Opportunities with CruiseForth

The St Andrew Business Improvement District is teaming up with CruiseForth to unveil what it promises will be the first of many ‘business networking sessions’.

The evening seminar, 6-7.30pm at The Byre Theatre on 12th May, is free to attend and aims to guide and educate local businesses on how make the most of the growing cruise ship market.

BID Chairman, Alistair Lang, explains: “Throughout 2016, close to 100 cruise ships will visit the Forth and Tay, giving St Andrews businesses access to over 90,000 passengers and crew. It is our intention to provide our levy-paying businesses with valuable insights and information on how they can best take advantage of this growing sector.”

Now in its sixth year, CruiseForth were the 2015 winners of the Visit Scotland Thistle Awards ‘Warmest Welcome’ category and this year received the Fife Chamber of Commerce 'Excellence in Tourism Award'.

Businesses on the night will hear from Peter Wilson, CruiseForth Project Manager: “We are delighted to see BID St Andrews working in such a pro-active manner, and the more we can do to help St Andrews businesses become more ‘cruise friendly’ the better. We look forward to sharing our expertise with local businesses and answering any questions they may have.”

BID St Andrews business plan highlights ‘mentoring & leadership training’, ‘business skills & training’ and ‘business networking sessions’ as part of their delivery – all in support of those businesses and organisations who are funding the BID through the non-domestic rates’ levy.

Alistair says: “This is the first of a series of initiatives that we will be announcing over the coming weeks – a programme of delivery that the newly elected board has been working on since the BID’s formation in January.” Alistair adds: “We have a clear remit to deliver the projects that businesses highlighted as important during the 2014-15 consultation. This is the first in a series of training and educational events that will allow businesses to take part in networking opportunities. It not only demonstrates the BID’s commitment to providing support for our levy-payers but will also help us to achieve our goals of increasing visitor numbers, engagement and spend as well as awareness of the town to an ever wider audience.”

This event is free to attend – but places are limited – so booking is essential. Please complete your registration for the event by clicking the green register button at the top of this page.