Scottish Government gives Glasgow £1.95m to help city centre recovery

Glasgow has been awarded £1.95 million by the Scottish Government to help its recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.
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The new funding, announced by the co-chair of Glasgow’s City Centre Task Force, Stuart Patrick, will be used to support Glasgow’s recovery as it looks to drive footfall back into the city following the pandemic.

The City Centre Task Force and Glasgow City Council will now work together to invest the funding within improvements across Glasgow.

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An investment in city centre operations will see funding going towards the overall look and feel of Glasgow, with funding used for improving general cleanliness across the city centre, removing graffiti, and preventing anti-social behaviour with additional Police Scotland resource.

Likewise, city centre businesses are to benefit from an outdoor area subsidy, while an action plan will look to bring visitors back into the city with steps including public transport discounts, work to activate vacant premises and plans for small events across the city.

The plan will benefit Glasgow and the surrounding areas.The plan will benefit Glasgow and the surrounding areas.
The plan will benefit Glasgow and the surrounding areas.

Glasgow will also benefit from a visitor campaign that will look to encourage footfall from consumers both locally and further afield to enjoy the city centre’s retail, hospitality, and leisure offerings.

Through strategy planning, the funding will be used to review Glasgow’s retail offering and the impact of the pandemic, setting out a development vision and a framework for the city’s style mile area.

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Stuart Patrick, chief executive of Glasgow Chamber of Commerce, said: “Funding from the Scottish Government to support city centre recovery is very welcome news – we all know that Glasgow city centre has suffered badly from the pandemic and businesses will be keen to see footfall return.

“The Centre for Cities high street tracker shows that Glasgow’s footfall is still well below its pre-pandemic levels, leaving the city centre in the bottom ten for recovery out of the 60 UK towns and cities being monitored, while official data suggests that city centre retail vacancies have very nearly doubled since the pandemic began but that understates the impact.

“These new funds will not only help improve the centre’s look and feel but will actively support a marketing campaign to draw consumers back to enjoy our retail, hospitality and leisure offerings. We will also continue to support the work of the City Centre Taskforce in finding new uses for so many of the shop units and older offices that are now vacant.

“It is very encouraging to see investment to take forward the recommendations of the Commercial Property Repurposing Strategy including funding allocated to the area masterplanning for Sauchiehall St, Argyle St and Buchanan St announced in January.

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“This is good news for Glasgow and arrives on the back of the City Centre Task Force report published last week, recognising the importance of cities and acknowledging key issues faced including lack of footfall due to work from home guidance. The funding will bring much needed relief for businesses operating in the city centre.”

Anne Ledgerwood, centre director at St Enoch Centre and deputy president of Glasgow Chamber of Commerce, said: “We are delighted to hear of the funding being offered by Scottish Government, following two years that have been incredibly challenging for Glasgow city centre.

“We hope that the funding provides a necessary boost to businesses and brings life back to Glasgow’s city centre.

“As we have emerged from lockdown with our own retail, leisure and restaurant developments coming to life, we have seen many customers enjoy the great variety of experiences that the City Centre has to offer, and this welcome investment will ensure a positive recovery for the local community as we move forward.”

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