Building Briefs – May 17th

New-look whisky distillery launched in Fife

InchDairnie Distillery, a new-look malt whisky distillery, was unveiled today in Fife.

From its striking contemporary architecture and deep grey colour, to a meticulously designed whisky-making process based on five flavour innovations, InchDairnie Distillery said it “is taking a bold, forward-thinking approach to producing Scotch malt whisky, while remaining respectful of tradition”.

Founded by whisky industry veteran, Ian Palmer, the distillery is located in the outskirts of Kinglassie, Fife. The build took around 18 months and it will produce two million litres of whisky in its first year and as such, it steps away from the recent surge in ‘micro’ distilleries.

The distillery, which has created 10 new jobs, uses numerous energy-efficient production methods, all designed to enhance its quest to innovate with flavour, and allowing InchDairnie to reduce waste and save energy.

Over the coming years, InchDairnie Distillery will focus on laying down stock for the future and the creation of its first InchDairnie Single Malt Scotch whisky, which is expected to be available to consumers around 2029. In addition, the distillery will make a malt for blending to sell to other distillers such as its strategic partner MacDuff International.

Carnoustie Links plans approved

Consent has been granted for an extension to the golf centre at the historic links course in Carnoustie.

Carnoustie Golf Links Management Committee’s £4.75 million project includes a new bar and restaurant.

Addressing the full meeting of Angus Council, Links Management Committee chair Pat Sawers said the extension was “much needed” to retain Carnoustie’s status with the R&A, which organises The Open.

The Links Committee requires the permission of Angus Council, which own the links, for any alterations to its facilities and also if it plans to borrow sums of more than £200,000. It plans to take out a loan of £2.95m for the development, which would not be secured against any council asset.

Next lodges £5.4m plans for new Dundee store

High street fashion giant Next has submitted fresh plans for a new £5.4 million store in Dundee.

The company has formally applied to Dundee City Council for permission to create a home and garden store at Kingsway West Retail Park.

The company had previously applied to open a similar shop at the retail park in 2013 but that was knocked back over concerns about the impact it would have on the city centre.

But a spokesman for Next said that there were a number of new considerations that the council should take on board when looking at this latest bid.

The company claims the council’s own retail study identified significant capacity for new shopping floorspace in Dundee in the future.

Next says the development would bring 125 new jobs to Dundee.

Barrier to Montrose business park project removed

The development of a multi-million pound Montrose business park can move ahead after transport chiefs agreed to remove a condition which could have held up the project for years.

The John Lawrie Group plan for the development on the Angus town’s former airfield suffered a blow when Transport Scotland suggested a condition preventing the project going ahead until the long-awaited £24 million junction on the A90 at Laurencekirk is complete.

Transport Scotland highlighted “significant safety concerns” arising from the predicted increase of traffic through the A90/A937 junction to the business park.

Angus councillors set themselves on a collision course with Scottish Ministers after moving to delete the controversial clause.

A compromise condition has been drawn up by the Scottish Government which will require the applicant to set out a detailed programme for the phasing of work within the Charleton Road site.

Strong growth for British Land despite Brexit uncertainty

British Land, the operator of retail parks including The Fort shopping centres in Glasgow and Edinburgh, reported a 16 per cent rise in underlying profits to £363 million as demand for commercial property stayed strong in the run-up to the European Union referendum.

The FTSE-100 company, which owns or manages £20 billion of commercial and retail property and is the UK’s second-largest listed property developer, said its net asset value – the value of its assets minus its liabilities – rose 10.9 per cent to 919p per share.

Occupancy across British Land’s portfolio, which houses 1,200 different organisations from international brands to local start-ups, rose 70 basis points to 99 per cent in the year to the end of March 2016.

Investment to improve its assets continued to attract new brands and popular restaurant providers to the company’s regional and local assets, including those in Scotland.

Superglass appoints new financial director

Stirling-based Superglass Holdings PLC has appointed chartered accountant Theresa McLean as its finance director.

Ms McLean, who is currently the financial controller of the Company’s principal trading subsidiary, Superglass Insulation Limited, will take over from Chris Lea and join the Board with effect from 1 June 2016.

Chris Lea has accepted the role of Chief Financial Officer at Indigovision Group plc and will be transitioning into his new role over the coming weeks, but will remain as an executive board member until the end of June 2016.

Green light for Montrose homes

Planners have approved four homes with views towards Montrose Basin.

The Barns of Craig bid was approved by Angus Council’s development standards committee despite a failed attempt to block the development on agricultural grounds.

New Shawlands civic square is expected to get the go ahead

Plans to create a public square in the heart of Shawlands in Glasgow are likely to get the go-ahead this week.

The work, which is part of a £3.3 million scheme to regenerate the town centre, will include new lighting and CCTV.

Members of Glasgow City Council’s planning committee will be asked to approve the scheme which will transform what is presently a slip road and traffic island in front of the A-listed Langside Hals.

The new landscaped civic space will be used for events and marketing, for art installations and performances and informal seating. It could also be the location of a farmers’ market.

Work will entail 23 trees at the front, side and south of Langside Halls being felled but they will be replaced with 10 new trees.

New street lighting will be installed, the hall will be lit with feature lighting, CCTV will be included and a power supply provided for the events space.

Angus road repairs underway

A five-week programme of road improvement work got underway in Angus yesterday.

Over the course of the work, around 50km of carriageway at 36 sites will undergo surface dressing.

Depending on traffic flows, it can be up to six months before the surface achieves its final visual and structural characteristics.

Location is the key to the door for Scots when buying a home

Location is the most important factor when it comes to buying a new home, according to 88 per cent of Scottish house buyers.

As part of a YouGov survey on behalf of the Home Builders Federation (HBF), the location of a home is the highest priority for Scottish buyers, ranking higher than purchasers in England at 80 per cent and Wales (74 per cent), closely followed by the price (78 per cent) and having a garden (61 per cent).

For many house hunters, especially first time buyers in Scotland (77 per cent), saving up for a deposit is the biggest obstacle to owning a home, with the same figure (77 per cent) citing saving for a deposit as the key reason to put people off from buying.

In addition, high property prices in some parts of the country and getting a mortgage are also hurdles for 71 per cent and 60 per cent of potential home owners respectively. This is despite 69 per cent being aware of Government support, such as Help to Buy (Scotland) (71 per cent), HTB ISA (63 per cent) and shared ownership schemes (52 per cent).

The research was published to launch New Homes Week 2016, an industry-backed initiative aimed at addressing some of the misconceptions about new build homes. With 34 per cent of people polled saying they have never visited a new build or a show home and a further 18 per cent saying they hadn’t for at least 10 years, the industry faces a huge challenge engaging with the public to explain the many benefits of today’s modern, high quality new build homes.

Construction to open its doors in Scotland

CITB and Build UK are joining forces for a week of exclusive, behind-the-scenes events at some of the best building sites in Scotland.

Open Doors gives access to dozens of construction projects to inspire people to choose a career in construction and take the next steps to progress into the industry.

From future architects, bricklayers and civil engineers to front-of-house sales managers, visitors of all ages and skill sets can get on site at Open Doors events between Monday 13 and Saturday 18 June.

Projects that will be opening their doors and have availability include:

People interested in getting on site can book at opendoors.construction.