Local business leaders have been warned not to leave it too late if they want to maximise economic benefit from the arrival of the V&A design museum on the Tay.
The £45 million centrepiece to Dundee’s £1 billion waterfront redevelopment is not due to open its doors for another three years, but Dundee and Angus Chamber of Commerce president Jim Pickett said local businesses need to start preparing now.
At DACC’s general meeting in Dundee, Mr Pickett said the maximum economic benefit from the V&A would only be obtained by firms anticipating the upturn in business and positioning themselves accordingly.
“The challenge will be to ensure that businesses already well established here are geared up to fully participate from the change and improvement going on all around them,” Mr Pickett said.
“Effective planning and engagement will be important so that all parts of the business community can benefit.
“There is a real buzz of optimism in the region at Dundee being shortlisted as the only Scottish city still in the running for UK City of Culture 2017. It is a huge boost for business and citizens alike.
“In the still challenging current financial climate, all cities face challenges but Dundee seems supercharged with renewed passion, energy, enthusiasm and, most important of all, a tangible sense of common purpose.
“We expect significant opportunities for economic growth and jobs as Dundee and Angus moves from being a primarily business tourism destination to also become a major Scottish player in leisure tourism.
“Estimates suggest the V&A in Dundee will attract more than 300,000 visitors annually, providing an enormous boost to the local economy.”
Mr Pickett said while tourism in the region would receive a lift from the V&A, analysis of the experience in other cities where landmark new buildings such as the V&A had been constructed had shown the economic benefit to be broad based.
He said: “It showed very clearly that, while tourism got a major and sustained boost, the even greater impact was in other business sectors that seemed to benefit from an almost halo-like effect of inward investment, boosted business confidence and new learning, research and development.
“The whole of the wider city region extending into Angus, north-east Fife and Perthshire stands to benefit.”
Around 100 members of DACC attended the event at the Invercarse Hotel, the first general meeting since new chief executive Sandra Burke took over at the helm of the organisation in April.
Mrs Burke paid tribute to the work of her predecessor Alan Mitchell and said she hoped to build on the successful platform he had put in place and increase membership from around 440 currently.
She presided over the directorial nominations which saw Alison Henderson, David Valentine and Dougy Agnew returned to their positions alongside Mr Pickett, with two new faces added with the adoption of Apex Hotel general manager Stuart Grant and Dundee Industrial Heritage’s Mark Munsie on to the DACC board.