Building Briefs – March 10th

• Duck Bay refurbishment given Barclays boost

It is the first business in the UK to benefit from the Barclays Corporate Banking ENABLE Guarantee cashback scheme which was launched at the start of the year.

Collectively known as Duck Bay Marina, the restaurant, hotel and cottages are hospitality group Cawley Hotels & Restaurants’ flagship location.

• Mackie’s of Scotland gears up for £4.5m green freezer

The creation of one of Europe’s greenest and most ambitious refrigeration systems is underway at an Aberdeenshire family farm.

Mackie’s of Scotland is heralding the arrival of the first parts of its £4.5 million project that will increase and improve its ice cream production facility and reduce its carbon footprint – as it bids to become the greenest company in Britain.

The state-of-the-art project is being brought to life after Mackie’s secured £2.05m from the Scottish Government’s Low Carbon Infrastructure Transition Programme.

The Scottish Government support, part-funded by the 2014-2020 European Regional Development Fund programme, will be matched by a significant investment of more than £2.5m by Mackie’s. It is targeting ambitious CO₂ savings of up to 80% and energy costs of 70-80%.

With just two similar systems across the UK, once it is operational later this year, it will be the first of its kind in Scotland.

• Council agrees Broxburn land sale to Aldi

West Lothian Council has agreed to sell a strip of land in Broxburn to Aldi as part of a proposed new store.

The council executive voted to sell a 964 square metre piece of land in Greendykes Road, Broxburn, to the retailer for £96,400.

The narrow grassed strip of land is between the public footpath and Aldi’s proposed development site, and the supermarket operator wishes to incorporate the land in their site for landscaping purposes.

• Ferguson Marine commits to expansion at Greenock site

Ferguson Marine (Port Glasgow) has announced it has entered into a four-year lease at one of the largest commercial properties in Greenock. This will provide the company with over 77,000 sq. ft of industrial and manufacturing space.

The letting is one of the biggest industrial site deals in Scotland this year and was facilitated by Avison Young who acted on behalf of Ferguson Marine and joint-agents Colliers, Bowman Rebecchi and Breck Sutherland who acted on behalf of the landlord, Dalglen Investments.

The warehouse, located at 2 Cartsdyke Avenue, will be used to consolidate inventory held in several warehouses near Glasgow Airport and to implement upgraded stock control processes. Work has already started to transfer stock between the two locations and two additional employees have been recruited to operate the new warehouse, which will become the delivery point for most of the equipment ordered by the yard.

• West Lothian Council to buy land at Blackridge

West Lothian Council has agreed a deal to buy a derelict site on Main Street, Blackridge

The council has agreed a £85,000 price with owners Dalmarnock Limited for the 0.14 hectare former public house site.

The site is required to provide parking and a drop-off point for the expanding Blackridge Primary School, with work due to start on a new nursery soon. 

• New park and ride for Carse of Gowrie back before council

Plans to build a new park and park and ride facility in the Carse of Gowrie could be back on track after first winning council approval more than four years ago.

The proposal for a 240-space car park and bus stop at Kinfauns was allowed in 2016 but no work has ever been carried out on the site.

The project was thrown into doubt when the Edrington Group whisky firm objected to the proposal in 2018 after it was included in the Local Development Plan.