Former department store on famous Scottish shopping street put on market

Fusion Group has appointed property firm JLL to sell the Sauchiehall Street site in Glasgow.

The move comes after Fusion struck a deal with M&S to acquire the landmark building, having secured planning permission to construct a mixed-use development at the site.

Fusion plans to develop 619 student beds and 9,500 square feet of new commercial space at street level via a new shopping arcade at the site, restoring a historic pedestrian route from Sauchiehall Street to Renfrew Street.

Read Scott Wright’s story here

Scottish entrepreneur sells new company to major player

Gavin Bell has sold his firm (Image: Yatter)

A Scottish entrepreneur has sold the business he founded three years ago to a major brand partner.

At the age of 30, Gavin Bell has sold his firm to an e-commerce specialist in a deal that makes it the only Shopify Plus partner agency in Scotland.

Yatter, the Edinburgh-based paid advertising agency, has been acquired by Velstar, a company that has enjoyed consistent growth since starting out in 2021, currently managing over £10 million in annual client ad spend.

A leading Scottish pay-per-click and paid social agency, Yatter has a portfolio of 60-plus clients including Loch Lomond Group and Countrywide, employing 12 people in the Scottish capital.

Read Brian Donnelly’s story here

New Scottish electric vehicle player emerges

The new vehicle has been launched (Image: Greenwheel Electric)

A Scottish renewables developer has launched a division to provide “much-needed” new capacity in the electric vehicle charging market.

Muirhall Energy has launched Greenwheel Electric, which is headed by managing director Jason McCall and has “ambitious plans” for a UK-wide roll-out of integrated charging hubs with 100%-renewable power.

Greenwheel Electric already has 30 sites under “active consideration”.

Muirhall Energy declared Mr McCall is a renewables sector specialist with more than 16 years of industry experience in large-scale infrastructure, development and investment.

Read Ian McConnell’s story here

AROUND THE GREENS

Playsport Golf looks to the future under new ownership

The series continues this week (Image: Alan Paterson) This article appears as part of Kristy Dorsey’s Around The Greens series.

Playsport Golf in East Kilbride was opened in August 2009 by the late Sandy Jones, chief executive of the PGA, and professional golfer Colin Montgomerie, who at that time was captain of Europe’s Ryder Cup team.

The wider Playsport complex was a project headed by Kilmartin Property Group which aimed to bring together various sports-based operators into a single leisure destination. The financial crisis put the brakes on these ambitions, though operators such as Playsport Golf, American Golf and Fives Football continued to trade there.

The Playsport complex was purchased in 2022 by SART Investments, the investment vehicle owned by Steve Timoney and his wife Alison.