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Perth is the place Invest in Perth Scotland’s thriving cities are open for foreign investment
Perth is the place
It’s official, Perthshire is the most desirable place to live on the Scottish mainland*.
Its strategic position at the very heart of Scotland’s road,rail and air transport networks** delivers a superb proposition for investment and business relocation,which also makes Perth itself the ideal location to invest, visit or work.
Businesses here enjoy easy access to Scotland’s key population centres without having to bear the high land and property prices of major cities and our ambition,set out in the Perth City Plan,is to build on these strengths,to offer unrivalled business,cultural, educational and leisure opportunities.
By 2035,Perth city will have a population of around 60,000,living at the centre of a successful city region of 160,000 people.It will have an international reputation as one of Europe’s leading small cities.To achieve this,more than £140m of investment in transport infrastructure is planned, helping to unlock more than £500m of current investment opportunities.
The area’s economic activity rate outperforms the current Scottish average:four out of five adults (79%) are in employment – ahead of the Scottish average of 73% – and youth unemployment,at 1.9%,is almost one-third below the Scottish average of 2.8%.
Across the region,a diverse base of more than 6,000 businesses draws upon this extensive pool of talent –with 61.5% of the area’s adult working population qualified at graduate level, the joint highest percentage across all seven Scottish cities.
Significant recent investment in the provision of improved educational facilities and new housing will support the city’s planned growth,running alongside further major investment in the city’s cultural offering and digital connectivity.
Perth City Plan
Several key city development projects, together totalling more than £400 m, are set out in the Perth City Plan.These include the development of the River Tay waterfront as a leisure and tourism destination,(the summer of 2017 saw the successful launch of river taxis as part of this project),and the proposed reopening of Perth City Hall,with redevelopment plans to create a new exhibition space,a learning suite,café and retail space.
Over the next five years,further investment of more than £25m will support the city’s cultural and leisure facilities,enhancing the recent refurbishment of Perth Theatre,which reopened in December 2017 after its own £25m redevelopment.
Improvements to public realm in the heart of the city centre will also help extend footfall into the evenings and promote visitor spend year-round. £140m is being invested in transport infrastructure to allow faster access to national and local networks and services.To the west,more than 3,000 new homes are under development by Springfield Properties,with more homes planned for the Bertha Park urban area and a new secondary school scheduled to open in 2019.
New serviced business and industrial land is also planned,to help businesses grow.This will be focused towards the region’s five key sectors.
Retail
Perth offers a truly unique and distinctive opportunity to retailers. A current retail catchment population of 338,000 live within a half hour drive time,and they provide an estimated core catchment expenditure of £631m annually.
New private sector housing will lead to more people looking to spend locally, but more than 90% of Scotland’s population live within a 90-minute drive,making Perth the ideal central location for independent,specialist retailers of all types.Hardly surprising then that Perth has the lowest vacancy rate of any Scottish major town or city – and boasts more independent shops than any other high street in Scotland.
”Several key city development projects, together totalling more than £400m,are set out in the Perth City Plan.
Tourism
Whether for day trips or longer stays, Perth’s historic and cultural attractions ensure the area is always a firm favourite,attracting more than 2m visitors in 2016 – an annual increase of 9.4%.
Many were attracted by the city’s superb cultural and leisure facilities, and investment is being made to establish a vibrant cultural quarter around the existing bases of Perth Theatre,Perth Museum & Art Gallery, Perth Concert Hall and the Fergusson Gallery.
The area also boasts one of the largest and most diverse annual programme of festivals and events in Scotland, with major cultural events such as Perth Festival of the Arts and 80s Rewind at Scone Palace complemented by a superb programme of sporting events such as the Etape Caledonia,Blair Castle International Horse Trials,Colin McRae Forest Stages Rally and The Johnnie Walker Golf Championship.
Our target is to grow the value of the region’s visitor economy to £555m annually by 2022/23,and to grow sector employment by an additional 1.5%.The city already has state-of-theart digital connectivity:by the end of 2018,more than 90% of Perth & Kinross will have access to fibre broadband,delivering data speeds of between 24MBps and 80MBps.
Food & Drink
Perth City Region is home to more than 900 food and drink businesses –the largest concentration in Scotland. Perth itself enjoys the highest ratio of restaurants to population of any Scottish city;with many showcasing the fantastic local produce from Perthshire’s rich farmland,mountains, lochs and rivers – including the winner of Scotland’s 2017 Restaurant of the Year,63 Tay Street.
The area also has a strong distilling heritage,from Bell’s Whisky (Blair Atholl),one of the oldest distilleries in Scotland,to Edradour in Pitlochry,Scotland’s smallest commercial whisky distillery. Production across the region also has a strong brand association with Dewars and the Famous Grouse. Recently,several artisan gin distilleries have also opened,including the award-winning Persie Gin,and Strathearn Gin. Other award-winning brands located here include Highland Spring, Inveralmond Brewery,Simon Howie Foods and Taylors Food Group.
Perth Food & Drink Park has strengthened the provision of serviced development land and business support facilities for the sector.Located strategically close to the A9 trunk road and only a 45-minute drive from Edinburgh’s International Airport,new units will be ready for occupation from spring 2018.
Renewable and Clean Technology
This region is also the top UK area for micro generation installed capacity linking to high quality products and services.Perth College UHI – the largest campus of the University of the Highlands & Islands – offers bespoke and certified training across a wide range of disciplines linked to renewables and clean technologies.
With its easy access to world-leading research centres,this area provides a hub of like-minded businesses to inspire and support commercial ecoinnovation.National and international businesses are developing their products and services here,which will
shape future best practice in resource efficiency and the use of smart technologies.
Now,the result of an exciting private/public sector partnership, Tay Eco-Valley is providing a living lab,focused on the food and drink supply chain,clean technology and renewables.
Finance
Perth is home to one of the twin HQs of insurance giant Aviva, who see the city as a Centre for Excellence due to the level of expertise in the area.(Insurance accounts for one in four of the 8,000+ jobs within financial services in the region.) In 2017, Aviva expanded in Perth,adding 150 new jobs at Pitheavlis.
Perth: where businesses want to be
Whatever you may need when locating,relocating or investing here,you can be sure that the Invest in Perth team will support you at every step.
Talk to us today about your requirements:
Invest in Perth, Pullar House, 35 Kinnoull Street, PERTH PH1 5GD T:01738 475364 e:keaston@pkc.org.uk w:www.investinperth.co.uk
10 reasons to Invest in Perth
1. A strategic location with easy access to talent and markets
2. A highly skilled and committed local workforce
3. A growing population – projected to grow 23% by 2022.
4. Superb transport links,including access to Scotland’s two main international airports in less than an hour
5. More than £400m of planned investment to support development plans
6. Quick and easy access to Scotland’s world class education and research institutions
7. One of the UK’s leading cities for digital connectivity
8. More than £140m of planned investment in infrastructure
9. The lowest retail vacancy rate of any large town or city in Scotland
10.A dedicated and tailored investor support service through Invest in Perth
”National and international businesses are developing their products and services here,which will shape future best practice in resource efficiency and the use of smart technologies.
