BUSINESS INSIGHT: This helps Inverness avoid looking like an identikit town
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
For the last couple of years we’ve had a new treat to enjoy in Inverness. Every month on a Saturday there’s a group of food trucks that appear on the river bank beside Inverness Cathedral. It’s a brilliant scheme that is organised by the Highland Food and Drink Trail (HFDT).
On bright sunny days there are sometimes hundreds of people there and a real community feeling.
All the food providers are local companies, so not only does it provide customers with some really interesting food, it also helps Inverness avoid looking like an identikit town as you won’t find these same providers in other UK cities.
But the trail doesn’t stop there. They also run one of the units in the Victorian Market where they offer temporary space to young catering businesses.
The new Victorian Market food and drink court is, in my view, one of the best ideas Highland Council have come up with.
It has a great relaxed atmosphere and combines one of Inverness’s unique buildings with some of our unique businesses – Bad Girl Bakery, Redshank, Sushi Inverness, Salt N Fire and Moonshine. Again helping us stand out from other cities.
But unfortunately, over a year after it opened, there are still a number of empty units in the market and this is where the food and drink trail unit has an important part to play. At its simplest, the temporary unit gives customers an extra, and changing, option at the market. But more importantly this year-round combination of indoor and outdoor venues allows HFDT to help new businesses develop from the “trestle table” stage to becoming tenants of their own premises.
Highland Council have long understood the importance of an incubation unit in the market, and have supported it with generous terms, allowing these new businesses, chefs from surrounding cities and celebrity chefs to make an appearance in Inverness city centre. Some of the temporary occupants of the food trail’s unit have gone on to rent units or shops on a full-time basis.
For as long as there are several empty units in the market and across the city centre, this is an enlightened policy that is helping young local businesses, and also has the potential to help revive our city centre. Long may it continue.
Colin Marr is chief executive of Inverness Chamber of Commerce.
