Weekly update, 15th January 2018

Enabling activities:
It is always great to see an innovative Caithness company being recognised – this time Norscot Joinery, whose partnership with Strathclyde University through the Interface programme, is up for Innovation of the Year in the 2018 Scottish Knowledge Exchange Awards. http://www.bqlive.co.uk/scotland/2018/01/11/news/scottish-knowledge-exchange-awards-finalists-announced-29865/

Business Gateway (managed in the Highlands by CNSRP partner the Highland Council) will be running two workshops for businesses interested in boosting their digital profile. “Facebook for Business” and “LinkedIn for Business” will both run on 1st February in Thurso – for joining details please see https://www.bgateway.com/events/7057/facebook-for-business-intermediate-digitalboost and https://www.bgateway.com/events/7058/linkedin-for-business-intermediate-digitalboost

And on a similar theme, great to see Chris Aitken leading Scotland’s first “Girls Make Games” event in Wick. These hands-on events are designed to inspire the next generation of designers, creators, and engineers, and builds from the knowledge that whilst 49% of gamers are female, only 12% of the gaming industry is female. More about this California-based organisation is at http://girlsmakegames.com/index.html

Also coming up soon is a “Switched on @ Work” event hosted at the Castle of Mey and delivered by the Energy Saving Trust, which will give businesses the opportunity to find out more about “ultra-low emission vehicles” and to discuss interest-free loans for electric vehicles, fuel efficient driver training for electric vehicles and grant funding for home and workplace charging infrastructure. To book a place on this free workshop email accounts@castleofmey.org.uk or phone Diane on 01847 851473. For more information on the Switched on @ Work programme see http://bit.ly/2t9KYLS

Communications:
As part of an ongoing process of helping communicate progress with the delivery of aspects of our economic transition programme CNSRP’s partners work together to generate news stories for local, regional and national media. I also speak on a regular basis to individuals and organisations across the area to update on progress. This week:

The CNSRP Executive Board met this week. The Board brings together the Chief Executives of Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Highland Council, Caithness Chamber of Commerce with senior representatives from Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, Cavendish Dounreay Partnership, Skills Development Scotland and Scottish Government under the independent chairmanship of Sir Anthony Cleaver. The meeting looked at the strategic direction for partnership activities, and considered the risks and mitigations for the projects in the CNSRP Programme for 2017-2020. The Board also heard an update on the forthcoming recruitment for a successor to Sir Anthony Cleaver as independent chair. Sir Anthony has served as chair for ten years, and all partners have acknowledged how difficult it will be to recruit such a well-connected, influential successor.

This week saw the publication of articles authored by two journalists (from Denmark and Spain) following their visit to Caithness last December to look at the impact of Dounreway and its decommissioning. Part one of the article focuses on voices from the Dounreay site (including June Love who is seconded to help CNSRP work on inward investment) https://euroscopemag.eu/goodbye-dounreay-it-is-going-to-be-the-biggest-shock-when-we-announce-the-first-load-of-redundancies/ And part two includes comments from me on the economic future of the area and opportunities identified by CNSRP partners. https://euroscopemag.eu/goodbye-dounreay-new-jobs-could-be-found-in-space-under-the-ocean-or-in-the-air/ It’s pleasing to see how the area, and the process on which we area embarked, are viewed from outside the area.