Scotland's Housing Expo Boosts Local Businesses

3rd September 2010

Scotland's Housing Expo in Inverness closed this week after boosting the local businesses taking part. The Expo welcomed visitors including construction and housing professionals and families throughout August.

The event, the first of its kind in the UK, consists of 52 houses on a five hectare site at Balvonie Braes, Milton of Leys, Inverness and has run throughout August 2010.

A number of local businesses have used the Expo to promote their products, with a leading local Timber Frame Kit manufacturer believing the Expo has been an excellent opportunity for the business. RTC Timber Systems from Elgin has its products used in five houses at the Expo. Their normal timber kit is used in two houses and their innovative passive wall product is being used in a further three houses, where they also had a presence for the duration of the Expo.

Bill Beaton, Director of RTC Timber Systems, said: "The Expo has been absolutely superb, the best thing we ever did. A whole range of people have been visiting, from families to architects, construction professionals and more. Our Passive Wall system is used in five houses at the Expo and we have had a full time presence at one of the houses to explain how the system works and its advantages in saving money and energy. It has taken a huge amount of time and effort to attend over the length of the Expo but it has more than paid off."

The Passive Wall is a pre-insulated closed panel wall system which can reduce building energy consumption by up to 90 per cent.

The Expo event was developed and supported by a multi partnership Social Enterprise - Scotland's Housing Expo Ltd. The partnership comprises The Highland Council, Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE), The Scottish Government, Forestry Commission Scotland, Inverness Common Good Fund, SUST - Sustainability in Architecture, Highland Housing Alliance and Event Scotland.

Margaret McSporran of HIE, said: "Scotland's Housing Expo is an example of the very best in sustainable building design and an opportunity to showcase materials and skills found in the Highlands and Scotland. The number of visitors the expo has attracted shows the amount of interest there is in an event of this type".

Keira Orme, HIE Account Manager for RTC said "The Expo has also been a fantastic opportunity for some of HIE's account managed businesses. RTC Timber Systems from Elgin have not only held workshops showcasing their products, but have also supplied their cutting edge Passive Wall system to many of the builds on the site. It really is a success story not just in terms of attracting visitors, but promoting local businesses and skills as well."

For more information on the Scotland's Housing Expo, including the sale and rent of properties, visit www.scotlandshousingexpo.com