The Union Street fire has been devastating, not just for those businesses who lost everything in the flames, but for many more in the surrounding area. Its timing, just as the city centre seemed to be showing signs of shaking off its post-Covid struggles, seems particularly cruel.

But if we’re in the market for crumbs of comfort – and I would very much suggest that we are – the debate we’re now having about both the root causes of the disaster and the future of the city centre might prove to be a catalyst for real change.

How do we minimise the risk of something like this happening again?  How do we boost the resilience of local firms to withstand shocks and business disruption outside their control? Do we need a better plan for keeping the city running when a crucial piece of transport infrastructure is suddenly put out of action?

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Alongside the immediate priorities of supporting those businesses whose premises were destroyed by the fire and getting Central Station fully back up and running, we also need to think about all the small businesses that do so much to bring life to the streets around Scotland’s busiest railway station and make the city centre such a great place to visit.

The outpouring of love for so many of these small businesses – the hairdressers, beauticians, takeaways – has been genuinely uplifting. I can think of no better word than love for the deluge of good wishes and financial donations that have poured in to help get them back on their feet.

It has been sobering for me and my Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) colleagues to speak to many of them in recent days, to check in on what they might need and offer practical support and advice where required.

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Many are understandably devastated, but resilient – as small business owners need to be – and determined to bounce back.

Some lost everything. Some didn’t have the right type of insurance to replace what has been lost. Some are still open but finding that the ongoing operations around the site and the public transport disruption are keeping customers away.

The business rates relief that is being extended to those most directly affected is a most welcome first step, but the task ahead is massive. It’s everything from talking to customers and negotiating insurance claims to finding and preparing new premises. And all with no revenue coming in.

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Beyond the immediate support, there is talk of a masterplan for the regeneration of the area surrounding the fire site. And this needs to have the small businesses which brought the area to life at its heart.

You might not appreciate just how many small firms operate in our city centre in units above ground level – more than 20 in the former Forsyth building alone.

It is those businesses, providing all sorts of goods and services to their customers, who generate vital footfall in the city centre. We can’t afford to lose them.

Bluntly, Union Street – part of which has, of course, been covered in scaffolding for years – would have been pretty lifeless without them. Any regeneration masterplan shouldn’t just aim to restore that level of entrepreneurial activity, it should be increasing and celebrating it.

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That means involving small businesses to ensure that whatever comes next for Union Street meets their needs. The potential for that site alongside Central Station, which in normal times attracts 70,000 passengers a day, is enormous.

The way the city has been awash with memories of the area – remember arranging to meet under the Irn Bru advert or eating in the Wimpy? – tells a story. It is testimony not only to how many people pass through the city centre, but the great affection for it.

Memories, however fond, are not enough.

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If the city’s future is to be as bright as that remarkable digital advertising screen – which valiantly kept going right until it literally fell off the wall it was bolted to – we’ll also need investment and thoughtful planning. And we’ll need to listen to the businesses who make the modern city centre work by attracting employees, customers, diners and more to streets that would otherwise lie empty.

Right now, we need to support those hit by this tragedy through their moment of crisis. After that, we need to get on with delivering the city centre we deserve.

People Make Glasgow right enough. But small business people make it a place like no other.

Colin Borland is Scotland director for the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB).

© Herald Scotland