Glasgow Wholesale Market has been given formal approval for a £6.5m (€7.15m) renovation plan, which will include redevelopment and the provision of new facilities as well as potentially improving the market's organic waste recycling system.
The project, which is expected to take 16 months to complete and will be carried out on a rolling programme so as not to disrupt business, is due to begin early next year, the World Union of Wholesale Markets (WUWM) reported in its monthly newsletter.
Following the approval of the renovation, Glasgow City Council said that the investment would secure the market's future 'for years to come'.
'The market needs to be refurbished,' said Graham Wallace, managing director of City Markets (Glasgow), which runs the market on behalf of the council. 'From roofing to re-cladding, to resurfacing the trading area, we will transform the p`lace.
'We already turn over about £300m (€330.2m) of goods a year,' he added. 'There are 80 traders selling goods from all over the world here and there is huge potential.'
The 13ha site is the only inland wholesale fruit, vegetable, flower andfish market in Scotland, selling around 300,000 tonnes of fresh produceeach year, according to WUWM, and is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year.
