The South of Scotland has a significant pipeline of investment and development opportunities with the potential to generate jobs, attract investment and support long-term economic transformation.

To understand the scale of this opportunity, South of Scotland Enterprise (SOSE) commissioned GC Insight, working with strategic partners including Dumfries and Galloway Council, Scottish Borders Council, the South of Scotland Regional Economic Partnership and Skills Development Scotland, to identify the Regional Transformational Opportunities (RTOs) with the greatest potential to transform the South of Scotland economy. The study is GC Insight’s third Regional Transformational Opportunities commission, building on our growing track record in assessing the opportunities that can transform regional economies.

Our Role:

Working with SOSE and regional partners, GC Insight developed a comprehensive evidence base to identify, assess and quantify transformational opportunities across the South of Scotland. Through the project, we:

• Undertook a comprehensive review of regional data, strategies and wider evidence to understand the strategic context and opportunities for growth.
• Engaged public sector stakeholders, sector leads and regional partners through consultations, workshops and wider engagement to identify and test emerging opportunities.
• Mapped the pipeline of major development and investment opportunities across eight key sectors and thematic areas of strategic importance to the South of Scotland economy, considering projects of regional and national significance alongside opportunities capable of generating a cumulative transformational impact.
• Developed a bespoke economic impact assessment to estimate the potential investment, employment and Gross Value Added (GVA) associated with the identified pipeline.
• Assessed the workforce and skills requirements arising from future development and the implications for labour demand across the South of Scotland.
• Examined how opportunities aligned with key regional and national strategies, including the Regional Economic Strategy, Borderlands Inclusive Growth Deal and Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region Deal.
• Identified the critical enablers and barriers affecting delivery and established priorities for action to help partners unlock the region’s transformational potential.

Outcome:

The research provides SOSE and its partners with an evidence-led assessment of the investment and development opportunities capable of driving significant economic change across Dumfries and Galloway and the Scottish Borders. It brings together the potential economic impacts, workforce and skills implications, strategic fit, and the enabling actions required to support delivery.

The work provides a framework for partners to understand the scale and potential of the regional opportunity pipeline and prioritise coordinated action to address barriers and help unlock investment, employment and wider economic benefits across the South of Scotland. As part of this, GC Insight provided cross-sectoral considerations and priority actions to support the future development of this exciting pipeline of investment in the region.

Find out more and access the Regional Transformational Opportunities in the South of Scotland report.