Weekly Update 8th November 2010

• I was involved in both of the two Wave and Tidal Developer Days held in Thurso this week. Over 400 people came to the Pentland Hotel during Tuesday and Wednesday to meet the Pentland Firth Round 1 companies, as well as staff from Crown Estate, Marine Scotland, SNH, National Grid and Scottish & Southern Energy. The partners in CNSRP were well represented, ensuring that there was always someone on hand to talk about the Partnership’s priorities. As well as being a fantastic opportunity for local people to find out more about the potential from this developing marine energy industry, it was also an opportunity for the Pentland Firth companies to see at first hand the level of interest from Caithness and north Sutherland. The feedback from both attendees and exhibitors has been very good. Congratulations to Duncan Mackay and his colleagues for bringing the event to fruition.
• Also preparing for next week’s Advisory Board meeting, at which members will hear updates on both the newly-started “Invest Caithness” project and the Scrabster Harbour development.
• I met with colleagues from the NDA to discuss the ongoing PBO Competition for Dounreay, and also to discuss recent approvals from the NDA’s socio-economic fund. I also met with a representative from Caithness Solutions, one of the two consortiums bidding to win the Dounreay contract.
• Tomorrow I will be attending the AGM of North Highland Regeneration Fund. This loan fund was set up with support from the NDA, and has proved to be a very useful source of loan funding for local businesses. The AGM is open to the public, and will take place tomorrow, Friday 12th November, at 10.00am at Caithness Horizons, Thurso.
• Tomorrow I will also be meeting with colleagues from Thurso & Wick Trades Council to discuss our projected job creation/ retention figures for the past three years.