New Food and Drink Park Opens For Business in Scotland
A ground-breaking initiative to create a new business park to strengthen Scotland’s diverse and world-renowned food and drink sector has hit a key milestone with the announcement that the site is open for occupation. Perth Food and Drink Park – representing a £5 million investment by Perth and Kinross Council – provides up to 11 serviced development plots across a 16 acre high quality and easily accessible site at North Muirton, to the north of the city.
The site has been specifically designed to create a hub for the all aspects of the food and drink industry in Scotland to thrive, and is aimed at attracting inward investment, as well as expansion opportunities for existing and start-up businesses.
It is predicted the Perth Food and Drink Park – the first dedicated hub of its kind in Scotland – could sustain up to 400 jobs once fully occupied.
Food and drink is one of Scotland’s key growth sectors with ambitions to grow from £13.1 billion today to £16.5 billion by 2017. Within Perth and Kinross, the annual turnover of the food and drink sector is estimated at £280 million and there are an estimated 130 companies in the processing sector.
Councillor John Kellas, Convener of Enterprise and Infrastructure Committee at Perth and Kinross Council, says the Park offers a unique opportunity for businesses in the food and drink sector to occupy a fully-flexible, bespoke site to develop or expand their operations, in one of Scotland’s most attractive locations.
He comments: “Perthshire has unrivalled heritage and credentials in food and drink, evidenced by the likes of its superb beef, lamb and venison, its soft fruit industry and world-famous whisky distillers, as well as a range of artisan and specialist producers. We are passionate about continuing to see the food and drink industry in both Perthshire, and Scotland, thrive. We have identified food and drink as an area of outstanding growth and have committed substantial investment into helping businesses in this sector through the creation of Perth Food and Drink Park.”
Perth Food and Drink Park offers serviced development plots ranging in size from one acre to three acres – however, there is scope for units to be combined in larger premises – with each site providing medium pressure, HV electricity, superfast broadband, telecoms, water and drainage. Financial incentives are available subject to eligibility.
The marketing for the Perth Food and Drink Park is managed by Perth and Kinross’s global inward investment campaign Invest in Perth, alongside the council’s business development and investment team.
For more information, visit www.perthfoodanddrinkpark.co.uk.
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Pictured (left to right): Cllr John Kellas, John Swinney MSP and David Littlejohn, head of planning and regeneration at Perth and Kinross Council.
