Marie Macklin, a businesswoman from Kilmarnock, played a pivotal role in saving the Johnnie Walker bottling plant in 2009, campaigning to prevent the closure of the factory and 700 jobs. Now, she is leading the regeneration of the site as part of her £95m HALO development plan which involves building 210 homes, a leisure centre, skatepark and a “vertical farm”. Growing up on an estate in nearby Onthank, she recalls her father’s construction company while her mother was a hosiery worker. Macklin’s father’s company went on to merge with her property development business, The Klin Group, which acquired the site for £1.
Macklin’s initial success came in 2004 when she secured permission to build a Morrisons supermarket which helped her thrive in the tough property development market. “Because they’re very difficult to develop and you don’t get grants,” Macklin claims that getting the class one food retail consent gave her the necessary cash to reinvest in other old buildings and has developed the HALO Digital, Cyber and Innovation Park. It features a smart business hub and a new £50 million Ayrshire College, with a second phase that will include skate parks and smart homes.
After being diagnosed with dyslexia at 30, Macklin used her experience to make a difference to her community, helping those children who struggle with learning difficulties. The businessman hopes that the Kilmarnock development could be concluded within three years. There are plans to build three more HALO sites across the UK, with the project ultimately rolling out internationally.
Macklin was awarded a CBE in the Queen’s 2014 New Year’s Honours List for her contribution to economic regeneration and entrepreneurship in Scotland. “Why should our kids here not reap the benefits that other kids get in big major cities?” she asks as she aims to develop higher-paying jobs on the site where Johnnie Walker was once bottled
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