Perth: Expanding horizons for the Fair City

With its excellent transport and broadband connections Perth has plenty to shout about. Picture: Craig Stephen

A year on from having its city status restored, Perth is doing all it can to make the most of its fantastic natural attributes, writes David Littlejohn

When you think of Perth, what springs to mind? A twee town on the Tay? It might be time to think again, as Scotland’s newest city is intent on putting itself on the map. Making the most of its central position, with easy access to both the Highlands and the Central Belt, excellent transport and broadband connections, an educated workforce and sophisticated culture and leisure facilities, Perth has plenty to shout about.

A year on from having city status restored as part of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations, Perth is already taking up the opportunities offered by membership of the Scottish Cities Alliance (SCA) to collaborate with the six other cities to drive up investment into Scotland.

Membership of the SCA has been particularly useful in accessing research and expertise to help us position ourselves effectively. We knew that tourism was a big player in our local economy, and sectoral asset mapping research commissioned by the SCA has also shown that, at 3.2 per cent, we have one of the highest percentages of employment in food and drink of any city region in Scotland and the second highest percentage of businesses employed in that sector.

Perth Theatre is set to undergo extensive redevelopment

Knowing that this is one of our areas of strength has helped us to focus resources on persuading food and drink businesses that Perth is the place to be.

A year-round destination

In addition to restructuring the council’s regeneration team to include dedicated officers for tourism, food and drink, clean technologies and digital technologies projects, a dedicated events officer has also been appointed to develop and promote Perth and the wider region as a year-round destination for the best in cultural, sports and leisure activities.

A new marketing campaign has also now been launched to highlight and sell the city’s assets. Part of this drive will see us creating and marketing premises and serviced land to the north and south of the city, where we hope to create a cluster of food and drink companies.

In many ways, the sector is an ideal fit for the area: Perthshire is renowned for its natural produce, including berries and wild salmon.

Access to the research expertise at the James Hutton Institute’s Carse of Gowrie facility also adds to the area’s locational advantages.

The selling point for many enterprises choosing to locate here has, of course, always been the lifestyle on offer: it has all the benefits of a highly connected, dynamic city combined with fantastic scenery, access to outdoor leisure and great schools.

Attending SiteMatch Scotland – an event which showcased Scottish locations to London-based investors – we were struck by the number of people who felt that Perthshire’s stunning natural environment was a real selling point.