As the Scottish independence debate continues, we look at the opening of the Scottish parliament in 1999

Scotland archive

On the up

Scotland is frequently in the headlines ahead of next month’s referendum, as it was back in 1999 – the year the Scottish parliament was convened and when Building dedicated a special supplement to the “devolution boom”, running a feature on new retail, commercial and housing schemes.

Despite fears that devolution would hamper Scotland’s economic recovery from the early 1990s recession, the return of a Labour majority to the Scottish parliament coincided with a booming construction industry.

In property, retail rents in Edinburgh were matched in the UK only by the West End of London. Construction began on a Harvey Nichols store in Edinburgh, 3,700 homes were planned for construction around the capital, and the dockyards of Clyde near Glasgow were to be released for development. Optimism was spreading across all sectors, with privately financed initiatives at the forefront of the education market in Scotland.

Scottish law firm MacRoberts’ Lindy Patterson said at the time: “There is a new mood of confidence since the elections. Lots of development plans are being dusted down; there’s a real buzz. We’ve expanded hugely.”

To read the full article from October 1999, download the PDFs on the right

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