Invest in Perth Autumn/Winter 2015

AUTUMN/WINTER 2015

INVESTIN

PERTH

INSIDE #2 SPOTLIGHT ON EVENTS & CONFERENCES INTERVIEW WITH VIRIDOR FAST TRACK TRAINING

IN THIS ISSUE

WELCOME

AUTUMN/WINTER 2015

VIEWPOINT:

3

John MacGregor, Chairman, Binn Group

NEWS FROM THE REGION:

5

4-5

Perthshire sets a world standard

KNOW-HOW:

6

Co-operation accelerates growth for green businesses

FAST TRACK:

7

Help is at hand to develop the right skills for tomorrow

SPOTLIGHT:

8

Vector Aerospace: new markets, new services

FEATURE:

8

10

Perthshire offers everything business tourism wants from Scotland

INTERVIEW:

14

Graeme Milne, Regional Sales Manager, Viridor

INFRASTRUCTURE:

16

City extension: groundwork is laid New international connections

www.pkbem.co.uk

LIVING:

17

Add these ideas to your ‘to-do’ list

GOOD COMPANY:

14

18

Ennismore’s purchase of Gleneagles and other investors in the Perth City Region

PROPERTY:

20

Regional statistics on tourism

Follow Invest in Perth on Twitter. www.twitter.com/investinperth

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INVEST IN PERTH_AUTUMN/WINTER 2015

Convener of Enterprise and Infrastructure Committee at Perth & Kinross Council

We offer a comprehensive investor support programme tailored to each individual business, including: • Help with identifying and accessing funding • A comprehensive search to find suitable land and property • Introductions to key contacts locally.

Invest in Perth

Invest in Perth is published by Invest in Perth. Written and designed by Resolve Creative. e. info@resolve-creative.co.uk | w. resolve-creative.co.uk

THIS MAGAZINE IS PRINTED ON ENVIRONMENTALLY RESPONSIBLE PAPER MANUFACTURED USING 100% RECYCLED WASTE.

Councillor John Kellas

INVEST IN PERTH CAN HELP 19

Investment opportunities

THE NUMBERS:

TO THE LATEST ISSUE OF INVEST IN PERTH. Ambitious companies around Perth City Region are looking forward to November, when the fourth annual Business and Enterprise Month will offer a programme of events, seminars, and workshops around the theme ‘Inspiring Business Growth’.

Events include topics such as Inspiring Youth, Internationalisation, Innovation in Business, People, Managing Growth and Green Business.

The series commences with the launch event on 4 November at Perth College UHI and culminates on 20 November with the Chamber of Commerce Star Awards at Crieff Hydro.

Until then, the stories highlighted in this issue of Invest in Perth give equal measures of inspiration and information for companies looking to take advantage of Perth City Region’s strengths – connectivity, skills, sector specialisms and quality of life.

FSC LOGO added here

Kirsty Easton, Pullar House, 35 Kinnoull Street, Perth, PH1 5GD t: 01738 475364 e: keaston@pkc.gov.uk w: investinperth.co.uk

VIEWPOINT

THE BINN GROUP IS SCOTLAND’S LARGEST INDEPENDENT WASTE AND RESOURCE MANAGEMENT COMPANY; OFFERING A WIDE RANGE OF WASTE MANAGEMENT AND RECYCLING SERVICES TO MOST OF THE EAST OF SCOTLAND AND THE HIGHLANDS.

Perth is one of Scotland’s fastest growing cities, with population growth of 24% forecast by 2030.

WASTE NOT WANT NOT

5%

TARGET FOR LANDFILL BY 2025 IN WASTE (SCOTLAND) REGULATIONS 2012. IN 2014, BINN GROUP PROCESSED 125,000 TONNES OF MIXED DRY RECYCLABLES

We employ more than 150 people in Perthshire, and are continually expanding our waste services at Binn Eco Park, which include four different processes for recycling mixed waste: • A facility for the separation of household mixed recyclates • An advanced fuel preparation plant that manufactures high calorific fuels from unrecyclable wastes • Anaerobic digestion and composting facilities • Wood recycling facilities.

With a supply chain that supports a range of local companies – from fuel supply and vehicle parts to building and engineering services – the Binn Eco Park forms a key component of the local area’s economic and employment growth potential.

We have a strong commitment to supporting local businesses and to stimulating the growth of the wider green economy in Tayside. Our facilities form the platform for a much wider vision of the area’s future green economy: encapsulating more advanced recycling businesses; the conversion of waste materials into products; a range of renewable energy systems; protected heated horticultural food production; biofuel production and other clean tech businesses.

WWW.INVESTINPERTH.CO.UK

To this end, we were one of the founder members of the Perth and Kinross Green Business Accelerator and the Tay Eco Valley project initiated by Perth and Kinross Council. This provides a framework for the promotion and development of clean technology concepts that are as diverse as renewable energy, local food production, recycling, sustainable transport and smart travel.

We also have a strong community ethos and support a wide range of local projects, charities and individuals. We meet regularly with local Community Councils and produce a local newssheet three times a year, which communicates what is happening at the site.

This type of community engagement takes time to establish and can mean being the focus of concerns and complaints. However, it is rewarding to see progress being made over time and stronger community ties being established.

Looking to the future, we see ongoing growth potential: fundamental global environmental issues are increasingly evident; resources need to be conserved; we need to use more of our own recovered resources for manufacturing in Scotland; and we need long-term evolution in renewable energy systems to drive innovation in new energy solutions.

We also need to consider local food resilience and shortening food supply chains

to drive down costs and waste in food production and consumption.

It’s an exciting time with many challenges and many opportunities.

We are getting better at innovating and developing new solutions to existing problems in the world of resource management, and we believe the Binn Eco Park has potential both for training and skills development that will support growth in the environmental services and products sector in the Tay Eco Valley, and to stimulate a range of research activity.

In a rapidly globalising world, there are many challenges. However, being focused on our local business, while at the same time knowing we can stimulate, develop and demonstrate solutions applicable across the world, is a great motivator.

John MacGregor Chairman, Binn Group binngroup.co.uk

AUTUMN/WINTER 2015_INVEST IN PERTH

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SWEET DESTINATION Think of chocolate and you might think first of Switzerland, or France? Think again!

Perthshire is becoming synonymous with the world’s finest chocolate, with Iain Burnett – the Highland Chocolatier – and Charlotte Flowers two local chocolatiers to receive international recognition. At the 2015 International Chocolate Awards (ICA) in York, the duo received three Gold awards between them.

Charlotte Flowers, based in Aberfeldy, uses local seasonal flowers and herbs to create signature flavours, and her Smoked Hebridean Sea Salt in Java won Gold in the category for milk chocolate bars with inclusions or pieces.

Charlotte’s Meadowsweet Thins were also voted this year’s Product of the Year at the Land of Food and Drink Excellence awards in Edinburgh. After that event, Charlotte said: “This is the judges’ award, given to the one product that in all their tastings and deliberations was considered to stand out.

I was amazed, delighted and quite tearful. It is wonderful that in Scotland’s Year of Food and Drink, a flavour used since the Bronze Age... should be highlighted in such a way.”

Based in Grandtully, and now St Andrews, The Highland Chocolatier, was awarded Gold awards for two truffles at the ICA: Dark Sao Tome and the Passion Fruit with a Touch of Mango truffle – “the result of a long search through 80 different fruits and recipes for the ultimate natural tang.” It also received a silver award for its Raspberry and Black pepper Velvet truffle.

Don’t just take the judges word, celebrate Perthshire’s finest confectioners yourself at the Perth Festival of Chocolate, on 21-22 November.

CELEBRATING FOOD AND DRINK EXCELLENCE Other Perthshire food and drink businesses have also tasted success in 2015. Shortlisted at this year’s Food and Drink Excellence Awards were Simon Howie, nominated for The Wee Black Pudding product in the meat category, and Scarlett’s Honey, nominated in the innovation category.

Charlotte Flower Chocolate also won category awards for its Hebridean sea salt caramel filled chocolates and Wild Flavoured Single Origin Chocolate Thins, both in the Confectionery and Snacking category.

2015 IS SCOTLAND’S YEAR OF FOOD AND DRINK, DESIGNED TO SPOTLIGHT, CELEBRATE AND PROMOTE SCOTLAND’S NATURAL LARDER AND QUALITY PRODUCE.

QUALITY ASSURED Perthshire’s key role in attracting thousands of tourists to Scotland has been praised by VisitScotland, the national tourism organisation.

Homecoming 2014 – a year-long campaign that ran to coincide with the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and Ryder Cup in Perthshire – generated an estimated £136m of additional revenue to the Scottish economy.

As well as the Ryder Cup, which had an estimated daily TV audience of 500 million people across 183 countries, Perth and Kinross events, such as the Dougie MacLean Amber Festival and the European Festival of Brass, also played their part in the total. Jim Clarkson, VisitScotland’s

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INVEST IN PERTH_AUTUMN/WINTER 2015

Regional Partnerships Director, said: “From culture to food and drink, nature to ancestry, visitors from home and abroad flocked to Perthshire to be part of a very special year in Scottish tourism.”

The 2014 programme included more than 1,000 events across Scotland: each offered a celebration of its natural beauty, rich creativity and cultural heritage, as well as providing a memorable welcome for the 326,000 visitors who travelled here from around the world.

B&B 5 AWARD Glebe House, a Perthshire B&B in Dunning, has been awarded a 5-star Quality Assurance award, and a Taste Our Best accreditation, both from VisitScotland, the national tourism organisation.

Originally built in 1860, Glebe House offers guests the choice of a stay in one of two boutique suites and meals that showcase the best of Scottish food and drink and their own homegrown products.

Malcolm Roughead, OBE, Chief Executive of

VisitScotland, presented the awards personally, while visiting Perthshire to meet with local tourism business owners. He said: “Tourism is at the heart of this region’s economy, creating jobs and sustaining communities... [and] businesses such as Glebe House have a key role to play in enhancing Scotland’s reputation as a must-return destination.”

> INFO glebehousedunning.co.uk

NEWS Perthshire now has an impressive collection of 65 Taste Our Best accredited businesses.

A SNOW-COVERED HILL SLOPE EAST OF LOCH FREUCHIE WAS NOT, AT FIRST GLANCE, THE MOST LIKELY SPOT TO SPARK AN INTERNATIONAL SUCCESS STORY.

BREWING UP A SUCCESS

Plantation panorama © weeteaplantation.com

[PERTHSHIRE] IS NOT CALLED THE HEART OF SCOTLAND BY ACCIDENT.”

WWW.INVESTINPERTH.CO.UK

After just two seasons, the Wee Tea Plantation at Amultree has developed a premium product that is exciting palettes worldwide.

Last year, tea grower Tam O’Braan was delighted to get a rare silver award for his Dalreoch smoked white tea from the Tea Exchange in London, the UK tea grading authority. It had been launched at The Balmoral Hotel, in Edinburgh, and attracted immediate acclaim.

Then the tea produced from this year’s January ‘flush’ went one better, receiving a gold award from the Salon de Thé in Paris.

The Wee Tea Plantation’s leaf is officially the best tea in the world!

This international prominence has led to a number of new contracts, including one through gourmet tea company Mariage Frères, which gives them exclusive supply in France. Other exclusive deals include Fortnum and Masons and The Dorchester Hotel.

“The contract to supply in France led to a tipping point for us,” explained Tam, who has plans to begin exporting to Asia next. The company is now building a processing factory in Perthshire and has created two new posts in tea processing and packing.

Last year, The Wee Tea Company also established The Scottish Tea Growers’ Association, which aims to share expertise, give technical advice and encourage other growers, as well as pool purchasing

Tam o’Braan’s Dalreoch tea was launched to the world at The Balmoral Hotel, Edinburgh.

power. Tea Gardens have already been established in Mull, Aberdeenshire and Dumfries & Galloway.

“As well as Dalreoch teas we’ll pack the produce grown by other tea growers in Scotland, none of whom are more than a few hours away,” said Tam. “That’s a geographic benefit of Perthshire, which is not called the Heart of Scotland by coincidence – we’re equidistant from all four corners of the country.”

The Dalreoch smoked white tea is being grown on land that lies about 750m above sea level. “The bushes we put in could last for over 100 years,” explains Tam. “That means what’s been judged superlative now, will be just as good next year and so on.

The mountain air and fresh spring water that gives it unique qualities won’t change either.”

For Tam, whose neighbour owns Scotland’s smallest distillery at Edradour, in Pitlochry, the whisky industry offers a perfect template. “Each Tea Garden’s tea will have distinct character and flavour. Scots have been at the heart of tea’s story since the early nineteenth century. We have a real opportunity here to develop an industry that will create jobs through trade and tourism.”

That’s an ambition that has to be toasted with a celebratory brew.

> INFO weeteaplantation.com

AUTUMN/WINTER 2015_INVEST IN PERTH

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The UK’s largest generator of renewable energy, SSE, is headquartered in Perth.

It’s a natural choice as Perthshire has been the de facto home of the UK’s renewable sector since the Hydro Electric Development Act was passed in 1943.

By the mid-1960s, Scotland boasted 56 dams, connected by over 600km of rock tunnel, aqueducts and pipelines.

No wonder SSE is currently building a new £4m visitor centre overlooking its hydro dam in Pitlochry, which will celebrate the story of the engineers who brought hydro power to Scotland.

But this story is about looking forward. Today’s engineers and supply chain continue to make Perth City region an ideal location for businesses operating in the renewable and clean technology sector.

The area boasts a mix of renewable energy resources and can call on local expertise to harness energy – from community projects such as Wester Derry Wind Farm, which uses earnings to help fund a local school, to the 600MW project proposed by SSE at Coire Glas.

If it proceeds, it will become Scotland’s biggest ever pumped storage scheme.

Over recent years, a supply chain has developed in the area extending across all renewable technologies, but it is particularly strong in biomass and building energy efficiency, as well as solar PV, onshore wind and micro hydro.

There is also strength in upstream professional services and biomass fuel supply, and significant installation and maintenance skills.

PKGBTA HAS HARNESSED THE RICH RESOURCES AND LOCAL EXPERTISE TO GENERATE SUSTAINED ECONOMIC GROWTH SINCE 2013.”

Perth College offers bespoke and certified training across a wide range of disciplines linked to renewables and clean technologies. Expertise and skills are also available at The University of Dundee, University of Abertay Dundee and University of St Andrews, each within a 45-minute radius of Perth.

In June 2013, The Perth & Kinross Green Technology Business Accelerator (PKGTBA)* was launched to harness these rich resources and local expertise to generate sustainable economic growth. Driven by industry, it has supported business to business collaboration – organising a buyer/ supplier event for the hydro sector; promoting local goods and services; facilitating access to information, advice and best practice; and helping promote technologies such as biomass, showcasing the benefits it can offer to the hospitality sector.

KNOW-HOW:

OPPORTUNITY RENEWED PERTH CITY REGION IS THE IDEAL LOCATION FOR BUSINESSES OPERATING IN THE CLEAN TECH AND RENEWABLES SECTOR

* PKGBTA is supported by Perth College UHI, Perth & Kinross Council, Energy Skills Partnership, Scottish Enterprise, Scottish Environmental Technology Network, Binn Eco Park and the Perthshire Chamber of Commerce.

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PKGTBA has also helped local businesses attend events such as AllEnergy, Scottish Renewables and the European Wood Pellet Conferences, and commissioned a range of technical and feasibility studies including one on the use of hydrogen in rural businesses.

For clean tech and renewable businesses, choosing to locate in what is already the UK’s top area for microgeneration installed capacity can bring wider benefits: • High resource availability for hydro and biomass • Links to high quality local products and services through a business directory • Excellent national and international connectivity • Access to the Tay Eco-Valley (TEV) initiative.

PKGTBA is one of the demonstrators of the Tay Eco-Valley (TEV) initiative. TEV is a living lab, bringing together regional, national and international businesses to develop the products and services that will shape future best practice in order to save resources and develop a circular economy using low carbon and smart technologies. Projects underway include River Tay Heat Pump and District Heating Network, Perth Low Emission Transport Network, Shared Mobility Living Lab, James Hutton Institute World Barley Innovation Centre and Binn Eco-Park.

> INFO annabel.baker.perth@uhi.ac.uk

KNOW-HOW | FAST TRACK

FAST-TRACK:

ENHANCING Perth College apprentices.

BUSINESS SKILLS

The scheme will refund up to 50% of each part of an employee’s training, if the course is fundable through an Individual Learning Account (ILA).

SDS provides a maximum of £500 for each employee, with up to 10 employees supported per business – so if a course costs £1,200, then SDS will refund £500 per employee, and if it costs £300, they will refund £150.

Perth College UHI, part of the University of the Highlands and Islands (Scotland’s newest university), offers ILA qualifying courses that include learning based on National Occupational Standards; industry recognised qualifications and first line supervisory management.

With around 7,000 enrolled students, Perth College UHI helps people learn at every level, from introductory courses all the way to PhD programmes, and with professional qualifications.

Many courses are designed around the needs of local employers. The Low Carbon Technology Centre (LCTC), for example, offers a range of services and training to help businesses and organisations take advantage of developments in low carbon technology and renewable energy.

“We’re here to help sustain enterprise and entrepreneurship,” says David Gourley, Curriculum and Business Engagement A9 Director. “With practical support and solutions to tailor-fit business needs, we can help companies make a positive impact on their performance and profit.

WWW.INVESTINPERTH.CO.UK

“We are helping more than 100 local businesses to maximise the potential of their staff. With professionals from a wide range of key industry sectors we can respond to specific business needs, and help deliver measurable returns on the investment in training.”

The Centre for Enterprise at Perth College also offers seminars, business breakfasts and bespoke events and opportunities through Knowledge Transfer initiatives.

SSE has unveiled plans to build a brand new £4m visitor centre overlooking its Pitlochry dam.

IF YOUR COMPANY EMPLOYS FEWER THAN 75 PEOPLE, THEN THE FLEXIBLE TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES SCHEME OFFERED THROUGH SKILLS DEVELOPMENT SCOTLAND (SDS) IS A FANTASTIC RESOURCE.

WE HELP MORE THAN 100 LOCAL BUSINESSES TO MAXIMISE THE POTENTIAL OF THEIR STAFF.

> INFO

skillsdevelopmentscotland.co.uk/ flexible-training.aspx

perth.uhi.ac.uk/business-enterprise/ business-engagement-support-team

A90 A9 A92 James Hutton Institute, Invergowrie

Perth Airport Perth College UHI

PERTH

Broxden Business Park

A9

University of Dundee

A90

Firth

M90

University of Abertay

ay of T

A917

University of St Andrews

Binn Eco Park

A917

M90

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SITUATED JUST OUTSIDE PERTH, AT ALMONDBANK, VECTOR AEROSPACE IS PART OF THE AIRBUS GROUP AND ONE OF THE LEADING MAINTENANCE, REPAIR AND OVERHAUL (MRO) BUSINESSES IN TODAY’S GLOBAL AEROSPACE INDUSTRY.

A TRULY GLOBAL CAPABILITY ALL OF THE TRANSMISSIONS, DRIVE TRAINS AND GEARBOXES FOR THE UK CHINOOK FLEET ARE SERVICED HERE IN ALMONDBANK.”

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SKILLED ENGINEERS AND TECHNICIANS ARE EMPLOYED

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INVEST IN PERTH_AUTUMN/WINTER 2015

Around the world, Vector Aerospace employs 2,700 highly skilled engineers and technicians, 185 of whom work at Vector Component Services (UK), in Perthshire.

The business has been present in the region since the early 1940s, when the current site formed part of the Royal Naval Stores Depot. It remained a Ministry of Defence site until 2008, when it was acquired by Vector. In 2011, Eurocopter Holdings – part of the Airbus Group – acquired Vector Aerospace.

Operations in Perth encompass a wide range of component repair, inspection and servicing, including helicopter gearboxes and engine components. The 9.3 hectare site includes more than 175,000 ft2 of workshops offering electroplating, non-destructive testing and manufacturing and machining capabilities.

As Mick O’Connor, Component Services Director, explains, the business has undergone a radical transformation following its acquisition by Eurocopter.

A five-year growth strategy has paved the way for significant diversification – capitalising upon Vector’s experience and capabilities in the defence industry to achieve similar results in the civil market.

“When I joined in 2012, I wanted to understand how the business made its money and where our core business lay, so we took the decision to segment work into distinct product lines,” says Mick.

“In simple terms, when we talk about overhaul it means we can take a full propeller, take it apart, inspect it, look for damage, identify what can be repaired and what needs to be replaced.

We then complete the repairs, source new parts, rebuild it, test it and return it to the customer.

“A big part of that work is the repair phase, an area in which we had considerable expertise but where we didn’t specifically offer a service in its own right.

Through machining and manufacturing; our work with composites; and our experience in non-destructive testing, we could offer a complete repair service, helping us to make better use of the facilities and skills on site.”

Traditionally, Vector’s work has also been dominated by work for the defence industry, in particular the UK Ministry of Defence.

While Vector Aerospace in Perth continues to provide extensive support for the Royal Air Force’s Tornado fleet, as well as MRO support for the RAF’s 60 Chinook heavy

SPOTLIGHT Easyjet will launch a new twice-weekly direct route between Glasgow and Milan, on 2 December.

175,000

WWW.INVESTINPERTH.CO.UK

SQUARE FOOTAGE OF WORKSHOPS OFFERING ELECTROPLATING, NON-DESTRUCTIVE TESTING AND MANUFACTURING AND MACHINING CAPABILITIES

lift helicopters, the business has taken the conscious decision to diversify.

This repositioned customer offering has enabled it to look to the future with renewed confidence. Today, customers include BAE Systems, Boeing, Rolls Royce, Ryanair, Spirit Aerosystems, Dublin Aerospace and Bombardier, to name a few.

A new £1m investment at Almondbank will see enhanced MRO support for Airbus Helicopters, specifically dynamic component support for the AS350 Ecureuil helicopter.

It’s a market predicted to be worth in excess of £38m annually. A further investment in new composite tooling has also helped to enhance Vector’s repair capability.

“We’ve just put in place a capability to service the thrust reverse actuators on Boeing 737NG, which until now had to be sent to the US for repair and overhaul,” adds Mick. “We’ve also begun working with Bombardier on overhauling their air stairs for the Dash 8 Q400 series.

“Winning new commercial business remains a challenge. It’s about relationship building and establishing a track record for successful delivery,” adds Mick.

About 50% of Vector’s work remains with armed forces all round the world,

including the Belgian Air Force, Swedish Air Force, Norwegian Air Force and ongoing work with the US Army to support their CH47 Chinooks. “At the moment, our biggest UK customer is Boeing,” says Mick, “All of the transmissions, drive trains and gearboxes for the UK Chinook fleet are serviced here in Almondbank.“ With ambitious plans to expand further, Vector Aerospace is actively recruiting over the coming two years. “As part of our activity we offer an accelerated apprenticeship programme, providing three places annually,” explains Mick. “We receive close to 350 applications, all of whom undergo a rigorous selection process.”

Working closely with Perth College, part of the University of Highlands and Islands, Vector’s apprentices spend the first year of their three-year programme attending the College, followed by two years of day release study based on the College’s BEng (Hons) Aircraft Engineering degree programme. Mick continues: “We need to have the correct blend of skills and experience to deliver our growth plans.”

> INFO vectoraerospace.com

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SCOTLAND: IN MICROCOSM BUSINESS TOURISM IN SCOTLAND IS MAKING A BIG SPLASH. IN 2013, IT DROVE £1.9 BILLION INTO THE ECONOMY*. *Meeting Professionals International Foundation, 2013

THE IDEAL LOCATION

The Perth City Region is an ideal location for business events.

• Perth is situated right at the heart of Scotland’s road and rail network • With 1,103 bed spaces, the city has a wide range of hotels and B&Bs to cater for the budgets of individual delegates • Perth has the highest ratio of restaurants to population of any of the Scottish cities giving ample choice to delegates and opportunities for pre- and post-conference networking • Scotland’s major international airports are both within an hour’s drive, providing excellent connectivity to the rest of the UK and beyond • Extensive choice of venues – from five to 2,250 delegates • Immediate access to one of the finest natural environments in Europe.

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20%

PROPORTION OF TOURISM EXPENDITURE IN SCOTLAND REPRESENTED

BY BUSINESS VISITORS

In July of this year, 330 of the world’s most influential event planners travelled to Scotland to attend the 2015 Meetings & Incentives Summer Forum.

That event gave this influential group – who advise on annual budget spending in excess of £640m – the opportunity to see first hand all that Scotland can offer the business tourist: a market that includes meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions.

Many of those attending took the opportunity to visit Perthshire specifically, which they discovered offers Scotland in

microcosm: with beautiful scenery, historic castles, fantastic local food and drink and a variety of outdoor activities. This area offers a fusion of traditional icons and modern style; contemporary hotels and cuisine of the highest quality blend seamlessly with history, golf and the traditional tartan, bagpipes and local whiskies.

The potential economic impact of the sector is highly significant. In 2012, conferences alone brought 20,000 delegates to Perthshire, representing £18m of direct spending. Those numbers are set to grow in the coming months, with significant investment supporting the region’s recent

FEATURE

THE EVENT FOR OUR 800 COLLEAGUES RECEIVED SUPERB FEEDBACK– WE’LL BE BACK FOR THE THIRD YEAR IN A ROW IN 2016!”

HUW ROBERTS, PETER VARDY

WWW.INVESTINPERTH.CO.UK

AUTUMN/WINTER 2015_INVEST IN PERTH

The new Comrie Croft mountain bike trail network offers a 16km network of routes with something for everyone.

high profile. (The worldwide audience for the 2014 Ryder Cup, hosted at Gleneagles, is estimated to have been more than 500 million people, with 183 countries broadcasting at least highlights of the event.)

Perthshire regularly demonstrates its credentials as a world-class conference destination and many corporate, political party, trade union and association conventions are already regular visitors.

As a destination for conferences, conventions, and incentive programmes, the area has a distinctive flexibility and it can cater for everything from small, intimate meetings to international conferences.

Perthshire’s meeting and conference venues are diverse, including historic family homes such as Scone Palace and Blair Castle; The Famous Grouse Experience in Crieff, (home to Scotland’s oldest whisky distillery); and Perth Concert Hall, which can host 1,200 delegates in the city centre.

“Our programme includes many national conferences,” says Gwilym Gibbons, Chief Executive of Horsecross Arts, which operates Perth Concert Hall. “Political parties are regular users, and Age Scotland held their first national conference here last November.

We’ve also just hosted ‘Perth III: the Mountains of Our Future Earth’, which is an international conference organised by Perth College UHI Centre for Mountain Studies.

With Perth’s central position and easy access by road and rail it really is the ideal destination for any event, including those requiring international travel links.”

A welcome addition for delegates attending city events is the new 83 bedroom Premier Inn, which opened in 2014 after

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SELECT THE INGREDIENTS YOU WANT FOR A PERFECT EVENT...

More than 50 venues across Perth City Region cater for everything from private city centre meetings to 2,250 delegate events.

Meetings: Take over a private castle for your company meeting. Use its facilities for hard work and then enjoy the grounds for some traditional country pursuits, like falconry, clay pigeon shooting or archery.

Incentive: Experience the thrill of exploring an amazing wild environment in a 4×4.

BROADER BENEFITS Business visitors spend almost twice that of leisure visitors but the benefit is bigger than direct business spend alone. Research by VisitScotland, and others, shows that significant numbers of business visitors return with their families to a city or region they first visited for a business event.

The business tourism market also extends the traditional leisure visitor peak season, with

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£1.9BN

Event: Bet on impressing your guests with a day at the races, at Perth Racecourse.

most events in spring or autumn, and the mix of leisure and business visitors is a vital blend for larger venues such as Crieff Hydro Hotel, which can cater for events with up to 600 delegates and Dunkeld House Hotel, which can host up to 400 delegates.

Renowned as an area of outstanding natural beauty, Perthshire also provides the perfect environment for incentive travel and a number of teambuilding activities. While the likes of Gleneagles and Crieff Hydro offer delegates an unparalleled choice of events and activities run by their own teams, many conference and meeting venues are working with local suppliers to arrange activities either directly or through The Perthshire Business Tourism Group. This consortium sees leading venues and service providers collaborate to

SCOTLAND’S TOURISM AND EVENTS INDUSTRY TURNOVER IN 2014

Conference: Enhance your conference with a Highland Games team building session or enjoy dinner in one of the top 100 restaurants in the world

a £5m investment by the UK’s largest hotel chain. Each bedroom features en-suite bathrooms, TV with Freeview, and WiFi internet access.

Sport can also underpin events hosted at McDiarmid Park – home to St Johnstone FC. It is a popular choice for corporate entertainment, and also offers rooms suitable for training events and meetings; while The Dewar’s Centre in Perth is host to indoor bowling and international curling and can host up to 1,000 delegates in the city centre.

Gleneagles Hotel opened its new Gleneagles Arena this year. With a maximum capacity for 2,250 guests, it is being marketed as a fantastic location for concerts, product launches, trade shows, exhibitions and conferences.

The sector is now well placed for further growth and offers an attractive proposition for investment in new accommodation and leisure-related products. Accommodation occupancy levels in the Perth City Region are consistently in line with, or slightly above, Scottish averages.

Butterstone Loch offers two large rooms, which can accommodate up to 50 people for board meetings, conferences, seminars or training sessions.

The facilities available in the region were supplemented this spring with the opening of the Gleneagles Arena.

Featuring four indoor tennis courts, the venue welcomed a sell-out crowd to an exhibition match in its first month, featuring former Wimbledon champion Pat Cash. Following an investment of £750,000 the Arena can host up to 2,250 people in a wide range of event formats, including conferences and trade shows.

As a business tourism destination, Perth offers an impressive array of venues for conferences, meetings and incentive travel: as well as Gleneagles, the area boasts Crieff Hydro, Hilton Dunkeld and major investment taking place at Taymouth Castle, to establish a luxury golf resort. Perth Concert Hall is a popular venue for political party conferences and association meetings, which is helping to grow the conference market for the city.

FEATURE

Scotland’s Deputy First Minister John Swinney backed Perthshire as a prime location set to secure a greater share of Scotland’s £1.9 billion business events industry.

The Perthshire North MSP was speaking at the launch event for Think Scotland, Think Conference, intended to bring prestigious and lucrative conferences and conventions to the region. It also featured Stephen Leckie, Crieff Hydro’s Chief Executive; Sarah Butler, from Scone Palace; and Bernadette Malone, Perth and Kinross Council’s Chief Executive. The event, in May, armed local companies with marketing tools, knowhow and support to advocate Perth’s business tourism offering.

Mr Swinney said: “We must utilise the wonderful combination of venues, facilities, natural environment and culture to further enhance Scotland’s reputation as a world-class conference destination.”

Last year, Dougie MacLean’s Amber Festival, in October, generated more than £1m for the Perthshire economy.

THINK SCOTLAND, THINK CONFERENCES

BUSINESS VISITORS SPEND ALMOST TWICE THAT OF LEISURE VISITORS BUT THE BENEFIT IS BIGGER THAN DIRECT BUSINESS SPEND ALONE.” market the area and its venues. Examples of their packages include quad-biking, highland games, whisky tasting, golf and off-road driving.

This year, for the first time, Land Rover Experience Scotland, based at Dunkeld, is organising a two-day Adventure Trek that includes wild camping. Guests are able to spend two days exploring private, unknown tracks in the Perthshire countryside.

As delegates to this year’s Meetings and Incentives Summer Forum discovered, Perthshire offers stunning venues, amazing expertise and the imagination required to create events that will pull visitors back for more!

> INFO For a list of venues in the city of Perth and Perthshire download this summary, which includes short descriptions and links: tinyurl.com/o9pge89 investinperth@pkc.gov.uk 01738 475300 investinperth.co.uk thinkscotlandconference.co.uk/region/ perth-perthshire golfperthshire.co.uk perthcity.co.uk WWW.INVESTINPERTH.CO.UK

Andrew Fairlie’s Secret Garden.

WHERE TO HOST A VINTAGE PERFORMANCE? One of the world’s top champagne houses chose Perthshire as the location for the launch of its new vintage.

The House of Krug, rated by experts as the top champagne producer in the world, hosted an exclusive summer barbecue in the Perthshire walled garden that supplies the larder of Andrew Fairlie, Gleneagles’ two Michelin-starred chef.

Olivier Krug unveiled the limited edition Krug Clos d’Ambonnay 2000 to a select gathering of top buyers and specialist dealers. Only 5,158 individually numbered bottles will be available, priced at £1,590

each and targeted at markets in the U.S., Hong Kong and Asia.

To celebrate the launch, which marks only the fourth vintage ever to have been released from the small pinot noir family vineyard near Reims, guests were treated to a lunch featuring local seasonal produce prepared by Andrew Fairlie.

Andrew Fairlie’s restaurant at Gleneagles is one of only 10 in the UK to hold the maximum individual allocation of six bottles. In April, it was declared one of the top 100 restaurants in the world by The Sunday Times.

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13

WITH GRAEME MILNE

INTERVIEW

VIRIDOR, THE UK’S NO.1 RECYCLER, IS INVESTING £1.8 BILLION ACROSS THE UK AND AIMS TO TRANSFORM WASTE AND GIVE THE WORLD’S RESOURCES NEW LIFE. IT’S WASTE ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT (WEEE) FACILITY AT PERTH – ONE OF THE COMPANY’S 329 FACILITIES ACROSS THE UK – IS ONE OF THE LARGEST AND MOST SOPHISTICATED OF ITS KIND IN EUROPE. 14 INVEST INVEST ININ PERTH_AUTUMN/WINTER PERTH_SPRING/SUMMER2015 2015

Q: HOW HAS THE WEEE MARKET GROWN SINCE THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE EU’S WEEE DIRECTIVE? A: The WEEE directive, first introduced in the UK in 2007, has transformed the eWaste market. What we’ve done as a business is to anticipate the regulations, working with government at EU, UK and Scottish levels, to apply solutions in advance.

The Scottish Government has set some of the most ambitious targets anywhere in Europe, resulting in a change in attitudes and encouraging investment in sites such as Perth.

Q: HOW ARE THESE SPECIFIC WASTE STREAMS MANAGED AT THE PLANT? A: Our process is two-fold. Number one is to responsibly and sustainably recycle any hazardous materials: whether that’s the gases from a fridge or the mercury from an LCD TV screen. We need to extract WWW.INVESTINPERTH.CO.UK

Q: W HAT HAPPENS TO THE RESULTING RECYCLATES FROM WEEE? A: It’s always impressive to see material that a few years ago would have gone to landfill now being processed as reusable raw material chips, through our £12m process. The resource recovery industry is a global sector. Depending on the material type, metals and plastics are sold on the recycled commodity market – a highly regulated industry, especially for eWaste.

We can only sell to companies licensed under the WEEE regulations. But the materials are sold in the UK and worldwide.

Q: W ITH CHANGING TECHNOLOGY, HOW DOES THE BUSINESS APPROACH R&D? A: Our UK eWaste operations have a proud history in innovation. Our Perth site remains one of the most advanced facilities in Europe. R&D and anticipating future trends is key to our business. We have to ensure we have the right facilities to manage new waste streams as they

GRAEME MILNE CV

become available. We work closely with a leading technology provider to the recycling sector, which assists in developing our new recycling lines. We also have several research partnerships with academic institutions, including Imperial College London and various UK universities. We also partner with various trade associations at EU and UK level and have a number of partnerships with electronics manufacturers. We recently hosted a visit by the global R&D team from Panasonic.

Q: WHAT IS THE NEXT TREND? A: The emergence of smaller devices, such as smartphones and tablets. As products become smaller, we need to ensure public awareness remains high about the need to recycle – just because it’s small, doesn’t mean to say it can be disposed of in the landfill bin.

We’re working with our partners across Scotland to support waste awareness. Our recent investment in flat screen technology recycling was conducted with one eye on the smartphone and tablet market – anything with a backlight can be recycled through our existing line, so we already have the facilities in place to deal with this emerging trend.

> INFO viridor.co.uk

After sales roles with Coca Cola and Guinness, Graeme joined the recycling industry in 2003, heading the sales function for a waste electrical recycler acquired

by Viridor (part of the FTSE 250 Pennon Group) in 2008.

Appointed Regional Sales Manager in 2011, Graeme manages several key national accounts and retains extensive responsibilities relating to WEEE.

His external posts include: • Industry advisor to DEFRA on UK Resource Security Action Plan • Member of BIS’s Technical Advisory Committee for PAS141 WEEE Reuse standard • Designated ‘Subject Matter Expert’ for Environmental Services Association • FEAD (European Federation of Waste Management) WEEE Expert.

SPRING/SUMMER INVEST IN PERTH_AUTUMN/WINTER 2015_INVEST IN PERTH 201515 15

INTERVIEW

Q: WHAT VOLUME OF MATERIAL IS THE SITE RESPONSIBLE FOR RECYCLING ANNUALLY? A: We have three recycling lines at Perth.

One of our largest looks after fridges, and recycles in excess of 250,000 annually.

Today, we also recycle about 150,000 cathode ray tube (CRT) TVs. At our peak we were doing about 350,000 each year, which is due to the rise in flat screen TVs. We recently invested more than £300,000 in Perth, installing a new line to manage this waste stream. It handles more than 100,000 TVs each year – a figure that is only set to grow. We see spikes of activity associated with major sporting events, as people upgrade their TVs. We also handle about 20,000 tonnes of small domestic appliances annually.

When you think an average kettle weighs about 1kg, that equates to 20 million kettles every year.

that material with a 100% focus on health and safety.

The second aim is to recover any valuable resources. In the case of printed circuit boards for example, they contain small but significant volumes of gold.

We process the first phase of the extraction process, by removing the boards themselves, before passing them on to specialist operators.

Viridor processes than 20,000 tonnes of Revenue from tourism is worth inmore excess domestic small at their Perth site each year. of £400m annually to appliances the local economy.

Q: DO YOU PARTNER WITH ANY LOCAL COMPANIES? A: We work closely with public and private sector partners. We’ve seen a marked change in how we engage with the business community, underlined by the Waste Scotland Regulations, which impacted upon Scottish businesses, big and small.

£300K

Q: WHY DOES PERTH REMAIN AN ATTRACTIVE INVESTMENT? A: Perth itself is a very good strategic fit for our business, being centrally located in the heart of Scotland. We partner with 30 of 32 local authorities across Scotland, including the Shetland Islands, Orkney and the Western Isles. Good transport links to the rest of Scotland are therefore key.

Sometimes we collect, sometimes local authorities manage logistics themselves – whatever proves the most efficient in terms of cost and carbon footprint.

We currently collect from approximately 150 Household Waste Recycling sites across Scotland. It’s a very good example of the circular economy in action – the smart use of resources; a global concept in which Scotland leads the way.

RECENT INVESTMENT INTO VIRIDOR’S PERTH FACILITY.

Q: HOW MANY PEOPLE DO YOU EMPLOY AT THE SITE? A: Our workforce in Perth is about 100 strong. We have a very loyal workforce here. We also have a flexible operating license, which permits us to operate at Perth up to 24 hours per day, to cope with periods of peak demand.

Perth is Scotland’s third fastest growing area: with a city population forecast to increase by approximately 20% over the next 15 years – some 10,000 people.

These new residents will be accommodated through a major expansion of the city’s urban area to the west, ultimately incorporating up to 5,000+ new houses and a new school.

(The city’s expanding population also reflects the fastest growing school age population in Scotland, a resource that will help sustain and build the local economy in future.)

A number of developers are already progressing plans to develop to the west of the city, and in preparation for the first section of the Cross Tay Link Road (CTLR), Perth and Kinross Council has acquired land along the A9/A85 corridor. This route will ultimately service the proposed new school at Bertha Park.

The Project is divided into four phases: • A9/A85 Junction Improvement and Link Road to Bertha Park • Cross Tay Link Road (CTLR) – connecting the A9 to the A93 at Scone, and the A94, north of the City

• Bertha Park connection road (to A9) • Associated city centre improvements These integrated measures will ensure Perth’s growth does not compromise the national trunk road network – which connects the city to more than half of Scotland’s population within an hour’s drive – and address Perth’s long-term transportation needs. Up to £40m is to be invested in the scheme, which could create up to 5,000 jobs.

The projected combined benefits to the local economy have been estimated at £500m.

Roads infrastructure manager Jillian Robinson says: “The A9/A85 junction and the new link road to Bertha Park are the first stage of a project that will support economic growth, and unlock essential housing and business land throughout the area.”

Contracts will be awarded in December 2015, with a view to work starting in early 2016.

> INFO pkc.gov.uk/perthcityplan

INFRASTRUCTURE:

NEW PHASE FOR CITY EXPANSION

THE CITY’S POPULATION IS FORECAST TO EXPAND BY 20% OVER THE NEXT 15 YEARS.”

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INVEST IN PERTH_AUTUMN/WINTER 2015

INTERNATIONAL CONNECTIONS INCREASE International passenger numbers through both Edinburgh and Glasgow airports rose this summer.

Edinburgh numbers were boosted by increased Easyjet services to Paris, Amsterdam, Milan, Nice, Berlin and Madrid and more Ryanair flights to Dublin, Rome and Barcelona.

Easyjet will introduce a new twice weekly direct flight between Glasgow and Milan, starting on 2 December.

In Glasgow, Air Canada rouge has announced a new route to Toronto that will fly three times a week from 2016.

Travel times from Perth Road (mins) Rail (mins) Aberdeen

108

Dundee

25

99 21

Dundee Airport

20

-

Edinburgh

55

105

Edinburgh Airport

45

-

Inverness

136

120

Glasgow

58

59

Glasgow Airport

75

-

Stirling

35

28

Scone Palace hosts a number of events throughout the year.

Almost 100% of business premises in Perth have access to super-fast broadband.

LIVING:

ADD IT TO THE TO-DO LIST Scone also hosted the Awesome Scottish Braves Chilli Festival in September as part of the Scottish Food and Drink Festival. This event introduced audiences to a selection of chilli products, from beer and cocktails to chilli chocolates and dips. (Visitors might also have taken the chance to explore the region’s Chocolate Trail, promoted as ‘a culinary journey into artisan confectionery’.)

Perthshire is also renowned for its adventure tourism, and the Adventure Festival in June saw Perth and Kinross Council’s Outdoor Education team

showcase an array of adventure activities and environmental sessions.

T in the Park took up residence at Strathallan Castle this July, welcoming more than 85,000 music fans, while Blair Castle welcomed back the European Eventing Championships as part of the International Horse Trails and Country Fair.

Running over four days each September, it is Scotland’s leading equestrian event and attracts in excess of 40,000 visitors.

INFRASTRUCTURE INFRASTRUCTURE&|LIVING LIVING

More than half of Scotland’s population live within a 60-minute drive of Perth, making the wider city region an outstanding choice of venue for a host of year-round events.

The Tummel and Tay Festival, in June, celebrated the finest produce of Highland Perthshire, while great food and drink were also on the menu at the GWCT Scottish Game Fair at Scone Palace, a celebration of rural Scotland. The Palace also hosted Rewind Scotland in July, with a host of performances by ‘80s bands, including Bananarama and Sister Sledge.

> INFO visitscotland.com/perthshire

FESTIVAL HITS STRIKING NOTE

50%

WWW.INVESTINPERTH.CO.UK

POPULATION WITHIN A 60-MINUTE DRIVE OF PERTH

Over the past decade, The Perthshire Amber Festival has developed from a weekend of concerts to a 10-day festival featuring high calibre musical guests from Scotland and abroad.

Last year, the event contributed well over £1m to the local economy, attracting approximately 10,000 people from 25 countries.

The event celebrates the history and culture of Perthshire and was the idea of singer/songwriter Dougie MacLean, who takes inspiration from the lochs, rivers, mountains and moors of his native Perthshire. Concerts are staged in a variety

> INFO

Perthshire Amber Festival 30 October – 8 November 2015 perthshireamber.com

of venues across the region, from village halls to historic castles and even the atmospheric Dunkeld Cathedral.

Each year, the Festival begins on the last weekend in October and gives visitors the opportunity to explore Perthshire when the autumn colours are at their most striking.

Dougie MacLean, co-founder and musical director of the festival comments: “2014 was such a busy year, with the Closing Ceremony of the Commonwealth Games, my collaboration with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and celebrating 40 years as a touring musician and we’re keen to build on that success for 2015. I am delighted with the line-up for this year’s festival, it offers a great mix of exciting new talent, traditional folk and well-known names.”

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GOOD COMPANY:

NEW OWNER’S PROMISE

ENNISMORE IS TO MAKE ‘A SIGNIFICANT INVESTMENT’ AT GLENEAGLES

The Gleneagles Hotel.

The Gleneagles® Hotel, one of the world’s premier hotels, has been purchased by Ennismore, a Londonbased private investment company. The July acquisition of the five star resort, which reported an operating profit of £2.6m from revenues of £43.5m in the year to 30 June 2014, complements Ennismore’s existing Hoxton chain of boutique hotels. The company say it will make a significant investment into “one of the world’s most prestigious and recognisable venues.”

Set within its own 850-acre estate in rural Perthshire, the luxury spa and golf resort

combines 232 bedrooms with luxury lodges and has three championship golf courses.

Most recently, it hosted the 2014 Ryder Cup at the PGA centenary course, designed by Jack Nicklaus. There are also more than 20 outdoor and indoor activities on offer for guests to enjoy.

Gleneagles can host more than 1,000 guests on site and also offers the recently opened Gleneagles Arena, Scotland’s newest conference and events space.

The hotel also has four restaurants, including Restaurant Andrew Fairlie, which is the only restaurant in Scotland with two Michelin stars.

Easily accessible by road and less than 45 minutes transfer from Edinburgh Airport, Gleneagles also boasts a dedicated train station.

Sharan Pasricha, founder and Chief Executive of Ennismore, said: “We will be proud guardians of this asset. We plan to operate Gleneagles as a standalone business to ensure that its management team can preserve the special appeal of this Scottish landmark.”

> INFO gleneagles.com ennismore.com

EXPANSION INTO CITY Serial entrepreneurs Kim and Sam Wightman have been delighted with the reaction to their latest venture, Kisa’s in Perth, which opened earlier this year, close to Perth Museum, the Playhouse Cinema and Perth Theatre in the city centre.

Sam, as head chef, has supplemented firm favourites from the duo’s other two restaurants – Le Jardin in Kinross and Café Kisa in Auchterarder – with new dishes.

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INVEST IN PERTH_AUTUMN/WINTER 2015

He says: “Scotland is renowned internationally for the outstanding quality of its fresh produce and we pride ourselves on offering a mouth-watering menu full of freshly prepared dishes.

“Finding suitable premises in Perth had long been our dream, so we were thrilled when Kisa’s eventually became a reality on 1 June.”

> INFO cafekisa.co.uk/kisas

PROPERTY:

PERTH PROVES POPULAR AS HIGH QUALITY LOCATION

BUSINESSES HERE ENJOY EASY ACCESS TO SCOTLAND’S KEY POPULATION CENTRES.” restaurants, shops, and gyms. The combined development will create more than 150 direct jobs and more than 350 construction and supply jobs.

The Mill Quarter project, which will be built on the site of the Thimblerow car park, is also expected to attract around 300,000 visitors to the city every year. Expresso Property has been selected as the preferred

developer for the site. Speaking at the launch, Nicholas Robinson of Expresso, said: “We are delighted to have been selected to create this new leisure quarter, making it an ideal location to live, relax and entertain in the heart of the City.

“We have been impressed by the support given by local government and their agencies in making things happen.

That forward thinking has been crucial in establishing the real business case for this development and we are now excited to get the project underway.”

The Mill Quarter project was secured with support from Scottish Cities Alliance, a partnership between Scotland’s seven cities and the Scottish Government.

Perth’s stunning location on the River Tay, and its strategic position at the very heart of Scotland’s road, rail and air transport networks, offers a superb location for new investment and business relocation.

Businesses based here enjoy easy access to Scotland’s key population centres and benefit from attractive land and property prices. More than half of Scotland’s population live within one hour’s drive, while Perth’s own population is projected to grow by 13% over the next decade. The area’s economic activity rate already outperforms the Scottish average, and more than £400m of investment is planned to sustain and build the regional economy.

In July, Deputy First Minister John Swinney announced a £30m development in the city, to include housing, a cinema,

> INFO For further details, please contact Kirsty Easton: keaston@pkc.gov.uk 01738 475364

HAVE YOU MET THE NEIGHBOURS?

WWW.INVESTINPERTH.CO.UK

behind Oxford University; while Aberdeen, Heriot-Watt and Glasgow universities are all among the top 20.

These four, and three other Scottish universities, are all located within an hour’s drive of Perth; as well as the renowned Hutton Institute at Invergowrie, which also undertakes commercial research contracts.

Young Company Finance, which surveyed about 2,000 firms in 2014, also found that start-ups – companies set up by university staff, students or recent graduates, but which do not use university research or technology – outnumber the creation rate for spinouts.

Universities are increasingly taking a direct stake in their spinouts, with the likes of The University of Edinburgh establishing Old College Capital, its own venture capital fund, in 2011.

In 2015, Edinburgh was listed in the QS World University rankings’ top 20, reflecting its standing today as one of the world’s leading research establishments.

GOOD COMPANY | PROPERTY

Innovation and enterprise are thriving in Scotland. The number of companies being spun out from ideas formed at Scottish universities is strongly ahead of other parts of the UK, according to a recent report.

In their annual review, Young Company Finance found that 20% of the total number of UK-registered spinouts in 2014 came from Scottish universities. London, representing the next closest ‘region’, lagged by more than 25%, at 14% of the total.

Edinburgh University was the second most prolific institution nationally, slightly

> INFO Investinperth.co.uk

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TOURISM VISITOR NUMBERS

>50%

Top attractions in 2013

of Scotland’s population live within 60 mins drive time of Perth Source: VisitScotland

TAY FOREST PARK

HERMITAGE, DUNKELD

SCONE PALACE

THE BIRNAM ARTS CENTRE

THE FAMOUS GROUSE EXPERIENCE

142,500

131,899

106,475

102,000

85,304

VISITOR EXPENDITURE

TOTAL EMPLOYMENT*

ECONOMIC IMPACT

DISTRIBUTION OF EMPLOYMENT

Transport £84 million

Transport 1,292 Accommodation £103 million

£331 MILLION

8,940 *full-time equivalent, Perth & Kinross Council

Shopping £65 million

Accommodation 2,845 Shopping 1,119

Food & drink £57 million Food & drink 1,019 Recreation £22 million

Recreation 400

Source: STEAM 2013

VISITOR NUMBERS

1.9 MILLION

JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC

134,000 109,000 161,000 128,000 191,000 201,000 239,000

A TOTAL OF 710 ACCOMMODATION ESTABLISHMENTS PROVIDED A MAXIMUM OF 20,659 BED SPACES FOR USE BY VISITORS DURING 2013.

203,000 183,000 170,000 107,000 110,000

38 ESTABLISHMENTS PROVIDE 60% OF BED SPACES IN SERVICED SECTOR.