The commercial arm of one of Edinburgh’s oldest institutions is rebranding to meet with the expansion of its venues and consolidate all aspects of the business.

Formed following the 500th anniversary of The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (RCSEd), the College’s Commercial Enterprises was launched in 2006.

Now Commercial Enterprises – which started out as just three people – is rebranding to ‘Surgeons Quarter’ to mark the expansion of the organisation.

When launched it was tasked with making the most of the institution’s impressive buildings, with all the profits being invested back into the College, to train surgeons and surgical trainees who deliver life-changing skills and improve patient outcome to every corner of the world.

The collection of buildings situated around the historic Hill Square will be known as Surgeons Quarter. The rebranding will allow for the area to be a recognised destination and highlight the scale of the venues within it.

Scott Mitchel, Commercial Director, believes the rebranding of the Commercial Enterprises will help increase recognition of the area.

He said: “After a successful first 10 years rebranding was the next logical step.”

“We wanted to create a brand that encompasses all the venues to a single destination area. Each separate building is so unique that it was a difficult task to decide on how to achieve a single theme that highlights the scale of each building. “Branding the whole area Surgeons’ Quarter is the perfect fit.

Closely following the launch of Commercial Enterprises was the transformation of the College residencies into the 77 room Ten Hill Place hotel in 2006. The success of the hotel culminated in an impressive 88 per cent occupancy rate in 2016. The rebrand will be completed by the Summer of 2018 to tie in with the expansion of Ten Hill Place Hotel, which will then have 129 bedrooms and a completely refurbished restaurant and bar.

Each of the settings operated by the Surgeons Quarter team will be recognised with the distinct @Surgeons’ Quarter, tying in the destination brand.

The College is best known for its magnificent Playfair Building, dating back to 1832. Other venues include the King Khalid Building, formerly St Michael’s Church, which has been transformed into an outstanding 158-seated auditorium.

The stunning Prince Phillip building opened in 2015 following the transformation of a former Edinburgh University language school. It was welcomed by Marketing Edinburgh, which promotes the city across the UK and internationally.

The Royal College is one of the most august institutions in Scotland. It provides education and assessment for medical students, surgical trainees and consultants and supports research to advance standards of care for the future. Surgeons trained and assessed through the College take their life-saving and life-changing skills all over the world.

The College’s Commercial Enterprises promotes, sells and manages all commercial activities held within the College Campus, which includes arts and conferencing venue Surgeons’ Hall. All profits support the charitable aims of the College which are education, assessment and advancement in surgery.

Edinburgh-based charity the Sick Kids Friends Foundation has announced it is rebranding under the new name Edinburgh Children’s Hospital Charity (ECHC).

Although the charity – a much-loved Edinburgh institution – is to change its name, its mission to continue to raise money to buy vital equipment and services remains as important as ever.

Roslyn Neely, CEO of the ECHC, said: “Through the amazing support and fundraising of many, many people, we’ve supported the work of the Edinburgh Children’s Hospital for 25 years. But with the hospital changing to a new name, we felt this would be a positive opportunity to also update our own name.

“Aside from our name, nothing will change in terms of the work that we do. We continue to be a grant giving organisation which exists to transform the experiences of children and young people in hospital so that they can be a child first and a patient second.

“The clinical work of the hospital is world class and often ground-breaking. However, we rely completely on the public for all our donations and we still need support to help us provide the magical extras to benefit the hundreds of thousands of babies, children and young people who will be patients over future decades.”

For more information on Edinburgh Children’s Hospital Charity, please visit: www.echccharity.org

The iconic Falkirk Wheel hosted the rebranded launch of local accountancy and business advisory firm, A9 Partnership.

The evening’s highlight, alongside the Wheel being floodlit in the corporate blue, was an inspirational talk by Craig Mathieson, Scotland’s Greatest Living Explorer who was recently appointed “Explorer in Residence” by The Royal Scottish Geographical Society.  A9 chose to support Craig and the launch of his new charity, The Polar Academy, to mark the occasion (http://www.thepolaracademy.org)

As part of the rebranding, A9 carried out surveys with both staff and clients, to gain valuable insight. One of the new initiatives, that came out of the surveys, is the introduction of a Workshop Series, with topical subjects covering Cloud Accountancy, IHT Planning, Branding and much more.  If you are interested in attending one of the Workshop Series, please contact abercorn@a9partnership.co.uk.