Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Change of focus at Food and Drink Park could trigger fresh jobs boost

The Food and Drink Park in Perth
The Food and Drink Park in Perth

Perth’s innovative Food and Drink Park, marketed as the first of its kind in Scotland, will now open its doors to different industries in an effort to score fresh investment.

Work began on the “unique” £1.8 million business estate at North Muirton earlier this year. It was hailed as the first business park dedicated to the Scottish food and drink sector.

Now Perth and Kinross Council has agreed to use half of the estate for “general” business use to meet demand from non-food groups. Plans are also being drawn up for a major expansion, which could see the site almost double in size.

The local authority said it hopes the change will see new businesses move on to the estate as early as next month.

A local authority spokeswoman said: “At 12 acres the Perth Food and Drink Park is one of the largest in the UK, and this has allowed us to look at opportunities to diversify the potential use of the site.

“Promotional activity from the Invest in Perth team has brought forward interest from companies requiring sites for general industrial and employment and by considering this approach we are able to ensure businesses seeking to locate and grow in Perth can be accommodated.

“Indications are these interests could mean commitment by at least one of these companies in early 2018.”

The council has lodged notice to expand the site and the proposals will be unveiled at a public consultation event in January.

A report to councillors, put together by investment manager Serge Merone and interim head of economic development Tom Flanagan, states: “A planning advance notice is being progressed for strategic land of 10 acres to make it more attractive to investors.

“Twelve acres — 50% of the available 24 acres for the site — will now be marketed as general use to meet existing demand. This will still leave 12 acres for food and drink use, which is substantial compared to other food and drink parks across the UK.”

Three small business units are now under offer, with a fourth expression of interest tabled with the local authority.

Last week, The Courier revealed that a £8.2 million plan to heat the business park with radical heat pump technology had been scrapped.