Lochaber Chamber of Commerce usually shares stories of our members’ business successes, but in this edition of Business Scotland, we’d like to shed some light on the transport challenges businesses in Lochaber face, and the impact this has on the Scottish economy.
Lochaber Chamber of Commerce recently spearheaded a campaign that called on the Scottish and UK Governments and Transport Scotland to take urgent action on the chronic traffic congestion in Fort William that has been strangling our businesses and community for years.
A member-led campaign
Our awareness-raising campaign saw Lochaber’s traffic issues hit the Scottish TV news, and most major news outlets and publications, who covered the story and shared the video we had produced by one of our member businesses, Aeon Creative. Targeted social media raised awareness even further, and we were pleased to take action to support and amplify the voices of our business community.
Urgent action needed
Traffic congestion in and around Fort William is at crisis point. With no resilience and with no indication of any steps to address the serious issues that have a stranglehold on the growth and effectiveness of Lochaber businesses, Lochaber Chamber of Commerce are calling for urgent action to be taken by the Scottish and UK Governments and Transport Scotland.
Listen to business
Frazer Coupland, CEO of Lochaber Chamber of Commerce, has a simple request of the Scottish Government: “Engage with our business communities, and create a plan for the road network that Fort William needs and deserves.
“The west highlands urgently need a road network that is fit for purpose. Over the last six years alone, Lochaber Chamber of Commerce has held meetings with three different Transport Ministers from the Scottish Government. The issues remain.”
Major companies calling for change
As well as being one of the UK’s top visitor destinations thanks to its iconic landscape and history, Lochaber is also home to major UK industries that rely on the local road infrastructure to bring in materials and to transport products to market.
Major businesses, which include BSW Timber, Ferguson Transport & Shipping and MOWI, have been crying out for help to improve transport infrastructure for years.
The state-of-the-art BSW Timber sawmill on the outskirts of Fort William is set up to produce vastly more timber than it currently does. The 0.5 million tonne input could potentially almost double, but growth is hampered by the inability to get the raw materials to site.
The Scottish salmon sector is the largest food export in the UK. Around 40% of exports for overseas markets leave from Fort William.
Scott Nolan, Sales & Operations Director of MOWI Scotland, said: “During peak summer months the most challenging part of the journey to market for our product is getting through Fort William. Delays leaving the area can lead to missed connections and unnecessary delays.”
Alasdair Ferguson, Group MD of Ferguson Transport & Shipping has been dealing with the challenge of poor infrastructure for decades. He cites the condition and the dimensions of the A82 along with the congestion through Fort William as the biggest constraint on their business. He said: “We do not have fit-for-purpose infrastructure to deal with the volume or the scale of traffic.”
Huge growth on the horizon
Frazer Coupland added: “Fort William is and continues to be a great place for businesses to operate. Major employers are looking to grow locally including SSE Renewables who have proposed the Coire Glas Pumped Hydro Storage Scheme, the largest engineering project in the Highlands for 80 years, near Fort William.”
But after years of pressing for improved transport infrastructure, Frazer Coupland is frustrated with the lack of progress, saying:
“Governments often speak of integrated transport plans and resilience strategies, but what’s lacking is meaningful dialogue with the businesses that drive economic growth.
Transport affects every business and every person in Fort William and the wider west highland area, and Lochaber urgently needs investment in its road network to help the Scottish economy grow and prosper.”
At the time of writing, Lochaber Chamber of Commerce had yet to hear from those with the power to take action in response to our transport campaign, but we hope to be able to update the Chamber network with some good news soon. If you’d like to see the situation for yourself, search ‘Lochaber Transport Issues 2024’ on youtube.com
