22 October 2026
Inverurie Named Scotland’s Town of the Year 2026
It is official: Inverurie is Scotland’s Town of the Year 2026.
The national title was announced through the Scotland Loves Local Awards, recognising a town which has built momentum through a combination of a resilient business community, major destination events, strong community organisations and a willingness to work together.
Inverurie was selected from a final five which also included East Kilbride, Falkirk, Fort William and Kirkwall, with the award recognising clear vision, partnership working and tangible progress in creating vibrant, sustainable towns.
For Inverurie, however, the significance goes beyond adding another award to the trophy cabinet.
It is recognition of something which has been developing over many years: a town where established businesses continue to invest, new businesses continue to arrive, community organisations regularly turn ideas into action and major events are increasingly drawing visitors from across the North East and beyond.
Most importantly, it is an award which belongs to the town as a whole.
A business community at the heart of Inverurie
Inverurie’s business community is one of the strongest foundations beneath its success. The town continues to combine long-established and multi-generational independent businesses with newer enterprises, professional services and major national retailers.
That mix matters. Independent businesses provide much of the character and individuality that distinguishes Inverurie, while national retailers, professional services, hospitality businesses and larger employers strengthen its position as a key commercial centre for the wider Garioch and Aberdeenshire area.
The figures provide further evidence of that strength. Recent retail analysis recorded town-centre vacancy at around 4% of units and just 1% of floorspace, while longer-term monitoring has consistently identified low vacancy as one of Inverurie’s commercial strengths.
Town-centre footfall also increased by almost 10% between January 2025 and January 2026. And while physical banking provision has disappeared from many high streets across Scotland, Inverurie continues to retain four major bank branches alongside a building society.
Together, those indicators tell an important story.
People continue to come to Inverurie to shop, access services, work, meet, eat, attend events and do business. For We Are Inverurie BID, supporting that commercial environment remains central to its purpose.
Inverurie BID exists to continually promote, support and champion the businesses which make Inverurie special, while working to create the conditions in which existing businesses can thrive and new businesses want to invest.
That means promoting individual businesses and the town as a whole, providing a collective voice on issues affecting traders, supporting training and digital development, attracting funding and investment, helping deliver events and working alongside community partners on projects which improve Inverurie.
Events bringing thousands into the town
One of the clearest examples of what partnership working can achieve is Inverurie’s growing events calendar.
Working closely with Inverurie Events SCIO, with support and funding from We Are Inverurie BID alongside sponsors, businesses and volunteers, the town now hosts an annual programme which attracts thousands of people.
The Inverurie Christmas Festival has become a major fixture in the town’s calendar. The programme includes the Christmas lights switch-on and fireworks, Cairngorm Reindeer Parade, Santa Runs, Breakfast with Santa and the Christmas Tractor Run, creating activity throughout the festive period rather than concentrating everything into a single day.
Taste of Garioch has further developed Inverurie’s profile as a destination, celebrating the North East’s food and drink sector and bringing producers, traders, entertainment and visitors together in the town.
The Garioch Pipe Band Championships has similarly grown into a major cultural event, welcoming bands and spectators before culminating in the spectacle of massed pipe bands making their way through Inverurie.
These events are important celebrations for the community, but their impact also extends directly into the local economy.
Every visitor represents another opportunity for someone to discover an Inverurie business, stop for something to eat, browse the shops or return at another time.
That is why events form such an important part of the wider destination strategy: creating more reasons to come to Inverurie, more reasons to stay longer and more opportunities for businesses to benefit.
A town built on partnership
The story behind Scotland’s Town of the Year is not limited to business and events.
Much of Inverurie’s progress comes from different organisations understanding what they can achieve together. We Are Inverurie works closely with Inverurie Events, Evolving Inverurie, Inverurie Environmental Improvement, Inverurie Community Council, Inverurie Business Association and other local partners.
Those relationships can be seen throughout the town.
Inverurie Environmental Improvement’s volunteers maintain more than 180 hanging baskets alongside planters and seasonal displays, adding colour to the town centre throughout the year.
Evolving Inverurie has helped progress projects spanning community art, heritage and wider place-based development, encouraging people to become involved in Inverurie’s future.
Different organisations lead different pieces of work. Sometimes the BID provides funding or commercial support. Sometimes a community charity takes the lead. Businesses provide sponsorship, resources and expertise. Volunteers give their time.
It is that willingness to combine resources rather than work in isolation which has become one of Inverurie’s defining strengths.
Recognition for the whole town
We Are Inverurie BID Manager Derek Ritchie described the Town of the Year title as an award for Inverurie as a whole.
“There is no single project, organisation or person responsible for what Inverurie has become. It comes from businesses investing here, people choosing to shop and spend time here, volunteers giving enormous amounts of their time and organisations being willing to work together rather than separately.”
That is perhaps the most important message behind the award.
Scotland’s Town of the Year does not mean Inverurie has solved every challenge. Businesses continue to face rising costs. High streets continue to change. Investment, transport, public spaces and changing consumer habits will continue to create new pressures and opportunities.
But Inverurie has demonstrated that it has strong foundations from which to respond.
A diverse business community.
Exceptionally high occupancy.
Major events bringing thousands into the town.
Community organisations prepared to act.
Volunteers willing to contribute.
And an increasingly collaborative approach to improving the place.
That is what this award recognises. It belongs to the businesses opening their doors every morning; the people who choose to shop and spend locally; the volunteers giving evenings and weekends to events and community projects; the organisations bringing ideas forward and everyone who continues to take pride in Inverurie.
Scotland’s Town of the Year 2026 is a milestone worth celebrating. It is also another opportunity to show the rest of Scotland what Inverurie has to offer.
And, we are going to keep building on it.
