Perth could become the hub for a major new business with the potential to grow to support towns and cities across the country.
City leaders are working hard to create Scotland’s first freight consolidation hub at Inveralmond Industrial Estate.
The groundbreaking initiative would improve air quality and reduce congestion by removing thousands of heavy goods vehicles from the streets.
Perth and Kinross Council believes the plan will bring jobs to the city and could see it become home to the national headquarters of a large and constantly developing business.
The Courier understands a number of entrepreneurs have expressed an interest in operating the scheme, which would receive support from the council and Tactran.
It would work by consolidating deliveries to a variety of city centre businesses on to one vehicle at a site on the outskirts of Perth, reducing the number entering the city centre by up to 50%.
Enterprise and infrastructure convener John Kellas believes the scheme can be a huge boon for Perth, and added: “If this develops as we hope we could see Perth become the centre of a very big new business and that is very exciting.”
Mr Kellas said: “It will not happen overnight, but the effort will be worth it given the significant gains on offer not least the creation of a significant number of jobs.”
The renewed impetus comes following the visit of representatives from the Binnenstdadservice literally the “Inner City service” which was set up six years ago in the Netherlands.
It was established by friends with a background not in logistics but in environmental work and with a will to help improve communities.
From small beginnings, with one vehicle delivering to a few shops, the business now operates in nine cities across the country and continues to grow.
Vitally for Perth and Kinross Council, interested operators and their potential clients, it has also proven itself a financial success story.
The city would benefit from reduced congestion and improved air quality through the consolidation of deliveries on to fewer, better loaded delivery vehicles.
Simple though that sounds, Mr Kellas believes residents should be excited by the prospect as it could have a marked impact on quality of life in the city.
The council has been working for years to reduce congestion and improve air quality at traffic bottlenecks such as Atholl Street and Bridgend.
Alongside the creation of a new bridge it believes the centre could make one of the most dramatic changes to the volume of vehicles on the city’s roads.
In the future, it may even be possible to introduce electric delivery vehicles.
A number of retailers have expressed initial interest and Mr Kellas is hopeful major organisations would become customers among them Perth and Kinross Council and NHS Tayside.
They would benefit from storage and warehousing facilities and the intention is that the delivery vehicles would also collect and take away recyclable materials.
Mr Kellas added: “What I like most about it is that it offers Perth the chance to lead the way in introducing a new industry to Scotland.
“There is no reason why, if we get this right, the business could not in time branch out into towns and cities across the country, with the headquarters of the business in Perth.
“It will take a bit of effort, but I believe there is now a will to make this happen.”