BRAG Enterprise was developed as a result of the immense impact to the local economy of the pit closures after the miners’ strikes of the mid-80’s. In the 1980s the Benarty area, located in Central Fife, had one of the highest rates of unemployment in Fife and in Scotland.
BRAG (Benarty Regeneration Action Group) Enterprise was founded by a group of community activists. The initiative was a direct response from the community to the specific social and economic impact of the demise of the coal industry on the communities of Benarty, Kelty, Cowdenbeath and Lochgelly. This area was collectively referred to as The Benarty Basin.
Shortly before BRAG Enterprise was established, Fife Regional Council had built a new Primary School nearby leaving the old Crosshill Primary School building redundant. The fledgling new community group approached the council and BRAG Enterprises initially leased this old primary school building with a focus on providing training for local people coming out of the mining industry.
Incrementally the old school then moved from being a primary school to a community based workspace and training facility. The classrooms where converted into offices and workshops and with the help of European funding four light industrial units were built for new businesses. In 2008 with support from the Coalfields Regeneration Trust and an interest free loan from Fife Council, Brag then purchased the whole site. Since then they have continued to develop the site with new portacabin incubator units being added in 2010 and updated Biomass boiler being installed in 2014. They also own a further site in Lochgelly.