Former Rangers directors Sandy and James Easdale have been granted planning approval from Inverclyde Council for a £2 million food-and-drink drive-through development in Port Glasgow.
The development will replace the former Department for Work & Pensions building at the corner of Scarlow Street and Greenock Road, “creating a mixture of between 40 and 50 full and part-time jobs”, a spokesman noted.
The new facility is one of around 25 drive-through sites planned by the Easdale family across the UK in the coming years.
It will be the second drive-through development to be launched in Inverclyde by the Easdale brothers.
READ MORE: Ian McConnell: Hunt picture of economic mastery at odds with reality
Baker Greggs is due to open soon at the Easdales’ first facility, a £1.5m development on land beside the A8 into Greenock town centre.
The spokesman for the brothers said the latest development would be for a “fast-food or coffee operator”.
James Easdale said: “There is huge demand for drive-throughs across the UK, with British consumers estimated to be spending almost £3 billion per annum in these outlets according to market research.
READ MORE: Ian McConnell: Labour leader sounds whole lot like he thinks Scotland is independent
“International food and drink retailers are competing heavily for these sites, with an estimated 2,500 drive-through locations across Britain and consumer demand rising substantially since the pandemic. These businesses do have strict criteria that they are looking for when selecting sites, however, and it is important that we are able to provide an attractive overall proposition that works for them.”
He added: “The new facility in Port Glasgow will not only rejuvenate the site but also create construction jobs during the build phases but also 40 to 50 full and part-time roles once opened.
“We are pleased to be getting sites operational in our home region of Inverclyde but we have plans to capitalise on this burgeoning market throughout Scotland and the rest of the UK.”
READ MORE: Brexit: Bizarre Tory denials on food shortages amid turnip cherishing
Earlier this month, James and Sandy Easdale were also successful with their bid to secure planning permission for 450 houses in their proposed £250m redevelopment of the 70-acre former IBM site in Greenock.
James Easdale said: "We are keen to invest whenever the opportunity arises and we have a pipeline of projects coming up during 2023. Whilst some view property and construction as just bricks and mortar, we believe it is important in enhancing the future of local communities and the prosperity of the wider economy."
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 hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel