News Archive
18/1/2005
UKAEA Chooses Johnson Controls For Facilities Management Contract
UKAEA today announced it has selected Johnson Controls as preferred bidder for its facilities management contract at Dounreay following a competitive tendering exercise. The contract covers a wide range of site services to support the decommissioning programme, including building, roads and ground maintenance, catering, cleaning and laundry, transport and industrial waste disposal.18/1/2005
HIE Launches Its Biggest Public Consultation
A HUGE public consultation exercise is being launched by Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE). Responses to the widest exercise of its kind in the 40-year history of the economic and community development agency and its predecessor, the Highlands and Islands Development Board, will help determine HIE's future activities.17/1/2005
Skills Grants
People in Caithness and Sutherland who aren't working or who work part time and want to move into full time employment are being encouraged by Caithness and Sutherland Enterprise (CASE) to take up an individual skills development grant. CASE offers help, advice and funding - up to £750 a year depending on circumstances - to people who can't find work or who are working part-time and want to improve their job prospects.14/1/2005
CASE Approvals List - December 2004
The following are funds approved up to the last day of the month. Please note that the sums relate to approvals, not payments.28/12/2004
Private Property Leasing Scheme - Do You Have Property To Let?
COUNCIL ENCOURAGED WITH RESPONSE TO PRIVATE PROPERTY LEASING SCHEME Highland Council's Housing Service has been greatly encouraged by its public appeal earlier this month to private property owners to consider leasing their properties to the Council. Members and officials have welcomed the response from 24 people from throughout the Highlands who have contacted Housing staff to enquire about the Council's private leasing scheme.21/12/2004
Robert Goes Up In The World
Caithness man Robert Miller has moved up in the world, starting his own business, RWM Training, providing on-site training and testing on fork lift trucks, telescopic handlers and cherry pickers. Caithness and Sutherland Enterprise (CASE) has assisted Robert to set up RWM Training with a business start-up grant of £3,600 paid in 12 monthly instalments.19/12/2004
Taxi Increases To Take Effect From 10 January 2005
A 5% increase in taxi fares throughout the Highlands will come into force from Monday 10 January 2005. The Highland Council has been able to confirm the increase following rejection of an appeal to Richard Hamilton McFarlane, Deputy Traffic Commissioner in the Scottish Traffic Area, that the increase was inadequate.17/12/2004
CASE Approvals List - November 2004
The following are funds approved up to the last day of the month. Please note that the sums relate to approvals, not payments.15/12/2004
New Directors For CASE
The chairman of Caithness and Sutherland Enterprise (CASE), Pat Buchanan, long with chief executive Carroll Buxton, welcomed three new directors to the local enterprise company's board yesterday (Tuesday 14th December). The three new members are David Halpin, who lives in Dornoch; Willie Calder from Thurso and Nick Gorton, based in Lochinver.13/12/2004
Fathoms Dive Into Training
A sub sea services company specialising in the offshore and onshore monitoring and removal of radiological contamination is training two of its key staff in health physics with assistance from Caithness and Sutherland Enterprise (CASE). Fathoms Ltd, which operates from Wick harbour, has received a training and development scheme grant from the local enterprise company to allow the two members of staff to undertake City and Guilds levels one and two in radiation safety practice.30/11/2004
Highlands & Islands Leading Environmentally-Positive Firms Announced
Companies go through to Scotland-wide final of VIBES awards next week The Highlands and Islands most environmentally-positive companies have been announced by judges of Scotland's leading environmental awards for businesses. Global provider of total subsea solutions, Wick-based Subsea 7, has won the Highlands and Islands large company category, salmon farming specialist Loch Duart, based in Scourie, has won the Highlands and Islands medium-sized company category while Shetland-based recycling project Enviroglass came top in the Highlands and Islands category for small companies.30/11/2004
Highland Childcare Company Introduces New Service To Fill Gaps In Provision
Parents of young children in the Highlands, who currently have difficulty finding childcare provision to meet their needs, are being offered a more flexible service by Direct Childcare. The Inverness-based company, which currently serves much of the Highland area, is in the process of recruiting and training sitters who will take care of children outside of normal working hours within the child's home.19/11/2004
CASE Approvals List - October 2004
The following are funds approved up to the last day of the month. Please note that the sums relate to approvals, not payments.20/10/2004
NDA Confirms Scottish Regional Base Will Be In Caithness
The Convener of The Highland Council's Caithness area Committee, Councillor David Flear has welcomed confirmation that the NDA (Nuclear Decommissioning Authority) will establish its Scottish Regional Headquarters in Caithness. The NDA, who will take over responsibility for decommissioning of the Dounreay site on 1 April next year, confirmed at a stakeholder workshop in Thurso today (Thursday) that they are currently looking at properties in the county for their new regional base.19/10/2004
CASE Monthly Report for September 2004
Overall, the number of people unemployed in Caithness and Sutherland fell from 745 last month to 742. The revised unemployment rates in the Sutherland, Wick and Thurso 'Travel to Work Areas' respectively are as follows (corresponding figures for last month are in brackets): 3.1% (3.3%), 4.4% (4.3%) and 2.5% (2.5%).19/10/2004
Five Consortia Short-listed For 100 Million Contract
Five consortia have been short-listed by UKAEA for the largest single construction project yet in the Dounreay Site Restoration Plan. Subject to formal Ministerial approval, they will be invited to tender for the construction of a plant to condition and store a variety of liquid and solid intermediate-level wastes that are a legacy of Dounreays role as an experimental reactor establishment.17/10/2004
New Park awards key electrical contract to local firm
Part of the final phase of re-development of Forss Business & Technology Park. New Park Management recognises local expertise by awarding the contract for upgrading the Forss site electrical switchgear to JGC Engineering & Technical Services Ltd.17/10/2004
Ukaea Awards £3 Million Reactor Clean-up Contract
The UK Atomic Energy Authority has awarded a contract to ALSTEC Ltd for the construction of a new plant to clean up radioactive effluent that will arise during the next phase of decommissioning the Prototype Fast Reactor at Dounreay. The effluent will be produced during cleaning of components and facilities that are coated with sodium liquid metal which was used as a reactor coolant.10/10/2004
Dial-Up Internet Users Be Warned
After the last few days of frantic phone calls from friends and friends of friends, I thought I'd better put out a warning to everyone who is still using a dial-up connection to the internet. Back by unpopular demand are "dialers" which once your PC has one can cause your PC to dial premium rate numbers instead of your usual dial-up number.1/10/2004
