More than £10bn worth of investment opportunities showcased in Scottish Cities Alliance prospectus

The Scottish Cities Alliance revealed its biggest Investment Prospectus to date at the newly opened V&A Dundee highlighting the huge potential in the cities to the investor world.

The alliance, a collaboration between the cities and the Scottish Government to promote the country’s economic potential around the world, has helped to bring in more than £125 million to the Scottish economy since being set up in 2011.

Investment opportunities highlighted in the prospectus include the Clyde Gateway scheme in Glasgow, the growing Inverness Campus, Edinburgh’s Bioquarter, Aberdeen’s Queen’s Square and the Dundee Waterfront project which led to the creation of the city’s V&A.

Dundee City Council leader John Alexander, who chairs the Scottish Cities Alliance, said: “I am delighted to launch our biggest and best Investment Prospectus to date, featuring billions of pounds of potential investments across our seven cities.

“The propositions featured in the new Investment Prospectus offer investors many opportunities in a broad range of sectors to work with our vibrant and modern cities.

“By working together, Scotland’s cities are being showcased on a global stage, highlighting the fact that we have world-class resources such as one of the most highly educated workforces in Europe, competitive tax policies, a reputation for innovation and a strong international brand.

“It is testament to the work of the Alliance that we are working closely with the private sector, as evidenced by the event with Robertson today.

“As chair of the Alliance I look forward to building on the successful projects that the Alliance has already helped to deliver in Scotland and by working with all partners we can attract further significant investments from around the world to help deliver a strong future economy for a more prosperous Scotland.”

Today’s event at the V&A Dundee has been sponsored by Robertson Group.

Jonathan Guthrie, director for strategic public partnerships at Robertson, and speaker at the event, said: “Investment in cities is essential for the development of the economy and our communities.Working in hospitality, food & drink and education to residential, healthcare and commercial offices, Robertson works extensively with the Scottish Cities Alliance and its stakeholders and is committed to delivering excellence for our clients and partners.”

Alliance supporters Arup also featured at the event with associate director Ian Lumsdenspeaking about the design firm’s work in cities.

As well as the investment promotion work, the Alliance runs the Smart Cities Scotland programme, which has seen more than £24m invested in the seven cities’ smart ambitions, with £10m of that total coming from European funding.

Further projects of scale within this sector are being scoped to ensure that Scotland continues to be at the forefront of this dynamic technology and supply chain development is a very important part of this scoping.

Cabinet secretary for infrastructure, Michael Matheson, said: “I am delighted to support the work of our cities in creating a wide range of investment opportunities. By working collaboratively through the Alliance, our seven cities have demonstrated over the past year they can be highly successful in attracting international investors to Scotland.

“The new Alliance Investment Prospectus can only raise Scotland’s profile and build on that success, demonstrating once again the great investment potential Scotland’s cities can offer and their drive to succeed.”