I PICKED up my uncle John from the airport the other day.

He is Greenock born and bred but moved to Canada many years ago to seek opportunity. On the way down the M8 he asked me a question which sort of threw me: “How’s Greenock getting on these days?”.

It threw me because it’s actually a hard question to answer. In some ways we’ve had a challenging few years with Covid, and well publicised job losses in the region, but also the Greenock he left in many ways no longer exists. The rising tower blocks and generational unemployment have been replaced with new housing estates and cruise liners.

I have been keeping up with a series of retrospective pieces in the Tele, reflecting on the major developments and issues which dominated headlines in past decades. The most recent entry discussed the prominent role that the electronics sector used to play in Greenock throughout the mid-90s and the role this played in mitigating longstanding issues with employment in the area.

This reminded me about how versatile Greenock’s business environment can be. Since the opening of the ocean terminal, the opportunity has never been better to welcome new visitors, attract fresh investment and boost revenue for our local businesses in Greenock.

We have seen an increase in tourist traffic with the arrival of many new cruise ships over the past month alone, from the Queen Anne making her first ever Greenock stop during a tour around the British Isles, as well as a number of international cruisers bringing along thousands of passengers from across the seas.

Our waterfront need not rely on tourism alone however, as recent news has revealed that Greenock’s container terminal will be getting a major upgrade in the form of two brand new freight cranes. It is anticipated that the arrival of these cranes will widen freight traffic from as far as Turkey and represents even more opportunities for investment into Inverclyde.

The opportunities for permanent job creation and economic regeneration throughout Inverclyde are here, should political and business leadership choose to use it.

I commit to joining politicians from all parties at all levels of government in creating a long-term development strategy to fully take advantage of Greenock’s strengths, bringing jobs and investment back to Inverclyde.