City unveils vision for business hub

The city council has announced plans for a massive expansion to Edinburgh’s financial district.

The plans would see the development of a new business district on the site of the Fountain Brewery.

The land was set aside for the new Boroughmuir High last year, but council leaders have reportedly said only a fraction of land by the banks of the union canal will be needed for the school.

The 11.5 acre site, which had been home to a brewery for more than 150 years until 2005, had previously been earmarked for a new headquarters building for Bank of Scotland. But the plans were shelved when the bank had to be rescued by a tax-payer funded bailout and was taken over by the Lloyds Banking Group.

The council, which successfully bid for the plot of land in November, is to encourage the development of a new business district on a bigger chunk of the site than the one earmarked for the school as part of a drive to encourage economic recovery on major gap sites.