News Archive
31/1/2007
Unemployment At December 2006
UNEMPLOYMENT DIGEST SUMMARY The December 2006 unemployment figures were released on 17th January 2007. During the month, November 2006 to December 2006, the number of people claiming unemployment benefit in Great Britain rose by 0.2%, from 895,833 to 897,758 (1,925 claimants).
31/1/2007
Highlands Set For Faroese Tourism Boost
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.
31/1/2007
Unemployment By LEC Area At December 2006
NUMBER OF UNEMPLOYED BY LEC AREA The table below traces changes in the numbers (not rates) of unemployed people claiming benefits in the Highlands & Islands LEC areas between November 2006 and December 2006. A yearly comparison between December 2005 and December 2006 is also provided.
31/1/2007
Long-Term Unemployment By LEC Area - December 2006
LONG-TERM UNEMPLOYMENT BY LEC AREA For the purpose of this analysis, long-term unemployment (LTU) is defined as 'all those who have been unemployed and claiming benefit for over 6 months'. The table below shows the number of people who are on long term unemployment benefit for December 2006 in each of the LEC areas.
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
