ENERGY giant ScottishPower is to be headline partner in a major regeneration scheme at a former whisky plant.

The power firm will create a digital training facility at The Halo in Kilmarnock. The project will stand on the site of the East Ayrshire town’s former Johnnie Walker bottling plant.

It is hoped three other UK sites will follow. ScottishPower chief executive Keith Anderson called the initiative “a perfect fit”. Marie Macklin, founding director of The Halo, said: “In making this commitment ScottishPower is supporting an urban regeneration project that is going to change the lives of young people, not just in Ayrshire but across the whole of Scotland.

“With ScottishPower behind it, The Halo is going to rock the Scottish economy, generating economic growth, innovation, digital skills development, enterprise and innovation and I applaud their forward thinking.

“Together with ScottishPower, The Halo is going to light up Britain.”