Ten top tips for social enterprise companies will be offered at a busy conference in Strathpeffer next month. Entitled 'A Different Way of Doing Business', the event has been organised by a trail-blazing company set up to help communities establish socially beneficial businesses.
A RENOWNED North fishing hotel currently being restored to its former glory has landed a whopper of an idea to encourage guests to visit Central Sutherland. The Overscaig House Hotel between Lairg and Scourie has installed computer technology that will allow fishermen to view maps or satellite views of available trout lochs, find out how to get to them, see images and fishing records for the best spots and read all the top tips on the recommended ways to fish them.
Helping businesses conserve biodiversity across Scotland The Business and Biodiversity Initiative provides businesses with free practical, on site advice on ways they can contribute towards the conservation and enhancement of habitats and species locally and nationally. Enhancing biodiversity can have a wide range of benefits to businesses, including improved employee satisfaction, improved image, reduced noise and visual complaints from neighbours and improved environmental credentials.
The Bridge Hotel in Helmsdale has just been purchased by the owners of "The Quiet Piggy" in Brora. The Quiet Piggy in Brora is re-locating into the former fishing tackle shop which is part of the hotel.
Schmidt wins major order for spreaders and ploughs to tackle Scottish winters Scotland TranServ, winners of the £27m a year highways maintenance contract for North-West Scotland, has chosen Schmidt to supply salt spreaders, snowploughs, snow blowers and road verge grass cutting equipment in one of the largest single orders for British highways products. Whatever the weather, Scotland TranServ will be endeavouring to keep traffic moving throughout the North West Unit from Wick and John O'Groats through Skye, Fort William, Oban, Argyll, Perth and Loch Lomond.
POLICE can confirm they have located missing father and son Colin and Douglas Payton. Officers received information that the 49-year-old father and his 11-year-old son may be in Switzerland and following inquiries they were traced to an address in the country earlier this afternoon.
The Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) network is embarking on a programme of organisational change aimed at improving its service to customers and enhancing the agency’s efficiency and effectiveness. The changes have been expected since HIE launched its new strategy for the area, A Smart, Successful Highlands and Islands, in June last year.
The following are funds approved up to the last day of the month. Please note that the sums relate to approvals, not payments.
Dropping in on Helmsdale the other day you could not help noticing the bright colours. La Mirage has been brightly painted in red for many years and the Bridge Hotel and Tackle shop have sported a green and white for the past couple of years.
Up to 2.3 million employees potentially affected by introduction of new legislation SMEs are being warned that under new Noise at Work Regulations the noise levels that employees can be exposed to will be reduced by almost half. This legislation is due to come into effect April 2006 with a two year transitional period for the music and entertainment industry until April 2008.
The winner of the Barron Trophy, which recognises lifetime achievement in journalism, is Duncan Ross, editor of the Northern Times, Golspie. Duncan (54) will receive his award from Patricia Ferguson, MSP, Minister for Tourism Culture and Sport at the Highland and Islands Press Ball, which is being held at the Newton Hotel, Nairn, on Friday 3 February.
The Scottish Freight Council of the Freight Transport Association is calling on Transport Minister Tavish Scott to make an early and positive decision regarding the provision of an alternative crossing to the Forth Road Bridge. Corrosion problems on the bridge are threatening future viability.
Tourism Innovation Development Awards Got a fantastic idea for your business or area? You could be awarded up to £15,000 to help make it happen! It may be a cliché, but there’s no escaping the fact that tourism is a globally competitive business – and that to compete and survive, Scottish Tourism has to give the visitor to Scotland something a ‘bit special’, and become a must visit destination where visitors’ needs come first. To meet increasing customer demands, we have to think differently, create new customer experiences, work more effectively together and improve our products and services.
The Scottish Co-investment Fund (SCF) recently benefited from a £500,000 approval by the Highlands and Islands Partnership Programme (HIPP), which administers European funding in the Highlands and Islands. The SCF is a market driven, highly innovative fund aimed at substantially increasing the risk capital available and therefore the capacity for investment by private sector investors in small, ambitious growth businesses in Scotland (companies with less than 250 employees and net assets of less than £16 million).
Crofters in North West Sutherland are setting up a new system to make fresh and locally grown food more widely available in their area. The Highlands and Islands Local Food Network (HILFN) - set up by Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) - and 16 growers in North West Sutherland have set up the North West Sutherland Food Link.
The October 2005 unemployment figures were released on 16th November 2005. During the month, September 2005 to October 2005, the number of people claiming unemployment benefit in Great Britain fell by 0.6%, from 842,433 to 837,100 (5,333 claimants).
A Lochinver man has started a new business offering a high tech solution to underwater inspections. With help from Caithness and Sutherland Enterprise (CASE) Scott Mackenzie has invested £17,000 in a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) that can inspect and record underwater images required by a diverse range of clients from the fish farming industry and harbour authorities to boat owners and the leisure sector.
The Highlands and Islands Local Food Network (HILFN) is on the look-out for trainee food producers to help expand the availability of locally grown fruit and vegetables. HILFN is planning to run a one-year programme to provide in-depth training to help small agricultural producers in the Highlands and Islands establish successful new businesses based on the supply of fresh horticultural produce to local customers.
