Shell Livewire is offering young entrepreneurs in the north of Scotland a helping hand to establish their business by hosting a unique event. 'Beat the Business Blues' is a free residential weekend course specially designed to provide the basic skills to get a new business off the ground or help a company less than three months old through the difficult early stages.
A joint marketing campaign between The Highland Council and VisitScotland could see between 5 - 6,000 cruise passengers from Iceland, the Faroe Islands and Norway visiting the North of Scotland and generating around £2.5 million to the Highland economy. Faroese ferry operators, Smyril Line, have just launched their 2007 brochure featuring holiday packages to the Scottish Highlands.
A company who polluted a watercourse killing fish and invertebrates after spreading waste illegally has been fined £2,000. At Dornoch Sheriff Court today (Monday 29 January) EMAC Recycling Ltd admitted spreading wood processing effluent from an MDF manufacturing process on fields not authorised for this activity at Clashmugach, Clashmore, Dornoch.
a seminar to inform local suppliers on the opportunities associated with the Rosehall wind farm development. The seminar will take place in Dornoch on 30 January from 10.40 to 12 followed by a buffet lunch, a wide variety of suppliers of products and services including accommodation are required for the project further details can be found within the attachment or there is a link to the notice on the Hi-Energy web-site at http://www.hi-energy.org.uk There are still places left so get in touch with the organisers .
A Hogmanay street party with a family feeling is how the Royal Burgh of Dornoch in Sutherland will be celebrating the New Year. Dornoch's Hogmanay street party will take place (Sunday 31st December, 2006) between 10:30pm and 1.00am in the Royal Burgh's Town Square.
Highlands and Islands Local Food Network (HILFN) is to set up a food apprenticeship to train a new generation of food growers in the area - the first course of its kind in Scotland. More and more consumers in the Highlands and Islands are choosing to eat healthily and shop locally which is leading to a shortage of locally grown fruit and vegetables in many parts of the north.
SCOTLAND'S BEST RURAL RETAILERS UNVEILED The Scottish winners of the Countryside Alliance Best Rural Retailer competition 2006 have been unveiled. The winners are: Best Local Food Retailer - Roddy MacLennan, Lochcarron, Wester Ross Daily Telegraph Best Traditional retailer - Watt the Butcher, Montrose, Angus Best village shop/Post Office - Drumbeg Village Stores, Drumbeg, Sutherland Best diversification - Fine Iron Design, Forteviot, Perthshire The four Scottish winners will now go forward to the UK final organised by the Countryside Alliance, and the four overall UK winners will be unveiled at the House of Lords in February 2007.
A team of 6th year pupils at Golspie High School will find out later this week if they've made the grade as a one-off enterprise programme concludes in a series of business presentations by them. The programme held over three, one-day workshops which started in September was designed by Dornoch-based management consultant Iain Fraser to expose the senior pupils to theories, processes and checklists in new product generation, strategic business thinking, marketing and entrepreneurship.
Entrepreneurs with ambitious business plans are encouraged to enter a competition to win a trip to the world famous Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Boston, USA. Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) and UHI Millennium Institute (UHI) are offering a unique opportunity to help businesses reach their full potential.
HIGHLANDS and Islands Enterprise (HIE) will be holding its next board meeting in public for the first time on Tuesday, November 14. HIE conducts eight board meetings annually at various venues around the Highlands and Islands.
HIGHLANDS and Islands Enterprise (HIE) today announced it is to invest an extra £12million in Caithness and Sutherland. The extra funding, a 50 per cent increase on the current budget allocation for the area, will be used over the next three years to help address the considerable challenges posed to the area's economy by the decommissioning of Dounreay nuclear plant.
Do you know anyone who has been key to the promotion of enterprise skills and attitudes in the UK? If so, they could be inline for an award from the Queen. The Queen's Award for Enterprise Promotion was launched in 2004 to recognise individuals who make a significant contribution to the promotion of business enterprise or enterprise skills in the UK.
Anyone with an interest in the future planning of development for their community in Sutherland will be able to provide their opinions on the new Local Plan being prepared for the county. Planning officials of The Highland Council have produced a discussion document, entitled Sutherland Futures, and they are keen to get feedback from the public at a series of 17 public exhibitions/meetings, starting at Lairg on Monday 23 October and ending in Dornoch on Thursday 30 November.
A Local Access Forum in Sutherland is bringing together all parties with an interest in developing and managing access to the outdoors. It is an independent advisory body working to promote dialogue and understanding, developing a consensus and promoting a co-operative approach to access to the countryside and inland waters.
A new web site created by Navertech for Lonie & Janet Mackintosh to advertise their self catering cottage at Achrimsdale near Brora has added a simple facitlity to check availability and make a booking online for some of their accommodation packages. The chalet, which sleeps up to six, is set in a beautiful part of the Scottish Highlands overlooking the Moray Firth with views as far as the Cairngorms.
The search is on to find Scotland's best rural retailer, 2006. The Scottish Countryside Alliance is calling on members of the public from all corners of Scotland to nominate their favourite rural shop or business.
Highland Councillors on Friday, 29 September 2006 determined three applications for the erection of windfarm developments in Sutherland. Meeting at Lairg Community Centre following site visits the previous day, the Planning Development Europe and Tourism Committee considered applications by: ~ SSE Generation Ltd for 23 turbines generating 46 Mega Watts of electricity at Achany Estate Lairg; ~ Airtricity Developments UK for 23 turbines at Invercassley (Beinn Rosail), Strath Oykel; and ~ E.on UK Renewables Ltd for 19 turbines at Rosehall Hill Forest, Rosehall.
On October 1 2006, new laws will come into force to protect workers from age discrimination. The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations will make it illegal for employers to discriminate against employees, trainees or job seekers because of their age and ensure that all workers, regardless of age, have the same rights in terms of training and promotion.
SUMMARY The August 2006 unemployment figures were released on 13th September 2006. During the month, July 2006 to August 2006, the number of people claiming unemployment benefit in Great Britain fell by 0.3%, from 932,191 to 929,498 (2,693 claimants).
Envirowise was launched in 1994. The programme was designed specifically to encourage the sharing of best practice across UK industry, helping businesses boost competitiveness through improved environmental performance and more efficient use of resources.
