The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Kingdom activity picks up
It has often been said, rather tongue in cheek, that the biggest shop in Scotland is beside the A90 on the outskirts of Dunfermline.
Last month the building occupied by Amazon, sold for a reported £66.8 million, Scotland’s largest ever single-asset industrial development deal.
The building serves as a fulfilment centre for Amazon and extends to around one million sq ft of space on a lease which runs until 2031.
The decline of traditional retail shopping was already prevalent pre-Covid-19, due to cheaper online prices and faster delivery times.
Before the pandemic sent the country into lockdown earlier this y e a r, the majority of activity in the commercial property sector in Fife had been focused on small/medium workshop and commercial units in out-of-town business parks and industrial estates.
Demand for this type of space is likely to remain steady whilst demand for retail and offices – with the increase in the number of people working from home – is likely to decline, although it may be some time before the full picture of the shift in demand becomes clear.
There has been steady activity in the small commercial/industrial market including the completion of 10 new units at West Way in Hillend/ Donibristle In d u s t r i a l Estate in Dalgety Bay by Fife Council.
These units were pre-let and h av e pushed the headline rate for similar units towards £8 per sq ft.
Following on from this success, more space for small companies to grow is being created in Fife after the council granted planning permission for seven units to be built on Dunnikier Business Park in Kirkcaldy.
T he units are being created as part of the In d u s t r i a l In n o v a t i o n Investment Programme ( IIIP) – Fife’s flagship project under the £1.3 billion Edinburgh & South-East Scotland City Region Deal.
T he programme is a 15-year effort to stimulate the region’s economy and brings together the UK and Scottish governments, local councils and universities.
Fife’s IIIP aims to create 1,000 permanent jobs and nearly 600 temporary construction posts over the next few years.
Industrial premises are to be built in Dunfermline, Glenrothes, Kirkcaldy and Lochgelly, with a further two acres of land made available around Dalgety Bay and Dunfermline.