Colin Smyth MSP
The new Annan Solutions Team which is set to open its doors on Friday 22nd March has received Parliamentary praise from South Scotland Labour MSP Colin Smyth.
Colin Smyth has laid a motion down to Parliament welcoming the opening of the Solutions Team at their new office premises at Annan Business Park on Stapleton Road. The Solutions Team has been set up as a result of funding secured by Dumfries and Galloway Council from the South of Scotland Economic Partnership (SOSEP) in response to Young’s Seafood closing their Pinneys Factory in the town.
The Solutions Team will work to develop potential business sites in and around Annan to attract new businesses, work with local businesses and enterprises to grow and draw up an Economic Action Plan.
Colin Smyth this week repeated his call for an Economic Action Plan, backed by £10million of investment to recover all the jobs lost from the closure of Pinneys and grow the economy for the future.
Colin Smyth said, “The closure of Pinneys devastated the economy of Annan, however, the community has remained strong and have not given up the fight to see jobs returning and created in the town. The news this week of Pinneys being sold to Bhagat Holdings is welcome but it will only create a fraction of the jobs that existed at Pinneys.
It will take time to see all of the jobs lost at Pinneys replaced, but it is important that investment is made in Annan and the surrounding area to grow and strengthen the local economy. The new Solutions Team will place a vital role in that, in particular, by developing an Economic Action Plan that will develop initiatives and projects that will help to create jobs and grow the local economy.”