Stirling : Scottish Cities Alliance

Stirling is perfectly positioned for businesses to take full advantage of all Scotland has to offer. Forecast by EY to have Scotland’s fastest-growing economy, Stirling has a future-focused, innovation-led economy.

Stirling is both the name of this compact 900-year-old city and its vast council area, covering 800 square miles in the Heart of Scotland. Stirling has been crowned Scotland’s culture capital and Lonely Planet it Scotland’s top destination. It is home to some of Scotland’s most iconic landmarks and landscapes and offers an enviable work/life balance, with Rightmove ranking it Scotland’s happiest place to live two years in a row.

The city is incredibly well-connected with one of Scotland’s busiest train stations and over half the population and two international airports within an hour’s commute. Yet, it comes with lower costs than many other cities.

Stirling has a strong entrepreneurial culture, with more businesses per population than the national average and higher start-up and survival rates – boosted by the University of Stirling and Forth Valley College, three incubators and collaborative business networks, including the Chamber of Commerce and city centre Business Improvement District.

Stirling has five growth sectors underpinned by cross-cutting capabilities in tech and advanced manufacturing, and building on local business, research and innovation strengths:

Creative Industries, Film and Digital Tech
Life Sciences, MedTech and Health Innovation
Built Environment, Energy and Sustainability
Food and Drink Innovation
Tourism and the Visitor Economy

Manufacturing is one of Stirling’s largest turnover-generating industries – with many businesses at the cutting-edge of their fields, attracting investment and scaling – and the city region is a leader in tech entrepreneurship and employment. Having secured the second site of the UK’s largest tech incubator CodeBase, Stirling now has one of the highest concentrations of tech employment in Scotland, as well as award-winning infrastructure, and data and AI expertise at the University of Stirling. Over half Stirling’s workforce is qualified to SCQF Level 8 (HND) or above, and its university produces world-class research which attracts global talent with over 140 nationalities represented on campus.

Stirling Council is investing to spur economic growth, including through its City Region Deal. Using Deal funding, in March 2024, a 34-acre former military site beside the city centre was transferred to Stirling Council, which then secured up to £19m from the UK Government to prime it for development. Building on Stirling’s strengths in creative industries and film, the site is now earmarked to include one of Scotland’s largest film and high-end TV studio campuses, with an operator due to be appointed imminently. Screen Scotland has said the new studio’s proximity to crew and locations will be “second to none”.

Stirling Council has an integrated Economic Development, Planning and Climate Change Service to provide coordinated support to businesses and investors, with a single point of contact through Invest in Stirling. The team offers tailored support to businesses looking to start, scale, innovate or locate in Stirling.

Cllr Susan McGill
Leader, Stirling Council

“Stirling is a fantastic place to do business. You don’t need to take our word for it: EY has forecast Stirling to have Scotland’s fastest-growing economy.

Stirling Council has long prioritised sustainable and inclusive growth, and our investments – including through our City Region Deal – are mirrored by our innovative businesses securing significant investment to scale.

Our growth sectors reflect local strengths and bold ambitions to leverage cross-cutting tech and advanced manufacturing capabilities – from medtech, agritech and aquaculture to clean heat, renewables, construction and much more.

We are forging meaningful partnerships with the public, private and third sectors. Stirling has one of the highest concentrations of creative industries employment, our university and college are recognised leaders in the field, and our flagship redevelopment of Forthside is set to include one of Scotland’s largest film studio campuses.

Stirling has been rated Scotland’s top destination and culture capital, with Stirling Castle Scotland’s second most popular paid attraction. Recent visitors surpassed our pre-pandemic peak, generating £700m, and we are now investing to create Scotland’s leading outdoors events space to attract even more.

Stirling’s compact size brings big advantages. We are agile to engage, respond and adapt to business needs, and keen to support your growth so that together we can thrive in the heart of Scotland.”

Case Studies