It would be difficult to overstate the scale of the employment and economic boost to the Scottish Borders promised by Center Parcs.

The holiday village group this week revealed plans to build a 700-lodge park about three miles north of Hawick on land owned by Buccleuch Group.

And Center Parcs declared that the village, for which a planning application will be submitted next year, would create 1,200 permanent jobs.

Even in a major Scottish city, the creation of employment on this scale at a single site would be noteworthy.

And creation of 1,200 jobs in the Scottish Borders is a very big deal indeed, when you take into account the population.

In recent decades, the Scottish Borders and its economy have not had their troubles to seek.

It does not seem that long ago that the area was still reaping the benefits of large-scale textiles manufacturing, before a raft of closures and heavy job losses.

As recently as the 1990s, there were a fair number of major textiles mills.

Sadly, that is no longer the case, and people and towns in the Scottish Borders, and the area’s economy, have had to adapt.

The importance of investment to the region is something that was highlighted by Colin McKinlay, chief executive of Center Parcs, in response to my question about the likelihood of securing planning permission for the huge development his company is planning.

Mr McKinlay, noting the intention to submit the planning application for the proposed Scottish holiday village in 2025, replied: “Obviously there is a process we need to follow. The area we are looking at is within an area of strategic development looking for investment in the region and tourism specifically. We think we meet those criteria.”

It is interesting to observe in this context that Center Parcs assessed 100 potential sites across the UK before deciding that it should come to Scotland for the first time, building its seventh village near Hawick.

Center Parcs has signed an option agreement with Buccleuch Group for the land.

Read more

 

The agreement covers approximately 1,000 acres of land, comprising open grassland and some woodland. It is expected that development on the site will extend to 400 acres.

Mr McKinlay expressed hopes of “positive engagement” with the planning authorities, as he declared the proposed holiday village would be a “gamechanger economically, locally for the Scottish Borders and for Scotland”.

Homing in on the importance of a development on such a scale to the economy of the Scottish Borders, we should not lose sight of another crucial point made by Center Parcs’ chief executive.

Mr McKinlay emphasised the 1,200 jobs which Center Parcs envisages will be created would be non-seasonal, year-round posts, with the company’s villages being open every day.

In remote and rural areas, many tourism and leisure jobs are very much seasonal, so it is important to bear in mind the year-round nature of this employment when weighing its value and the knock-on benefits to the economy.

The economic benefit of 1,200 people being paid all year by Center Parcs, and having money to spend locally on goods and services, is crystal clear.

Center Parcs declared these would be “largely local jobs”. Given this is not seasonal employment, that assertion makes sense.

The holiday village company also flagged “significant career opportunities, including management positions”, and that is another important aspect of its plans in the context of the labour market in the Scottish Borders.

In terms of the boost to the economy, there would also be the prospect of many of the guests at Center Parcs’ proposed new holiday village venturing out to the surrounding countryside, villages and towns, spending money with local businesses.

Mr McKinlay noted there would be capacity for about 3,500 guests in the holiday village at any one time. That is a large number of people.

Read more

 

 

 

And, hopefully, the new holiday village will provide an overall boost to the area, in a way that helps rather than takes away from existing hospitality providers.

Center Parcs also noted that, once the village was operational, “local suppliers will be used as much as possible”. Hopefully, assuming it all goes ahead, “as much as possible” will prove to be a great amount, and this could provide another meaningful boost to the economy.

Mr McKinlay certainly seemed confident about the business case for the proposed holiday village near Hawick.

He highlighted the fact that many people in Scotland currently travelled to Center Parcs’ villages in England.

And he also noted that the company’s existing six holiday villages were “almost full”.

Mr McKinlay said: “The timing for us is almost perfect, with the existing villages being almost full, and recognising a lot of people in Scotland already go down to our villages in England.”

He added: “For us, the Scottish Borders is the ideal location. The area offers us an opportunity to go into an area where we are under-indexed in our presence.”

Center Parcs noted that between 750 and 800 people would be employed on the construction project. It said these posts would be “mainly regional” jobs and highlighted its intention to use local contractors “where possible”.

This will be another important boost to the economy, of course.

The size of the investment in the proposed new holiday village was put by Center Parcs at between £350 million and £400m, which is a very big amount obviously.

Center Parcs noted it would “plant and nurture a new forest” at the site.

And, of course, a 700-lodge holiday village does not appear overnight. The planned village would offer indoor and outdoor activities, shops, bars, restaurants, a forest spa, and an indoor water park.

Mr McKinlay noted that it takes two to two-and-a-half years to build a holiday village of that size and emphasised that this was not something upon which Center Parcs would embark until planning permission was received.

Assuming the new holiday village goes ahead, it will be a huge project.

And it looks like a very good thing indeed for a Scottish Borders economy which has most certainly not had its challenges to face in recent decades.