Business is flocking back to Paisley's famous Abbey Mill - now transformed into a centre which is home to 70 buddie businesses.

This latest success story is due to present owner Marcus Dean who has overseen much of the refurbishment to create the 70 office units at the mill.

Quality

He puts the success of the Abbey Mill Business Centre down to two reasons: flexible rental agreements and the high quality materials used in the mill's original construction over 100 years ago."When this building was first constructed for the purpose of manufacturing thread, lots of light was required, and the floors had to be very smooth to allow loose threads to be swept up easily," said MArcus. "so now we are left with a highly polished maple wood floors and huge windows which lets in loads of light - both of qhich would cost a fortune to build from scratch now. So, our tennants are reaping the benefits of Coats Brother's insistence on using the best materials."

Museum

And Marcus has big future plans for the Mill too. A museum dedicated to recording the history of threadmaking in Paisley is planned for the top floor of the mill. The costs of this ambitious plan will be met only from private sources and work should start early in 1999.