The Glasgow City Centre Improvement Grant Fund is actively delivering tangible benefits across the city, aiming to enhance the overall look and feel of the urban core.

The fund provides awards of up to £20,000 to eligible businesses and organisations, and due to its success, the initial £200,000 allocation for each of its two streams – Meanwhile Use and Minor Improvement Grant – has been increased, with more applications now being invited. The Minor Improvements grant fund has already committed its initial funding, indicating strong demand.

The 'Meanwhile Use' stream specifically targets vacant ground-floor units in key city centre areas for short-term activation. This initiative seeks to introduce new uses such as pop-up shops, short-term leases, and third-sector occupations. It also aims to encourage property owners to utilise the fund to bring vacant or underused properties up to the necessary standards for new businesses, potentially spurred by recent regulatory changes that have reduced Empty Property Relief. This fund is designed to diversify the business mix, reactivate properties impacted by changing retail habits and office demand, and ultimately reduce the number of vacant units across the city centre.

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A notable project facilitated by the Meanwhile Use Fund is the creation of Scotland's first dedicated bookshop and café for Chest, Heart & Stroke Scotland. Located in a previously empty unit at the Tontine Building on 16 Trongate, this charity bookstore, set to open in October, will help regenerate the area, create three new jobs, and offer volunteering opportunities. Additionally, the Minor Improvement Fund, open to all city centre stakeholders, focuses on aesthetic enhancements, increasing footfall, and supporting the City Centre Strategy. Early projects under this fund include repairing broken signage at St George's Tron Parish Church to aid wayfinding and reduce anti-social behaviour, improving shopfronts on Trongate, and installing mural-painted roller shutters at the Tron Theatre to deter anti-social behaviour in recessed areas.