UP to 130 jobs could be created in the Bellshill area of North Lanarkshire following a £3.1 million investment by the private and public sectors in new business units.

The funding package was announced by Social Justice Secretary Alex Neil and will see the development of new commercial units for 15 companies on a brownfield site at Strathclyde Business Park, in the so-called golden triangle between the M74, M8 and M80 motorways.

It also boasts excellent public transport links.

Strathclyde Business Park is often called the most successful development of its kind in Scotland and has a roster of 240 occupants that includes such names as Scottish Power, Wood Group and Virgin Media.

In total, more than 6,000 people are employed at the business park.

The long-term development of the brownfield site at the business park has already seen the Scottish Government’s Vacant and Derelict Land Fund provide a grant for assessing the ground conditions which ensured that the work to build the units could go ahead.

The new project will receive £1.9m from the SPRUCE (Scottish Partnership for Regeneration in Urban Centres) Fund, as well as £1.2m from project sponsors Fusion Assets and CBC (Glasgow) Ltd.

This will be the sixth investment by the SPRUCE fund taking the total invested so far to over £43m – the fund has a total of £50m to invest.

The fund was established with Scottish Government and European Regional Development Fund money, offering loans and equity investments to both revenue-generating infrastructure and energy-efficiency projects to support regeneration.

Recent forecasts suggest that SPRUCE investments will lever in an additional £158m in private funding and help create 4750 jobs.

There is already a successful example of SPRUCE, Fusion Assets and CBC (Glasgow) working together to create employment in North Lanarkshire through similar investment.

In November 2012, Fusion Assets received a loan of £2.1m from the fund to support the Dundyvan project in Coatbridge that transformed a disused industrial site into a business centre, providing operational space for up to 16 companies.

Alex Neil, announcing the investment yesterday, said: “Significant investments like today’s £3.1m boost for Bellshill are central to stimulating economic growth across Scotland.

“Not only do they provide opportunities for new business and encourage entrepreneurs, they create new jobs.

“This investment will transform a disused brownfield site into modern business units, which we believe will become a thriving home for local companies.

“I am particularly pleased to see that our initial investment by way of the Vacant and Derelict Land Fund has paved the way for this exciting new development.

“Regeneration projects like these are absolutely fundamental when it comes to transforming our communities for the better.”

Murray Collins, managing director of Fusion Assets said: “The announcement of further SPRUCE funding for a second Fusion Assets project is a great achievement and something we are grateful for. This reflects our entrepreneurial approach to regeneration which successfully brings together public and private investment to create new employment opportunities.”

At CBC, managing director James McAlpine said: “We are delighted to be once again working in partnership with North Lanarkshire Council through Fusion Assets and the Scottish Government’s SPRUCE fund.

“It demonstrates how innovative, forward-thinking organisations in both the public and private sectors can deliver deals which buck the trend.”