ETZ launches £2.5m Aberdeen industrial property improvement fund

ETZ Ltd and Scottish Enterprise have launched a £2.5 million Property Improvement Fund for vacant and underutilised industrial premises across Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire, offering support of up to £500,000 per project and covering no more than 30% of eligible costs.

Delivered by ETZ and funded by Scottish Enterprise, the scheme tackles a specific bottleneck: high refurbishment costs can prevent older industrial properties from being upgraded and limit businesses’ ability to grow. It helps owners put existing buildings back to work rather than finance every upgrade alone.

What does the fund change for industrial property owners?

Applicants can use support to improve existing industrial property with potential to house businesses operating in, or supplying, energy transition markets. The eligibility test links the scheme’s money to a defined industrial use, not simply refurbishment at any occupied or vacant site.

At the stated ceiling, the fund meets 30% of eligible costs and leaves at least 70% outside the scheme. That leaves the central commercial test unchanged: a project needs a credible route to an occupier and enough capital to complete the work.

Eligible work covers:

• Building performance
• Low-carbon energy and heating systems
• Landscaping
• Accessibility and wellbeing measures
• Energy audits and carbon assessments

Applications will be assessed against four factors:

• Economic impact
• Private investment
• Occupier demand
• Carbon performance

Delivery is the first filter. ETZ says priority goes to projects that can return vacant or underused floorspace to productive use, secure new or growing occupiers, support jobs and enable companies to diversify into energy transition markets.

Neil Young, deputy chief executive of ETZ Ltd, said: “The Property Improvement Fund has already shown what targeted investment can achieve. It has helped bring long-vacant industrial buildings back into use, improve existing premises and create space for businesses to grow.”

He added: “This £2.5m fund will support projects across Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire. We want to hear from applicants with strong, deliverable proposals that can revitalise industrial property and help grow the region’s energy transition supply chain.”

What the 2024 pilot established

The new fund forms part of a wider strategic partnership announced by ETZ and Scottish Enterprise earlier this year. The partnership aims to create more business-ready industrial space and build on the success of a 2024 ETZ pilot.

In 2024, ETZ awarded £1.56 million to seven projects in Altens and East Tullos. Those awards unlocked more than £5.3 million in total investment, including nearly £4 million from the private sector. The projects are expected to support up to 100 jobs.

Two recipients show how the funding connects property improvement with industrial expansion:

• AJT Engineering used the support to establish a new renewables division and recruit staff.
• Air Liquide’s project supported expansion into low-carbon markets and associated employment opportunities.

For property owners, the mechanism is straightforward: scheme support reduces part of the refurbishment bill, while the assessment process tests whether private capital and genuine occupier demand exist. For businesses, the fund opens a path into improved industrial premises and room to expand.

For ETZ and Scottish Enterprise, the commercial test is whether public support can return dormant floor space to productive use without losing sight of occupier demand. The 2024 pilot provided the benchmark, with seven projects, nearly £4 million of private investment and jobs expected from work still ahead.

The next awards will show whether the £2.5 million round can repeat that conversion of public support into private capital, jobs and productive floorspace, with deliverability and occupier demand determining which proposals proceed.