London-based property investors have said they are more keen to invest in Scotland following a meeting in the capital with a consortium of Scottish cities seeking development partners for economy-enhancing projects.
Representatives from Edinburgh, Glasgow, Stirling, Inverness, Perth and Dundee attended the "Sitematch" event, in which they presented sites to 34 London-based property investors and developers.
The event was the first appearance outside Scotland of the Scottish Cities Alliance (SCA), a £7 million Scottish Government-supported plan to pool know-how, create "critical mass" and raise the profile of Scotland's cities in the eyes of global investors. Every delegate said the event had encouraged them to invest in Scotland.
Mike Galloway, director of city development for Dundee, said: "It's important that we see Scotland as a product in itself. There's a tendency for Scottish cities to compete with one another and we've realised we're actually in competition with other places throughout Europe.
"The event gives us a chance to co-operate to bring as much investment and development interest into Scotland as possible, so ultimately we can share the rewards."
Developers and city officers also held one-to-one meetings to discuss individual sites and other aspects of development investment. About 156 meetings took place in total.
Key investors and developers in attendance at Sitematch Scotland included RBS's investment company West Register, Henderson Global Investors, Citygrove Securities and Goodman Group.
Martin Perry, director of retail property development at Henderson Global Investors, said: "I found the opportunities and available assistance for each of the development sites in each city to be clearly presented and of interest."
Sarah Woodford, investor promotions officer for the SCA, said: "This was about using the alliance network to reach out to new investor audiences and in doing so giving our cities the opportunity to talk about the significant development that is taking place in Scotland right now. We are very much looking to create growth opportunities through the development of Cities Investment Funds."
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