The contest to find the best tourism operators in the Highlands and Islands is hotting up with just a quarter of the original record-breaking entries now selected to challenge for the coveted trophies. In all, 203 businesses or individuals entered or were nominated in 15 categories this year in the Highlands and Islands Tourism Awards, the biggest ever response in the event's 12-year history.
MSP John Finnie Asked The First Minister a question about the future of HIE and received an instant assurance. John Finnie (Highlands and Islands) (Green): The First Minister will be aware that Highlands and Islands Enterprise, like the Highlands and Islands Development Board before it, plays a valuable role in the Highlands because of its dual remit of promoting both economic and community benefit.
Amec Foster Wheeler has been awarded a contract to design and build a new effluent treatment plant at Dounreay. The agreement signals a landmark move for the Caithness site as the first to incorporate socio-economic commitments following the introduction of a new procurement policy earlier this year.
Scotland's Digital Xtra Fund is making an additional £150,000 available to support extra-curricular activities for under 16s, focused on computing science and digital skills. The Digital Xtra Fund launched in May.
The Highland Council will be taking over responsibility for enforcing parking restrictions across the whole of the Highlands from Monday 3 October 2016. Money raised through Penalty Charge Notices will be spent on maintaining this new service.
Highlands & Islands MSP, Rhoda Grant, asked Fiona Hyslop, the Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Tourism and External Affairs at Portfolio Questions; what plans the Government had to develop tourism facilities on the North Coast 500 tourist route. Having confirmed that there was a multi agency group looking at this issue, Rhoda Grant went onto ask the Cabinet Secretary if the Government would help Highland Council fund essential maintenance and upgrades along this route to ensure it is a safe as possible and given much of it is single track road.
GOOD FOR BUSINESS An independent study examining the business benefits of implementing a Living Wage policy in London found that more than 80% of employers believe that the Living Wage had enhanced the quality of the work of their staff, while absenteeism had fallen by approximately 25%. Two thirds of employers reported a significant impact on recruitment and retention within their organisation.
DINGWALL, Dingwall & Highland Marts Ltd, (September, 24th) sold 405 rams and females at its annual show and sale sponsored by Norvite. The judges, Mr Graham & Mr Lewis Smith, Towiemore, Drummuir, awarded the overall show champion and winner of the Mountrich trophy to a Texel shearling from Mr D.
In a report by Scottish Government published earlier in 2016 entitled "Scotland's Credit Unions - Investing in Our Future" The First Minister Nicola Sturgeon wrote a letter to employers as follows - Dear As First Minister of Scotland I am delighted to be able to offer this letter in support of the work of credit unions and at the same time encourage the uptake of payroll deduction schemes for employees with credit union accounts. Credit unions make an invaluable contribution to providing financial services and products to a wide range of customers.
Road Haulage Week is just past and seems to be growing every year with more events and information coming out. Programmes on TV such as for Eddie Stobbart Trucks seemly have no end.
FORT WILLIAM, Dingwall & Highland Marts Ltd., (September, 23rd) sold 4,024 store sheep of all classes. Lambs (3,377) averaged £36.78 per head and sold to £65.50 gross for a pen of Texel cross lambs from Glendoe Estates, Fort Augustus.
Week Commencing 19th September 2016 Energy & Business Services: * Representatives from the Beatrice Offshore Windfarm consortium were in Wick last week to formally unveil plans to transform two historic buildings at Wick harbour into the Operations & Maintenance base for the project. A planning application for the plans was submitted to CNSRP partner Highland Council this week.
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Knocknagael to Kintore section live and connected to Blackhillock substation. Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks has energised the first section of the £1.1bn Caithness-Moray transmission link between Knocknagael and Kintore.
Jack-up barge Neptune arrives in the PF's Inner Sound early this afternoon 22.09.16. German tug Elbe, which will be working closely with the self-propelled JU, is already on site.
At a Wick stakeholders meeting held on Monday 19 September at Wick High School, representatives from Hub North Scotland and Morrison Construction gave an update on reasons for the delay and outlined a revised programme for the Wick campus delivery. The meeting was chaired by Highland Councillor for Wick Bill Fernie who expressed the Council's disappointment at the delay, and re-stated the Council's priorities to ensure that the flagship facility is completed to the standard expected, and accepting handover only at that point.
The Highland Council has awarded a 7 year ICT Services contract to WIPRO Holdings UK Ltd. The Council has procured a cost effective, value for money, corporate Information and Communications Technology (ICT) solution that will deliver excellent operational performance and contribute to the continuous improvement of services.
The University of the Highlands and Islands will be taking over the pre-registration nurse education programme for BSc mental health nursing and BSc adult nursing currently delivered by the University of Stirling in Inverness and Stornoway from next year. The Nursing and Midwifery Council has given the final approval required to allow the transfer of the programmes, meaning students applying and enrolling as new students from the 2017/18 academic year will be University of the Highlands and Islands students.
College support staff across Scotland will walk out for a second time this month in an increasingly bitter pay row in the troubled further education (FE) sector. UNISON Scotland and GMB today (Tuesday) announced a further series of strike days in a bid for fair pay.