Tradespeople in Aberdeen

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Aberdeen is Scotland's third-largest city, built where the rivers Dee and Don meet the North Sea on the north-east coast. Known as the Granite City for the distinctive silvery stone used in much of its architecture, Aberdeen has a visual character unlike any other Scottish city - handsome, austere and striking in its uniformity.

The city has been shaped by successive waves of industry: fishing and shipbuilding gave way to textiles and paper-making and from the 1970s the discovery of North Sea oil transformed Aberdeen into the energy capital of Europe. The oil industry brought international investment, a cosmopolitan population and decades of prosperity.

Union Street, the mile-long granite backbone of the city centre, connects the historic Castlegate to the west end, while the waterfront has been reimagined with new developments along the harbour and beach. The city has two universities - the University of Aberdeen, founded in 1495 and Robert Gordon University - and a large teaching hospital at Foresterhill.

Aberdeen's neighbourhoods are diverse: the leafy western suburbs of Cults, Milltimber and Bieldside along the Dee; the northern suburbs of Bridge of Don and Dyce near the airport; the inner-city character of Rosemount and Old Aberdeen; and the south-side communities of Torry and Kincorth.

Transport connections include Aberdeen International Airport at Dyce, a main-line railway station with services to Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness and London and the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route which has transformed road access around the city.