News Archive
31/1/2007
Horticulture For Crofters and Other Small Producers
Saturday 17th February at Dunbeath Community Centre - 09.30am - 4.15pm A training and information event on polytunnel and outdoor cropping. Visit to 'Food for Thought', Spittal in the afternoon courtesy of Douglas Henderson Attendance free — all welcome.31/1/2007
Local Photographer At Strathpeffer Wedding Exhibition
Highland brides-to-be are in for a treat this spring with a new and exciting Wedding Exhibition at The Strathpeffer Spa Pavilion on 4th Feb 2007. The event will feature two glamorous catwalk shows on the day.30/1/2007
Young Highland Entrepreneurs Urged To Beat The Business Blues Back
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.30/1/2007
Enterprising Britain 2007 Competition
The search is on to find Scotland's enterprise champions, with the launch of the DTI's Enterprising Britain 2007 competition today. This year's competition was launched by Industry and Regions Minister Margaret Hodge and took place in West Kilbride, the winner of last year's hotly contested competition.26/1/2007
Isolation Of Dounreay's Shaft Commences
Dounreay has started drilling up to 400 boreholes around the site's waste shaft in the biggest step so far towards its eventual clean-out. Grout will be injected through the boreholes to seal fissures in the rock around the 65 metre deep shaft and so create a giant containment barrier in the shape of a boot around the shaft that will isolate the radioactive waste from groundwater.26/1/2007
Dounreay Bulletin - Issue 19
SITE REDUCES EXPENDITURE TO MEET NDA SHORTFALL The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority has asked its clean-up sites to reduce expenditure between now and the end of March to enable the NDA to cover a shortfall in its commercial income. Dounreay is required to find savings of approximately £6 million, reducing the overall site spend in this financial year to approximately £141 million.25/1/2007
E.ON Rosehall Wind Farm Project - Business Seminar - Opportunities For You?
E.ON Rosehall Wind Farm Project - Business Seminar Tuesday 30 January 2007 Dornoch Castle Hotel, Dornoch E.ON, in conjunction with HiREG and Highlands and Islands Enterprise, are pleased to invite you to attend the above free event. The aim is to highlight the opportunities for local businesses within the Highlands and Islands provided by E.ON's forthcoming wind farm development at Rosehall, near Lairg; and to further outline the company's plans for future wind developments within the Highland area.25/1/2007
SCOTLAND'S ECONOMY NEEDS THE PORTS OF SOUTH-EAST ENGLAND
The Freight Transport Association's Scottish Freight Council has called for the Scottish Executive and Scottish MPs to lobby the UK Government for investment in the ports of south-east England. A key message coming from the Scottish shipper members of FTA at the January meeting of the Scottish Logistics and Supply Chain Forum was that it was vital for Scotland's economy that the UK retained port of call status for its south-east ports as they were the key economic gateway for exports from and imports to Scotland via fit for purpose Anglo-Scottish rail freight routes, now that Scotland had largely lost its own direct port of call status.22/1/2007
Caithness Partners Agree Structure For Regeneration
A taskforce drawing on the area's three key public agencies will be charged with delivering an action plan for the regeneration of the Caithness and North Sutherland economy. The Far North has specific economic hurdles ahead with the prospect of decommissioning work at Dounreay's nuclear reactor coming to an end in the early 2030s with the eventual loss of around 2,500 jobs.Caithness Wedding Photographer Scoops Top UK Award
Thurso based photographer John Baikie has capped off an amazing year by lifting the UK Photographer of the Year in the wedding portfolio category in the annual SWPP awards, presented at the society's convention in London this week. The Society of Wedding and Portrait Photographers are widely accepted as the biggest organisation in the UK and held a huge event in the capital last week, which saw 4600 attendees from all over the world descend on the Novotel Hotel in Hammersmith to attend seminars by some of the biggest names in the world of photography.18/1/2007
FREE CV Workshops In Wick And Thurso
Careers Scotland offer FREE CV workshops in Wick and Thurso NEW YEAR - facing changes? Is the thought of creating a CV putting you off applying for a job? Don't have a clue where to start? Come along to one of our free sessions: Pentland Hotel, Thurso Tuesday 23 January 1.00pm - 2.30pm 6.00pm - 7.30pm Norsman Hotel, Wick Wednesday 24 January 1.00pm-2.30pm 6.00pm-7.30pm The workshops will help YOU: plan your career, sell yourself in your CV, and discover your skills. Please contact Maureen Whale on 01847 805208 to reserve a place.17/1/2007
Dounreay Prototype Fast Reactor Coming Apart
Work to pull apart Dounreay's Prototype Fast Reactor (PFR) is rapidly advancing with more and more large items of redundant equipment being ripped out of the former reactor complex as the plant is dismantled. Dounreay is at the leading edge of world-wide clean-up of former nuclear facilities, and as demolition progresses removal of massive and extremely heavy steel structures presents a challenging task to the site.17/1/2007
Chamber Of Commerce Demands Answer To Supremo For Dounreay Run Down Question
The Caithness & Sutherland Chamber of Commerce is urging the lead Agencies in the decommissioning of the Dounreay site and the economic regeneration of Caithness & North Sutherland to make clear without further delay their acceptance or otherwise of the proposal, put forward six months ago at a Meeting of the Dounreay Stakeholder Group, for the appointment of a 'supremo' to oversee and drive the process forward. If the proposal has been rejected by the Agencies what are the objections to it and what plans do the Agencies have to take matters forward? Whilst acknowledging that the lead role is the responsibility of the Agencies concerned the Chamber considers it essential that any proposal/plan has public confidence and support.17/1/2007
Shetland Times Retains Newspaper Of The Year Award
For the second year running, the Shetland Times has been voted Newspaper of the Year by the Highland and Islands Media Awards' judging panel. Editor Jonathan Lee will receive a cheque for £500, to be donated to a charity of the newspaper's choice, at the Highland and Islands Press Ball being held at the Newton Hotel, Nairn on Friday 2 February.15/1/2007
Poor Leadership Is Costing UK Business £6+ Billion Per Year
A new study released today reveals that UK business is suffering from the poor leadership skills of Britain's bosses. The survey shows that business leaders fail across the board at setting clear objectives, motivating staff and weeding out poor performers.15/1/2007
FTA Scottish Freight Council Welcomes Commitment To New Forth Crossing
FTA SCOTTISH FREIGHT COUNCIL At the January meeting of the Freight Transport Association's Scottish Freight Council, Ian Fleming of CJ Lang Ltd, Dundee, was elected to serve a further year as chairman. Members discussed the recent publication of the Scottish National Transport Strategy and the Freight Action Plan.12/1/2007
HIE Invites Public To Consult On Potential Environmental Impacts Of Draft Operating Plan
There are still two weeks left for the public to respond to a consultation by Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) on its draft operating plan and associated environmental report. Under the provisions of Regulation 16 of the Environmental Assessment of Plans & Programmes (Scotland) Regulations 2004, HIE has its first strategic environmental assessment to gauge the potential significant effects its draft operating plan may have on the environment.12/1/2007
Construction Commences At Forss Wind Farm Extension
Civil engineering work has begun to add another four turbines to the existing two-turbine Forss wind farm near Thurso in Caithness, the project owner Renewable Energy Systems Group (RES)1 announced today. The 5.2MW project is expected to be fully commissioned and delivering green power for the Caithness area by the summer of 2007 RES has developed the project with landowner and co-renewable energy developer Abbey Properties Cambridgeshire Ltd and was responsible for the development of the original two turbine project, which started generating in 2003.10/1/2007
Dounreay Bulletin - Issue 18
FOUR YEARS ACCIDENT-FREE FOR REACTOR DECOMMISSIONING TEAM Safety has become a way of life in dismantling the Dounreay Fast Reactor. Four years without a lost time accident is no mean feat in any industry, but this achievement has been all the sweeter with the knowledge of the enormous range of work undertaken at DFR and the mix of people employed.10/1/2007