Careers Scotland, HIE Caithness and Sutherland host the Annual Careers Convention on Wednesday 7th March 2007, from 5.30-8.30pm at Thurso High School. If you're thinking about a new job, updating your skills, facing redundancy or change, then come along to the Careers Convention.
SIMON MIDDLEMAS IS NEW SITE DIRECTOR Simon Middlemas has been appointed as the new director of the nuclear decommissioning site at Dounreay in succession to Norman Harrison. Simon has been acting director since August 2006 and prior to that he was deputy director.
New Report from Professor Peter Cooke, Nottingham Business School identifies the risks of lack of Board focus on company car disposal. BCA Vehicle Remarketing has published a new report, 'Rethinking Used Business Vehicle Disposal Strategy', independently researched and written by Professor Peter Cooke of Nottingham Business School.
Highlands and Islands MSP and former Education Minister Peter Peacock made a fact-finding visit to Dounreay on 26 February 2007. The group saw at first hand the demolition of the fast reactor experiment and visited the site of the latest building to be removed from the skyline - the site's former security office known as D9973.
Simon Middlemas has been appointed as the new Director of the nuclear decommissioning site at Dounreay in succession to Norman Harrison. Simon has been Acting Director since August 2006 and prior to that he was Deputy Director.
Mey Selections beef and lamb will now be available to restaurants and hoteliers in Caithness and Sutherland via Harrold Bros Butchers in Wick. On the 20th February Danny Miller, the Chairman of North Highland Products presented Neil Harrold with a signed Mey Selections Licensee certificate for display in Harrold's premises in Wick.
The e-petition asking the Prime Minister to "Scrap the planned vehicle tracking and road pricing policy" has now closed. This is a response from the Prime Minister, Tony Blair.
New laws come into effect later this year which mean that anyone who wants to run a gambling business in Scotland, including local betting shops, amusement arcades, bingo halls and casinos, must apply for a licence. The Gambling Commission will be responsible for licensing and regulating gambling in Britain under the Gambling Act 2005 which comes into force on 1 September 2007.
A major report, published today (Wednesday 21 February 2007), sets out the case for a review of the Crown Estate in Scotland so that the resources involved, including Scotland's seabed and much of its foreshore, produce greater benefits for local communities. The report - ~The Crown Estate in Scotland ~ New Opportunities for Public Benefits - has been produced by the Crown Estate Review Working Group, which consists of representatives of all six local authorities covering the Highlands and Islands as well as Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE), and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA).
The Pulteneytown electoral ward has shown an increase over last month recording 64 males and 22 females registered as unemployed. This compares to the previous month of December when the figures were 57 Males and 22 Females.
UNEMPLOYMENT DIGEST SUMMARY The January 2007 unemployment figures were released on 14th February 2007. During the month, December 2006 to January 2007, the number of people claiming unemployment benefit in Great Britain rose by 4.6%, from 897,758 to 938,625 (40,867 claimants).
Small businesses and entrepreneurs throughout Caithness and Sutherland are being urged to grasp a unique opportunity to help boost future company growth, by tapping into a ready-made resource based within UHI Millennium Institute that helps companies crystallise opportunities to move the business forward. This free service - a ground-breaking university-based initiative called HI Links, is a three-year project funded by a SEEKIT grant from the Scottish Executive, Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) and UHI.
UKAEA was fined £140,000 at Wick Sheriff Court today having plead guilty last week to four breaches of the Radioactive Substances Act 1960 between 1963 and 1984. UKAEA expects to announce in May the preferred option for the retrieval of radioactive particles from the environment around Dounreay.
Scrap metal from the strip-out of the Prototype Fast Reactor (PFR) secondary sodium circuit cells is being re-used by UKAEA at the T3uk purpose built trials centre at Janetstown, on the outskirts of Thurso. The redundant steel sections, once used to support pipework within the cells, were identified for re-use to assist with other Dounreay decommissioning projects.
DOUNREAY DIRECTOR NAMED AS NEW CHIEF EXECUTIVE Norman Harrison, currently acting chief operating officer of UKAEA, has been appointed its chief executive officer. A chemist by profession, he was appointed director of Dounreay in 2003.
Public Meeting Thursday 15th February at 6.00pm - Royal Hotel Public Exhibition Thursday 15th February from 2.00pm Options to agree the physical condition of the land that will be available after the Dounreay site has been decommissioned - the site end state - will be the subject of a public meeting. This will allow the Dounreay Stakeholder Group (DSG) to draft a recommendation for consideration by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA).
Highland councilors will be asked at a meeting of the Resources committee on 14th February 2007 in Inverness to approve the use of contractors who are registered with Constructionline, an Approved List register of assessed companies. See www.constructionline.co.uk Several councils and other public bodies in Scotland already require contractors and consultants in the construction industry to be registered with Constructionline as part of the pre-qualification requirements when applying for property-related construction tenders.
Norman Harrison, currently acting Chief Operating Officer for the UK Atomic Energy (UKAEA), has been appointed as the new Chief Executive Officer with effect from 1 February 2007. Announcing the appointment, UKAEA Chairman Barbara Thomas Judge said: "I am delighted that Norman has been chosen as our new Chief Executive.
UKAEA pleaded guilty on 6 February 2007 at Wick Sheriff Court to four charges under the Radioactive Substances Act 1960. The charges related to the disposal of radioactive waste to a landfill site at Dounreay between 1963 and 1975, and the release of particles from the site to the environment on dates between 1963 and 1984.
A golf enthusiast from Wick has been using his networking skills to help build a range of new contacts for future business. John Hunter owns and runs Hunter's Promotions Ltd, along with his wife Christine.