A new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been created by three organisations in a bid to boost Scotland’s productivity and innovation.

The agreement is between Peer Works, a programme delivered by Scottish business network Prosper, the Scotland Productivity Forum, which is led by the University of Glasgow, the University of Manchester’s Productivity Institute.

The MoU will formalise their existing working partnership, which includes research projects and events. It will see them work more closely on policy initiatives, collaborative research, impactful events, and in the communication of good practice to employers around ways to increase their productivity.

The University of Glasgow said that the three organisations are uniquely placed to collaborate in order to drive increased productivity across business, and help deliver the ambitions of the Scottish government.

Professor Sir Anton Muscatelli, principal and vice-chancellor of the University of Glasgow, commented: “The interface between universities and business has huge potential as a driver of innovation and productivity growth, which is one of the key challenges for the UK economy.

“Colleagues at the University of Glasgow have been deeply engaged with this subject and we’ve been working in collaboration with the Productivity Institute and Prosper for some time.

“I am therefore delighted that we are strengthening and formalising our partnership to make an even greater impact in research and the sharing of good practice.”

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Clare Reid, director of policy and public affairs at Prosper, further added: “For every part of Scotland to thrive, we need the business base to be as efficient and competitive as possible.

“Research evidence shows that peer-to-peer learning is an effective way to support businesses, particularly smaller businesses.

“Peer Works is an established and successful programme that has been providing, in partnership with the Scottish government, a forum for peer-to-peer learning since 2019.

“This collaboration with The Productivity Institute, the Scotland Productivity Forum and the University of Glasgow will help us further enhance Scotland’s productivity.