Kirkcaldy remains one of the fastest-growing towns in Scotland and its potential for economic growth remains strong.
That is the view of Scottish Government economist Richard Marsh, who told the Kirkcaldy business community the town centre has to carefully manage its future and aim high if it is to overcome the widespread challenges facing all towns.
In the Kirkcaldy4All annual report, it was revealed the town has a higher turnover than that of Falkirk and Dunfermline. Its 700 businesses generated a turnover in 2013 of £563 million.
That is higher than Dunfermline, which produced £469m with 75 more businesses, and it beats the £497m in Falkirk.
Now, having come through the recession, Mr Marsh, who is an economist, elected fellow of the Royal Statistical Society and a member of a Scottish Government expert group advising on economic modelling and statistics, believes Kirkcaldy can build on this for a potentially bright future.
Speaking to members of the business community at the latest Kirkcaldy4All meeting, he said: “If we were going to produce a report card, what would we say about Kirkcaldy? One thing that’s interesting is that Kirkcaldy is actually one of the fastest-growing towns and cities in the whole of Scotland.
“If you look at the latest data, the population over the last 10 years has expanded at around twice the speed of Dundee and eight times the speed of Dunfermline.
“Kirkcaldy has added around 300 people in each year over the last 10 years, which doesn’t seem a lot but it’s significant.
“Kirkcaldy is also projected to be one of the fastest-growing towns in Scotland. We are actually the largest town centre economy in the whole of Fife. Looking at the sales made in the town centres, Kirkcaldy turns over more than Dunfermline and is substantially more ahead than other towns of a similar size.”
Mr Marsh said the challenges are evident. Retail parks and online trade are a direct challenge to high street sales. Fewer local authority workers and fewer local authority offices in the centre also mean there is likely to be a lower footfall from workers.
But while Scotland has just recovered from one of the deepest and longest recessions ever, and the economy will probably never be quite the same again, he said Kirkcaldy is in a stronger position than many to achieve potential growth.
He added: “All towns in Scotland have experienced similar problems but not all towns have similar potential. Kirkcaldy is in a good position.”
Kirkcaldy4All manager Bill Harvey said he is pleased with the progress but there is still a lot of work to be done.
He said the BID faces a tough challenge in changing attitudes towards Kirkcaldy, which he describes as “vibrant”. While expectations have to be managed, he said the two biggest jobs are to change Kirkcaldy residents’ perception of the town and establish better lines of communication.
He said the key strands to Kirkcaldy’s ambitions had been identified as iconic tourism.
This includes building on the philosophy and achievements of Kirkcaldy-born economist Adam Smith, developing the town centre into quarters eg merchants’ quarter with independent, niche shops, development of the Esplanade area with more parking and a series of leisure developments to attract people into the town centre, and the acquisition of funds.