HEATHROW Airport has announced plans to build a supply chain hub in Scotland as part of its proposed £16 billion expansion plans.
Heathrow said that hundreds of people will be directly employed at the site, which will also allow many more Scottish small and medium sized enterprise (SMEs) to be involved in the expansion.
In spite of reports that the Brexit vote would delay an expected Government decision on whether Heathrow, as the preferred bidder, would be chosen over Gatwick, transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin said yesterday that airport expansion remained “one of the most important decisions for the government to take.”
Number 10 frontrunners Theresa May and Boris Johnston are opposed to a third runway at Heathrow, but airport bosses have said that if anything, Brexit makes expansion even more crucial.
The supply chain hub, the first of a series planned, will be an assembly depot for materials that will help build Heathrow’s third runway, which will be Europe’s largest private infrastructure project if plans are approved.
The plan was announced alongside six guarantees designed to build a stronger economy for Scotland, including delivering new connectivity between Scotland and the hub.
Heathrow chief executive, John Holland-Kaye, said that the Heathrow expansion would, through a wholly private investment, deliver £14 billion in growth for the Scottish economy.
“In a time of economic uncertainty, the guarantees we’ve set out represent our commitment to making Heathrow expansion deliver a stronger Scotland.”
The six-point guarantee includes increasing competition on services to Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Inverness, alongside measures to support a link to Dundee for the first time as part of £10 million committed to support new domestic routes. Up to 40 more long-haul destinations will launch from Heathrow, and the airport said this would help Scottish businesses connect with global client bases.
The Herald reported in October that Heathrow executives were in discussions with SNP ministers over how its plans could benefit Scotland. Both parties are now identifying a suitable site for the hub.
“Scotland’s airports are going from strength to strength and Heathrow complements that success – where a direct flight from Scotland isn’t available, Heathrow fills the gaps to reach the new and prosperous markets Scotland needs,” said Mr Holland-Kaye.
“Now more than ever, it’s a prize that we must seize.”
Earlier this month, Frontier Economics, an independent consultancy, reported that Scotland is losing out on an estimated £890m in trade each year as a result of capacity constraints at Heathrow.
The plans have faced fierce opposition from both politicians and the public, yet in July 2015, the Davies Commission report into airport capacity expansion found Heathrow Airport to present the strongest case, offering “the greatest strategic and economic benefits”.
Last month, Heathrow made strides in clearing the way for the Government to support its proposal by meeting and, in most cases, exceeding the conditions set out in the Airports Commission’s recommendation for its expansion – including stringent noise and air pollution targets.
Liz Cameron, chief executive, Scottish Chambers of Commerce said she would welcome the investment and that in the wake of the Brexit vote, the priority is to ensure Scotland benefits from a well-connected transport infrastructure.
“This is not the time to be continually delaying large scale investment opportunities and we urge the UK Government to make an early and final decision on expanding UK’s airport capacity,” she said.
Stuart Patrick, chief executive, Glasgow Chamber of Commerce added: “The new Scottish supply chain hub will enable businesses to access the construction supply chain and allow Heathrow to tap into skills and resources across the UK in what will be one of the country’s largest infrastructure projects ever undertaken.”
And Inglis Lyon, managing director, Highlands and Islands Airports commented that the supply chain hub plans presented an “exciting opportunity” for a range of suppliers across the length and breadth of Scotland.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here