The first industrial estate to be established in Glenrothes (Fife), Queensway lies between the town centre and the Auchmuty and Rothes paper mills on the River Leven, which preceded the development of the New Town, a quarter-mile (0.4 km) northeast of the Kingdom Shopping Centre. Beckman Instruments built a factory here in 1958, the first American inward investment in the town. Other long-term occupants include defence contractor Raytheon Systems who, in 2013, invested £3.5 million in a new facility making silicon carbide for use in advanced electronics. Elliott Automation, a significant early British computer manufacturer, also operated here in the 1960s. Scandal struck in 1964 when the Cadco Developments meat-processing plant being built here turned out to have been funded fraudulently. Cadco took its name from the English actor George Sanders, known as the 'Consummate Cad', who was a Director of the company, invested foolishly and lost a fortune. Several other notable individuals lost money. Such was the extent of the fraud that questions were asked in Parliament and a Board of Trade inquiry was established.
More recently Queensway has diversified towards retail outlets, given its central location and proximity to the Kingdom Shopping Centre. A Safeway supermarket was established here in 1996, which later became Morrisons. This was joined by an Asda supermarket in 2009, together with the German discounters Aldi and Lidl.
