An evaluation of a decade long regeneration fund shows major
social, economic and environmental benefits across Scotland as
well as the creation of more than five thousand jobs.
The Scottish Partnership for Regeneration in Urban Centres
(SPRUCE) fund, originally set up using the European Regional
Development Fund (ERDF), provided commercial loans to
infrastructure and energy efficiency projects.
The evaluation found:
- SPRUCE achieved strong leverage with £425m of capital
invested from third parties through the process. The total
development cost of the projects supported exceeded £519.1m with
SPRUCE providing 26% of the total funding requirement
- The fund supported 18 urban development and energy efficiency
projects which delivered a range of social, economic and
environmental benefits across Scotland which would not have
happened in the timeframe had SPRUCE funding not been available
- More than 5,100 jobs were created
- 88 enterprises supported
- More than 100,000 square metres of business space created or
modified under the BREEAM classification
- Around 11,000 tonnes of CO2 savings delivered from Biomass
projects in Glasgow and St Andrews
SPRUCE initiatives included facilitating the major Haymarket
development in Edinburgh, as well as energy efficiency projects
such as the 40GWh Guardbridge Energy Centre project, a biomass
plant and heat distribution network developed by St. Andrews
University at Guardbridge, Fife.
On a visit to the 1 New Park Square office building in Edinburgh,
a project sponsored by Parabola and part funded by SPRUCE,
Minister for Local Government Empowerment and Planning said:
“The SPRUCE fund has created thousands of jobs and the
total project development costs of more than half a billion
pounds has delivered new infrastructure, supported the economy
and transformed our communities for the better.
“Despite operating during a very challenging period, which
covered the recovery from the financial crisis, Britain’s
departure from the EU and the COVID pandemic, it is clear that
SPRUCE contributed significantly to Scotland’s economic strategy.
“The impact of some of the projects has enabled wider
regeneration of areas which otherwise would not have happened in
the absence of SPRUCE. The Guardbridge project in St Andrews is a
good example of this.”
Richard Paton, Investment Director at Amber Infrastructure said:
“Since its inception SPRUCE has proven to be a powerful funding
tool that has addressed market failure in the availability of
bank finance for 18 significant infrastructure and energy
efficiency projects across Scotland.
“The findings of the evaluation report published today
demonstrate the significant and widespread success of the SPRUCE
fund across a variety of economic and socio-economic indicators.
“The projects funded by SPRUCE and the crowding in of private
sector equity financing to the local areas benefitting from these
interventions will continue to deliver regeneration and energy
efficiency benefits for many decades to come.”
Background
Read SPRUCE evaluation report
The SPRUCE 10 year investment period ended in November 2021 and
the SPRUCE Investment Board asked EIB to commission an evaluation
of the fund.
Until 31 December 2022, SPRUCE was managed on Ministers’ behalf
under agreement with the European Investment Bank (EIB) and Amber
Infrastructure (Amber), who were appointed by EIB to manage the
investment process. The contract with EIB was officially novated
on 31 December with Scottish Ministers replacing EIB in the
current agreements which allow the current model to continue to
operate with a service level agreement with Scottish National
Investment Bank (SNIB) for the delivery of services.
