Putting life back in the high street, responsibly
Shops are the lifeblood of town centres. It sounds obvious, but retail regeneration campaigner Jane Wood says the idea is only just dawning on planners and policymakers.
Wood, a mother of four and probably the only ex-model ever to head a major business organisation in Scotland, is the former Boots public affairs chief who famously persuaded the pharmaceutical giant to invest £3.6m in local regeneration after its factory closure at Airdrie four years ago. She not only chairs the regeneration company Fusion Assets and sits on the councils of CBI Scotland and Edinburgh Chamber, but three months ago stepped into the chair of Essential Edinburgh, the capital's new promotional vehicle.
This month, after six years on the board of Scottish Business in the Community (SBC), she took over as the Chief Executive there too, currently on an interim basis.
