Scottish Cities Alliance

Scotland’s cities have always harboured high ambitions and standards of boosting business and job opportunities – and the two shortlisted locations for Green Freeports that have just been announced are brilliant news for our people and for investors who want to locate here.

The Forth Green Freeport and the Inverness and Cromarty Freeport will bring benefits for the entire country, but in particular, they will bolster the economies of Edinburgh and Inverness inclusive of their respective city regions and beyond when they’re up and running.  –  Both of the shortlisted locations have common goals, particularly those around accelerating sector growth in manufacturing and innovation in addition to a shared objective of addressing the climate emergency by increasing renewable and low carbon investment to achieve net zero. 

Freeports are special areas in the UK where different economic regulations apply and tax and customs incentives are available for businesses. And they are so much more than just traditional ports. The Green Freeport designation will encourage increased trade or export activity, stimulate appropriate economic growth at designated locations in addition to supporting existing business and industrial port users to transition into modern, clean economic activities. At their core is also a lead UK Government and Scottish Government policy objective to promote regeneration and to create high-quality jobs with a linked focus on ensuring skills generation and fair work policies.

The Forth Green Freeport area includes both the City of Edinburgh and the City of Dunfermline, directly supporting Forth Ports as the lead Forth Green Freeport delivery partner. In these City locations and across their hinterland including into the Falkirk Council area, a clear focus is placed on harnessing existing and future economic assets to maximise the growth and prosperity potential for all.  Specific to Dunfermline as Scotland’s newest city, this will include maximising infrastructure investment aligned to the areas ongoing, planned strategic expansion, aligning investment funding opportunities to realise existing or future areas of employment land and building on the area’s proven success in tourism and other economic sectors such as fintech or information and communication.

The other delivery partners along the Forth corridor include Babcock International, Edinburgh Airport, INEOS, Falkirk Council and Scarborough Muir Group – all of whom aim to support the realisation of the overall Forth Green Freeport vision which is to reindustrialise the Forth as an economic corridor which delivers a just transition to net zero, up to £6billion in inward investment, increased international trade capability and an estimated 50,000 high quality, well paid jobs in addition to supporting local community regeneration.  This will occur across sites in Grangemouth, Rosyth, Leith, Burntisland and Edinburgh Airport. Proposed activities will focus on renewables, advanced manufacturing, alternative fuels, carbon capture utilisation and storage, shipbuilding, logistics and the creative industries.

And the Inverness and Cromarty Firth site aims to build a world-beating floating offshore wind manufacturing sector, with sites in the Cromarty Firth, Invergordon, Nigg, and Inverness. It expects to create up to 25,000 new jobs and attract £2.6 billion in inward investment. It will also focus on green hydrogen and creating a new innovation cluster and both Freeports are aiming to achieve net zero by 2045

The plan is part of the UK Government’s Levelling-Up strategy and the news has been welcomed by parties across the political spectrum in Scotland.

“Scotland has areas of outstanding opportunity but there are also places that can benefit from more investment to truly level up communities that have been overlooked. 

“This is a shared challenge faced by us all across the UK, which is why I’m delighted the UK and Scottish governments have collaborated to deliver two Green Freeports in Scotland, which will undoubtedly be transformative for future generations.  

“Inverness and Cromarty Firth and the Firth of Forth are fantastic areas for these new Green Freeports to set up, ensuring the benefits are felt right across Scotland. This will help to create exciting new jobs, boost business and encourage investment in the local areas and beyond.”

Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Michael Gove

Scotland’s Deputy First Minister John Swinney described the news as a “milestone achievement”. And Scottish Secretary Alister Jack said both sites will be granted up to £26m in UK Government funding “that will spark innovation, create high-quality jobs and encourage regeneration for the benefit of the whole of Scotland”.

So it’s clear that new business opportunities are sailing into view for our cities – and these benefits will be enjoyed across Scotland.