Peterhead Business Forum - Peterhead profile

Supporting Northeast Businesses

Peterhead profile

Peterhead has a relatively diverse economy, including food processing, textiles, service industries and, importantly, fishing. Peterhead was founded by the Keith Earls Marischals in 1587, and was developed as a planned settlement. In 1593 the construction of Peterhead's first harbour, Port Henry, established a base for trade and safety which has grown into Europe's premier white fish landing port. Fish, with a value of over £100 million are now landed at Peterhead, making it the largest grossing white fish and pelagic fishing port in Europe.
A new phase of growth was initiated in the 1970s with Peterhead becoming a major oil industry service centre, and the completion of the nearby St Fergus gas terminal. At this time, considerable land holdings were allocated for industrial development.

Population:

POPULATION	2001		2006		2011		2016
	17,952	17,561		17,873		18,230
Source: Aberdeenshire Council Small Area Population Estimates and Forecasts 2007 (www.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/statistics)

Housing:

HOUSING					2001		2006		% Change 2001-2006
Housing Stock					7,407		7,767		4.9
Recent Completions	2001		2002		2003		2004		2005		2006
	179	106		27		47		30		60
Future Development	2007		2008		2009		2010		2011		2012
	112	115		96		51		60		60
Source: Aberdeenshire Council Housing Schedules 2007 (www.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/statistics)

Industry:
Recent years has seen the following developments in Peterhead:
B&Q opening a store on the southern approach to the town
New retail park planned for the former woollen mill site at Kirktown
Woollen mill to embark on a new purpose built facility at Longside aerodrome
Freshcatch Ltd. intend building a new cold storage facility at their harbour-side processing facility
Peterhead Port Authority to embark on phase one of a new quay development to provide extra facilities for the growing pelagic fish landings and to ease congestion for the steady flow of diving support vessels, which accounted for 200 vessel movements during 2006

INDUSTRY	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006
Completions (Hectares) on Zoned Land	2.0	1.53	1.25	0.71	4.99	0.0
Source: Aberdeenshire Council Employment Land Audit 2007 (www.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/statistics)

Main Employers:

MAIN EMPLOYERS
Aberdeenshire Council	Ken Cassells Ltd		Scottish Prison Service
Alex Buchan Ltd	NHS Grampian		Stagecoach Bluebird
ASCO Plc	P Scrogie Ltd		Strachans Ltd
Dales Engineering Ltd	Precision Powertrain (UK) Ltd
Fresh Catch Ltd		Score Group Plc

Average Earnings:

AVERAGE EARNINGS	Peterhead		Aberdeenshire
£30,967		£35,242
Source: CACI 2006 Data Based on Households by Postcode (www.caci.co.uk)

Unemployment:

UNEMPLOYMENT (2006 Average)	Male	Female	Total	Rate
Peterhead	168	82	250	2.6
Aberdeenshire	1,022	429	1,451	1.0
Scotland	67,348	22,409	89,747	2.8
Source: National Statistics (NOMIS) (www.nomisweb.co.uk). Peterhead defined as 2003 CAS (Census Area Statistics) Wards of Blackhouse, Buchanhaven, Peterhead Central-Roanheads, Clerkhill and Dales-Towerhill.

Travel to work:

TRAVEL TO WORK - Workplace of Residents	% of Total Residents Aged 16-74 Excluding Students
Aberdeen City	14.6
Source: General Register Office for Scotland (GROS) (www.gro-scotland.gov.uk). Figures produced in 2006 but based on the 2001 Census. Peterhead defined as 2001 ST (Standard Table) Wards of Blackhouse, Buchanhaven, Peterhead Central-Roanheads, Clerkhill and Dales-Towerhill.

School rolls:

SCHOOL ROLLS	2006 Roll	Capacity	SCHOOL ROLLS (continued)	2006 Roll	Capacity
Buchanhaven Primary	379	430	Burnhaven Primary	93	47
Peterhead Central	183	207	Dales Park Primary	169	270
Clerkhill Primary	381	490	Peterhead Academy	1,353	1,705
Meethill Primary		223		270
Source: Aberdeenshire Council School Roll Forecasts (2006-based, published April 2007) (www.aberdeenshire.gov.uk)

Tourism:

MAJOR TOURIST ATTRACTIONS	Number of Visitors (2006)
Arbuthnot Museum	4,608
Peterhead Maritime Heritage	2,918
Source: Scotland Visitor Attraction Monitor 2006, VisitScotland (www.visitscotland.com) Note: Some attractions are only open seasonally.

In an effort to rekindle Peterhead's historic status as a centre for tourism, Peterhead Tourism Initiative and Buchan Tourism Group are working on various combined initiatives to promote the area to the world. These include:
A new brochure
A new website
Regular high profile representation on board visiting cruise ships
Enhancement of existing attractions
Measures to improve the town's physical attractiveness and signage
Improved marketing and promotion

Although tourism is a small contributor to the Buchan economy, it has a natural asset in its spectacular coastline. Visitor attractions include Aden Country Park and Aberdeenshire Farming Museum, Maud Railway Museum, Arbuthnot Museum and the Abbey of Deer. The port of Peterhead also now receives cruise liners. The Aberdeenshire Towns Programme will enhance the appeal of Peterhead's historic built heritage, which includes two conservation areas of outstanding architectural value. The leisure tourism product includes the Formartine and Buchan Way and golf at Cruden Bay. Click here for a comprehensive list of the area's visitor attractions.