Business Kirriemuir

Kirriemuir lies on the edge of the east side of the Cairngorms National Park, the gateway to the magnificent Glens of Angus. With a population of 5,963 (Census 2001) this charming Burgh is nicknamed the "Wee Red Town".

As the fastest growing town in Angus over the last decade, it has increasingly become a residential town with fairly extensive housing development in recent years. Retailers provide for mainly local needs and those of its extensive rural hinterland, as well as the tourism trade.

Despite a downturn in the traditional textile industry as a whole, Kirriemuir is home to a thriving industrial textiles business,
J & D Wilkie Ltd, situated at the Gairie Works. Established in 1868 by David and James Wilkie, this is a privately owned textile company and one of the leading industrial textiles manufacturers in Europe.

Kirriemuir is the birthplace of J M Barrie, author of Peter Pan, and this unique association provides opportunities for growth of the town's tourist industries as the mainstay of the area. It is hoped that the development of a small business park in Kirriemuir will soon be a possibility.

The Airlie Estates are situated in the Angus Glens surrounding Kirriemuir and covers a wide variety of groundscape from moorland to arable farm land. Its estate office is located at Kirriemuir. The main activities of the estate are organic and conventional farming, forestry, property and agricultural rents, sporting lets and access management.