rounds.

– Simon Miller, General Manager, Rovco

  • Rasa (San Francisco, California, United States): Conversational artificial intelligence firm Rasa announced the opening of a technology hub in Edinburgh focusing on research and product development.

  • Lego (Billund, Denmark): toy retailer Lego will open a store in the Edinburgh St James shopping centre in Edinburgh City Centre.

July

  • Real Foods Group (Cape Town, South Africa): the Real Foods Group has announced plans to open a branch of its healthy fast-casual restaurant brand KAUAI in Edinburgh during summer 2020 via a master territory franchise agreement.

  • Celestia Technologies Group (Noordwijk, Netherlands): international technology group CTG is establishing a laboratory and assembly facility at Edinburgh's Heriot-Watt University Research Park specialising in satellite antenna for aircraft, creating 18 new jobs.

We moved to GRID at Heriot-Watt University in January 2020, having chosen Scotland because of its burgeoning space sector, which is characterised by a high level of skill, R&D and investment. To fuel our growth, we're able to build a team from a wealth of talent on the doorstep at Heriot-Watt and other universities, as well as from professionals within the Scottish space industry who value the location, facilities and beautiful environment of the Research Park.

– José Alonso, Chair, Celestia Technologies Group

  • Trustpilot (Copenhagen, Denmark): consumer reviews platform provider Trustpilot has announced plans for a new research and development hub in Edinburgh, creating 30 new jobs. The hub will help address online fraud and abuse by creating technological solutions for identifying fake and paid-for reviews that mislead online shoppers.

With the assistance of Scottish Enterprise, our new global R&D Hub will become the epientre for accelerating our already leading efforts to tackle abuse and fraud related to consumer information, particularly consumer reviews. It's especially important as reviews have replaced company marketing as the most trusted source of information for consumers. We're investing in even better fake detection to stimulate meaningful change. The technology scene in Edinburgh is thriving, with exceptional talent and an enviable network that will help us to meet our ambitions. We're delighted to bring our global efforts to Scotland.

– Peter Holten Mühlmann, Chief Executive Officer, Trustpilot