When textile artist Jane Hunter was on the lookout for somewhere to site her new studio, there was nowhere with a better fit.

Artist Jane Hunter is Paisley born and bred – so when she was looking for a new studio to base her business from, she didn’t have to look too far.

As Jane works mainly with textiles, there could be few sites more fitting than the Old Embroidery Mill in Paisley’s Anchor Mill site – home to the J&P Coats thread-making empire which stretched around the globe and at one point produced 90 per cent of the world’s sewing thread.

Here, she tells us why she chose to work in Paisley…

“I am a visual artist working mainly with textiles, inspired by landscapes, maps and geology. I grew up and still live in Paisley and my daughters go to school here.

“I spent a long time working elsewhere before moving into my creative career. It was Paisley’s bid to be UK City of Culture 2021 which really helped open my eyes to what was on my own doorstep and led to me relocating my studio.

“The initial pull to set up a business in The Old Embroidery Mill was the history of it because embroidery is what I do. It led me to do a bit of reading about the history of the thread mills – the scale of what went on here was quite amazing.

“The other thing I like is the view – from my window I can look out over the town and see the historic buildings and the spires…that’s really inspiring for my work.

“I would advise any other creative businesses to think about setting up in Paisley because the potential is massive – there is such a great community of creative people.”

Jane is available for public art commissions. You can find out more about her work on her website.

With Glasgow International Airport on our doorstep, Paisley is connected to the world.

The airport – Renfrewshire’s largest private sector employer – has direct flights to more than 130 destinations across the globe, and handled almost 10 million passengers in 2017.

With a new Glasgow Airport access project and airport investment area due to be built in the next few years through the Glasgow City Region City Deal, Paisley offers major opportunities for businesses looking to grow or relocate.

As the airport’s head of planning and development, Ross Nimmo is at the heart of that action. Here, Ross tells us what he thinks Paisley has to offer as a place to invest….

“What started as a networking exercise for the great businesses that already call the area in and around the airport home – companies like Rolls Royce, British Airways, Thermo Fischer and Hewlett Packard – has really grown into the partnership we see today.

“Working closely with the council, enterprise agencies, universities and others, much of the investment in new infrastructure is firmly based on an understanding of how we can make the area even more successful – attracting new businesses, growing employment opportunities and increasing economic activity.

“Companies thinking about investing and growing in Paisley and Renfrewshire can look forward to excellent connectivity – which will be further boosted by a new rail link between the airport and Glasgow City Centre – providing a highly-skilled workforce and a great businesses environment.”

Paisley is a place with a rich musical heritage – and few people are better placed to comment on that than Tommy McGrory.

Tommy’s music charity Loud ‘n’ Proud has given countless youngsters their first chance to play in a band over the years, while also helping bring many top acts to the town.

As a born-and-bred buddie he’s also seen many changes to the town over the years. Here’s his take on Paisley as a place to live and go out, and why bands love to come here…

“For anybody looking to relocate it’s got a central location and great transport links whether you are going by train, bus or even plane!

“So we have all the attractions of living near Scotland’s biggest city but at the same time Paisley is a more affordable place to live…you’ll get more for your money here.

“The town as a whole is on the up – there’s investment coming in and that will create opportunity and jobs.

“It’s also a great place to go out in and it has a reputation as a musical destination within Scotland –even music promoters from the big cities will say so. It’s great they recognise that.

“There’s loads of places around the town where you can go for live music but three of my favourite places to go are The Cave, The Old Swan and The Bungalow.

“Paisley has a good reputation with the bands – they want to play to a crowd that appreciates them and they get that here.”

You can see more about what Loud ‘n’ Proud do on their website.

The Paisley Pattern design icon that was synonymous with the town is once again on the radar of major fashion houses after steps were taken to make the pattern available for the digital age.

It was once the fashion staple of legends such as Jimi Hendrix and The Beatles now Paisley’s famous pattern designs have been captured in a digital archive to allow people to access for education, research, and commercial purposes.

The Paisley Pattern digital archive, which will be made available later this year, is part of plans to commercialise the pattern to support and grow the ambition to connect the town back to the globally-recognised design through working with external textile and fashion houses and industry experts.

Luxury knitwear brand, Pringle of Scotland’s, accessed the archive to select unique designs for the bespoke creations in its autumn/winter 2017 collection. Pringle also have a history of using the pattern in their designs having previously used them in collections in the 1960s. The collaboration occurred after Pringle’s Womenswear Design Director, Fran Stringer was granted access to the original Paisley Pattern designs during a visit to Paisley Museum.

Fran Stringer, Womenswear Design Director, said: “The archives are always such a rich source of inspiration! Many heritage patterns and signature designs remain relevant today, and we were happy to also work with Paisley in its original form, but printed onto knitwear in much the same way as Pringle first did in the Sixties. I want to continue to celebrate Pringle as the knitwear pioneer that it always has been.”

Showcasing Paisley’s textile credentials to the world is part of wide-ranging regeneration plans that will put Paisley back on the global textiles and fashion industry map once again.

Watch this space to see what exciting new collaborations and partnerships will be created from the digitisation of these famous designs.