Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Academy Street: Funding boost aims to restore shine to iconic Inverness thoroughfare

Academy Street currently has a lacklustre appearance. Picture by Sandy McCook
Academy Street currently has a lacklustre appearance. Picture by Sandy McCook

Businesses in one of the most important shopping and leisure streets in the Highland capital have been offered a funding boost to improve their shopfronts.

Inverness Townscape Heritage Project (ITHP) is offering a 90% grant to help restore original designs, or create new and sympathetic  shopfronts.

It’s a boost to ITHP’s existing grant scheme, which offers 70%, and is designed to help businesses in tough economic times.

ITHP says shop improvement schemes elsewhere in the UK have returned a sense of quality to an area, subsequently increasing economic activity.

Academy Street in the old days. Picture supplied by Inverness Museum and Art Gallery and Am Baile

Billy McKechnie, general manager of Blackfriars Bar, urged other Academy Street businesses to take up the offer.

Blackfriars revamped its interior and exterior last year with help from IHTP, reopening in November.

Mr McKechnie said: “It made a major improvement to the area and beautified that side of the street.

“People who knew it before were astonished and couldn’t believe the difference.

“I would encourage other businesses to do it, as a way of helping them get out of the Covid dilemma.

“The more people that have a good-looking shopfront the more footfall everyone will get.

“It’s a really helpful tool for self-advertising, and businesses could think about doing it over these next months ready for spring.

“We’re optimistic about next year because we know there are plenty of people aiming to come here.”

The funding will be allocated on a first-come-first-served basis.

ITHP chairman councillor Jimmy Gray said: “Academy Street is one of the most historic streets in Inverness and this funding boost gives an opportunity for its businesses to restore the buildings and celebrate their history and unique character.

“I’d encourage tenants and building occupiers to take advantage of this support while it is available and find inspiration from some of our fantastic local sign-writers.”

Inverness BID manager Mike Smith said it was more important than ever to support  city centre businesses.

“I’m delighted to see the Inverness Townscape Heritage Project Shopfront Scheme boosted to help Academy Street building owners and tenants receive up to 90% of funding to improve the look of their buildings.

“Whether it is restoring the traditional signage of your business or creating a shopfront that reflects the history and heritage of the building, I hope this scheme will create a warm welcome for customers visiting Academy Street businesses.”

Those interested in applying for the grant should fill out an application form at www.academystreet.org/grants