Scotland's first artificial surf park has been approved to include food and retail outlets and accommodation.
The developer of Wavegarden Scotland said it has been backed by planners to include the food and retail hub as well as glamping pods in its facilities that it says will transform the disused Craigpark Quarry near Ratho on the outskirts of Edinburgh into a visitor attraction.
The project will involve the installation of underwater technology that can create 1,000 waves per hour, from slow moving white water for beginners through to powerful barrels up to two metres high for experts.
Wavegarden Scotland said it expects to create up to 130 jobs and generate up to £11 million for the local economy every year.
Tartan Leisure Ltd, developers of Scotland’s first artificial surf park, Wavegarden Scotland, received planning permission today. Permission includes the HUB complex which will provide food, retail, changing and leisure facilities, together with overnight accommodation. pic.twitter.com/tif4luR2tz
— Wavegarden_scot (@wavegarden_scot) August 12, 2020
The developer said: "Tartan Leisure Ltd, developers of Scotland’s first artificial surf park, Wavegarden Scotland, received planning permission today. Permission includes the hub complex which will provide food, retail, changing and leisure facilities, together with overnight accommodation."
Wavegarden Scotland is expected to open to the public in 2022.
High street lender Natwest is set to reduce its headcount by around 550 as it slashes jobs at its branches and those of the Royal Bank of Scotland.
A spokesperson from the bank said that it was asking for staff who want to take voluntary redundancy to come forward, and promised not to force anyone out of the company.
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It said it is looking to shed 550 full-time equivalent roles.
The bank is also set to close its Regents House office in London, which has enough space for 2,500 people.
A NatWest spokesperson said: "We have to respond to changing customer behaviour and the rising customer demand for digital banking services.
"We have taken the decision to invite applications for voluntary redundancy and will support those colleagues who apply with a comprehensive support package.
"There will be no compulsory redundancy as a result of this announcement."
They added: "Our ways of working had been evolving, even before the coronavirus pandemic. We have been reviewing our London property strategy to better reflect how we will work in the future.
"As a result, we will exit Regents House, and will reconfigure our London remaining properties at 250 Bishopsgate and 440 Strand.
"As part of these changes we will be ensuring our buildings will work better for us in the future, creating spaces where colleagues can come together to collaborate and network, once we're able to do so again."
Construction firm Balfour Beatty said it had dropped into a multimillion-pound loss in the first half of the financial year as the company dealt with the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.
Loss before tax hit £26 million in the six months, from a profit of £63 million a year earlier.
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Chief executive Leo Quinn said the financial impacts of Covid were "unavoidable, but they will pass".
The company said it would look to reinstate the dividend "as soon as is appropriate".
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