In June The Caithness Collection were delighted to announce that two more of their Modern Apprentices completed their SVQ Level 3 in Hospitality Supervision and Leadership in collaboration with North Highland College UHI(NHC).
Emma Farmer and David Henderson both completed their qualification by attending NHC while gaining experience working with The Caithness Collection in their three hotels, The Norseman Hotel Wick, Castletown Hotel and The Pentland Hotel Thurso. They worked in each of the key departments, gaining experience at the coal face and working through to leading the teams to equip for their future career in management.
Andrew Mackay, Owner of The Caithness Collection, said: “It has been very rewarding for us to help Emma and David mature in their roles and to see them learn the theory in the classroom and put it into practice almost immediately, testing themselves in a safe yet challenging environment. The NHC has been fantastic in leading them through the challenges and getting them Industry ready for their future roles in hospitality.
Donald MacBeath, Principal of North Highland College UHI commented “I was delighted to learn of the successful outcomes achieved by both Emma and David. I feel they have both taken full advantage of the excellent training opportunities made available to them through the strong partnership relationship between The Caithness Collection and North Highland College. I congratulate them both and wish them every success in their future careers in the Hospitality sector.“
Emma and David look forward to graduating in September with their qualifications and have taken up management roles within The Caithness Collection.
Mental health and employee wellbeing has been put at the forefront of the agenda at Dounreay.
The organisation has recognised the benefits of a mentally and physically healthy workplace that takes care of its people and nurtures a supportive working environment.
Actions have been put in place focusing on health and wellbeing, featuring a number of principle areas from demonstrating management buy-in, to implementing new and updated policies and equipping line managers with the tools and confidence to have conversations about mental health.
Events have been organised during the year such as a walk at work challenge – encouraging everyone to get away from their workstation at lunchtime, walk 5,000 steps and be rewarded with a healthy snack at the end. Despite terrible weather conditions there was a great turnout.
A wellbeing room has also been opened, providing easily accessible information for everyone about the importance of physical and mental wellbeing. It also offers an insight into what you can do to help yourself, as well as providing outlining support that is available.
Recognising the different ways in which people can improve their personal wellbeing, Dounreay is also supporting a corporate scheme with High Life Highland, enabling DSRL staff and their families to benefit from a 10% reduction in the cost of local gym and swimming pool membership.
Kirsty McIntosh, Dounreay’s Occupational Health Clinical Services Manager, says: “Wellbeing is a complex issue and a relatively new topic of discussion for staff at Dounreay. One activity and one success will not solve it, it is about creating a culture and environment which supports future discussions and decisions to support individual wellbeing.
“This is an area of work the team at Dounreay passionately believes in and is one that not only has the potential to benefit the workforce in the future, but is already helping and supporting individuals today.”
Caithness this week played host to Chief Executives from Chambers across Scotland, as Caithness Chamber hosted the Scottish Chambers of Commerce Chief Executives Forum for the first time. As well as the meeting itself, the two-day excursion saw the visitors treated to a tour of the county and a sample of what the area has to offer.
The Forum gives an opportunity for the Chief Executives of Chambers around Scotland to come together and discuss the issues affecting all businesses, as well as to share the unique challenges and opportunities they each face in their respective areas.
Despite it being the height of holiday season, the Chief Executives were keen to make the effort to take time out to travel to Caithness to help them better understand the issues faced by businesses in the region.
The whistle-stop tour of the county, carried out in style in a minibus provided by Blargoans, started with a private tour of the Castle of Mey, with the Chief Executives inspired by the sensitive treatment of the history and heritage of the Castle.
The visitors were then treated to a tour of the Dunnet Bay Distillers distillery and visitor centre. The Chief Executives were highly impressed at the scale and rapid growth of the business, as well as the quality of the product and visitor experience. The tour was then rounded off with a quick visit to the famous signpost at John O’Groats – a quintessential part of the Caithness visitor experience.
The day was rounded off with a top-notch meal at Mackays Hotel, followed by an early night prior to the main business of the meeting on Tuesday. As a parting gift, the visiting Chief Executives were presented with a goody bag containing samples of Rock Rose Gin, Ice & Fire Distillery “Caithness Raiders” Rum, and chocolates from CoCo Campervans – Chocolatier.
Val Russell, Chief Executive of Ayrshire Chamber of Commerce and Chair of the Chief Executives Forum said: “Despite the weather, a wonderfully well organised visit with great hospitality, exposing us to the best of what the area has to offer both in products and tourism attractions. We met some truly inspirational members of Caithness Chamber of Commerce, who gave us a warm welcome. Many of us will be returning for a longer visit.”
Trudy Morris, Chief Executive of Caithness Chamber of Commerce, said: “This was a fantastic opportunity for us to showcase some of the best of what this area has to offer. We really appreciate the Chief Executives of Chambers from across Scotland taking the time out of their busy schedules to come to Caithness and see firsthand the unique challenges and opportunities that come with doing business in the North Highlands.”
Thurso-based non-profit organisation Cyber Security Scotland has created a cyber security standard that will be adopted by every public body in Scotland.
Dr Keith Nicholson, founder and Executive Chair of Cyber Security Scotland explains: “We were commissioned by the Scottish Government to develop a framework that combined over a dozen different security standards and guidelines into a single model that public bodies could follow to ensure compliance with standards such as Cyber Essentials, GDPR and ISO27001. This has not been attempted previously and it was a significant and complex task to build the model.”
The Cyber Resilience Framework created by Cyber Security Scotland has been issued to over 120 organisations – feedback has been 100% positive. Comments such as “an impressive piece of work, an example of Scottish innovation” were not unusual such has been the high praise for the framework.
“We’re really pleased with the response” said Dr Nicholson “It took several months of hard work to develop the model, so to receive such acclaim is very rewarding.” The innovative approach taken by Dr Nicholson has been recognised outside Scotland; the model has been positively considered by the UK National Cyber Security Centre and the Scottish Government has received enquiries from as far away as Australia.
This work follows an earlier extensive piece of work by Cyber Security Scotland to create a standardised cyber security policy and guidance for every health board in Scotland.
“We have more work to do” explained Dr Nicholson, “we’re working with local firm Navertech to develop a self-assessment tool for public bodies to evaluate their cyber security status and creating a uniform auditing procedure. Once this programme of work is completed, Cyber Security Scotland will have developed standards and cyber security models for every public body in Scotland, something that gives us great pride and satisfaction.”
AN international technology-led services and payments specialist as the newest tenant to Thurso Business Park.
Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) has developed the site to enable local firms to expand and to attract new companies into the area.
Equiniti Group plc is the latest company to move in, bringing its 32 employees to William Smith House.
The firm provides non-discretionary payment and administration services to some of the world’s best-known brands and UK’s largest public-sector organisations. Its EQPaymaster division is one of the largest providers of outsourced pension administration in the UK.
Equiniti supports around nine million pension scheme members and pays around 20 per cent of UK pensioners, delivering £25 billion in payments to 3.5 million pensioners and annuitants in 2017.
The company’s Caithness office administers pensions for the nuclear industry clients UKAEA and Combined Nuclear Pension Plan (CNPP).
Equiniti says the move to Thurso Business Park will enhance the company’s capabilities and help support the future expansion of its Caithness workforce.
Julie McGee, senior development manager at HIE’s Caithness and Sutherland area team, said:
“We are delighted to support Equiniti in moving to Thurso Business Park. The move gives the team room to expand and opens up the prospect of further job creation.
“This is a good move for the company and good news for the local economy and for Thurso Business Park.”
Sa Campbell, operations manager at Equiniti, said: “As part of our growth plans, the decision to move in to the excellent facilities at William Smith House in Thurso Business Park was an important one.
“Equiniti takes great pride in its Caithness links and views the move to a larger office facility as a great positive, enabling us to further develop our plans for future growth.
“Now that our award-winning pension administration platform, Compendia Touch, is operational, the team has the opportunity to take on more contracts, in addition to the existing work. This in turn will provide local people the opportunity to work in an environment which is continually evolving.”
More than 300 people are now employed at Thurso Business Park, working for companies such as AGM Batteries and Denchi Power, which jointly occupy Denchi House; BT Plc, which has a call centre in Alexander Bain House; and Wolfburn, which operates its whisky distillery from the park.
Only two plots remain on the park. A third plot is currently under construction.
Source: www.johnogroat-journal.co.uk
LYTH Arts Centre has plenty to celebrate ahead of its summer programme with the announcement that audience figures have reached an all-time high.
With the venue coming to the end of its spring season, the team yesterday revealed a record number of visitors to its events, gigs and performances. This comes after a rebrand which saw the launch of a new-look website and a brochure which was delivered to every household in Caithness.
The centre’s marketing manager, Calvin Wilson, said: “The rebrand and new website have been revolutionary – we’ve had a 50 per cent increase in website traffic since we launched the site which is much more user-friendly. We’ve also absorbed all booking fees and reduced ticket prices which helps more people get along to events.”
Between March and June, Lyth Arts Centre had 2209 visitors, which is over double the same period in 2018. As well as attracting hundreds of first-time visitors, Lyth hosted 20 sold-out performances from theatre companies and bands from across Scotland and the world.
The team have put some of this down to new events which included hosting their first performance for audiences with profound and multiple learning difficulties, their first show for audiences with profound autism, a new line-up of Scottish documentaries and special food and ticket deals with Whaligoe Steps Café.
Charlotte Mountford and Tom Barnes were employed to run the arts centre as co-directors from November 2017 and they said they were delighted to receive open-project funding from Creative Scotland over 2018/19 “to bring cutting-edge theatre, music, dance and much more to Caithness”.
Lyth – Scotland’s most northerly mainland arts centre – opens its summer season this week with gigs by Moishe’s Bagel and Ivan Drever and a new exhibition. A summer brochure is available to order online or can be picked up in various locations across the county.
A new autumn brochure with details about events from September onwards will be posted through every home in Caithness in the next few weeks.
Source: John O’Groat Journal
The latest Scottish Chambers of Commerce (SCC) Quarterly Economic Indicator survey for Q2 of 2019 shows businesses continuing to face difficulties due to prolonged uncertainty around the UK’s position in relation to the European Union. This along with rising business costs and a global economic slowdown are factors discouraging businesses from investing or expanding in Scotland.
- On Wage Increases: Every sector in the survey increased wages over the quarter apart from retail, showing that firms are having to pay more to retain the talent as the supply of skilled workers eases.
- On Cost Rises: The majority of sectors have reported rising costs pressures from raw material prices and from overheads related to Brexit preparations. 64% of manufacturing firms and 52% of construction firms listed rising raw material prices as their top cost pressure.
- On Brexit: Manufacturing has faced the biggest impact from Brexit uncertainty as stockpiling in Q1 means capacity utilisation was at its lowest level in ten years.
Nevertheless, Scottish companies are getting on with the day job and demonstrating resilience in the face of persistent challenges. Overall business confidence has made a slight recovery on Q1 when the UK faced a cliff-edge Brexit but is generally lower than the same period last year.
Commenting on the results, Tim Allan, Chairman of the Scottish Business Advisory Group and President of Scottish Chambers of Commerce, said:
“Businesses are weighing the costs of the chaos caused by more dithering over Brexit and the burden is severe. Our members are crying out for the return of some sanity as they undertake the important role of creating jobs and paying taxes.
“Whoever the next Prime Minister will be, they must take brisk action to unlock investment and instil confidence back into the UK economy. Scottish businesses need to see steps being taken to avoid a disorderly Brexit and a responsible consensus reached as soon as possible on the Brexit process with the European Union.”
On the UK’s Exit from the European Union, Tim Allan, said:
“Since the initial cliff edge Brexit of 29th of March, the pressure on firms has eased slightly but the underlying trends point to an economy running on fumes. The majority of firms for all sectors in the survey are putting off investment and say this trend will continue over the summer months. All are desperate for some kind of resolution to Brexit before the October 31st deadline.
“A future government must be quick out of the blocks to work with the business community in tackling some of the most pressing problems holding back investment, growth and productivity.”
On Investment, Tim Allan, said:
“Companies in Scotland are facing a barrage of challenges including rising costs and recruitment difficulties. They remain extra cautious about investment which is bedding in risk that the Scottish economy will suffer in the medium and long term.
“In the majority of sectors, we are seeing investment being put on hold and firms are saying that they expect that to continue in the next quarter. When firms are having to hold back on investment decisions, it delays major projects, growth, and limits overall productivity of the economy.”
On Recruitment, Tim Allan, said:
“Although some sectors are reporting fewer difficulties finding staff relative to recent quarters, businesses continue to report persistent challenges in recruitment. Over 80% of tourism firms are attempting to recruit staff, with nearly 70% of these firms facing difficulties in doing so.
“Recent research has shown that 2018 was the first year since 2007 that the number of EU nationals in employment in Scotland fell. We would urge the UK Government to ensure that the future immigration system takes into consideration the necessity for firms in Scotland to be able to access talent as efficiently and seamlessly as possible.
“Our members also want to see public and private investment into ongoing learning and continuous professional development to ensure Scotland’s workforce is fully skilled at all levels of their career.”
On Exporting and International Business, Tim Allan, said:
“Manufacturing has faced the biggest impact from Brexit uncertainty as stockpiling in Q1 means capacity utilisation was at its lowest level in ten years in the most recent survey.
“Domestic and export sales declined and remain below trend as exchange rate volatility added to cost pressures. We must pull out all the stops to make the most of Scotland’s future exporting potential and attract investment from abroad, helping to limit any impact of Brexit and maximise Scotland’s economic output.”
Professor Graeme Roy, Director at the University of Strathclyde’s Fraser of Allander Institute, said:
“With unemployment at a near record low in Scotland, the survey is starting to pick up evidence of pay pressures on the rise. Many sectors also noted increasing recruitment difficulties. This seems to be a particular issue for some sectors. For example, among tourism firms, 7 out of 10 recruiting firms reported challenges, with more than half of firms in manufacturing facing similar issues.”
A THURSO based company is at the forefront of creating a greener, cleaner and more efficient rail network with its contribution to Britain’s first hydrogen-powered train.
Denchi Group supplied specialist SLICE batteries for the HydroFLEX train that had a trial run last week at an event in the West Midlands called Rail Live 2019.
Derek Campbell, the company’s operations and finance director said: “It’s great for the Denchi team to be part of the HydroFLEX project and see the results come to life in the recent trial.
“Energy storage is a fast growing market and I’m delighted our hard-working team from Caithness is at the forefront of delivering this technology.”
Based at Thurso Business Park, the Denchi Group have been operating there since 2014 and employ 45 people – some of whom have experience stretching back 30 years. The core business has been Lithium-Ion battery packs for military equipment such as radio communications and the company is the sole supplier for the UK Army’s standard radio battery.
Andrew Cowie, SLICE product manager at Denchi said “We have been working on SLICE for over two years. To have it make its successful debut on such an important project as HydroFLEX is testament to the engineering skills and battery know-how that we have.”
The mainline testing of the hydrogen-powered train marks an important step in the development of a zero-carbon emission propulsion system that could help to decarbonise Britain’s railway system.
In the pilot run, a hydrogen powerpack was fitted to an existing Class 319 train resulting in a highly flexible vehicle with the potential to operate on different parts of Britain’s rail network.
Two hydrogen-powered trains currently operate in Germany and the UK is looking to become one of the next countries to start running them.
Unlike diesel trains, hydrogen-powered trains do not emit harmful gases, instead using hydrogen and oxygen to produce electricity, water and heat. In the test, the hydrogen tanks, fuel cell and SLICE batteries sat inside carriages but the equipment will have to be stored away above and beneath the train in future commercial models.
The 614.4V lithium iron phosphate batteries form a critical part of the system and have a total of 92kWh of energy storage – equivalent to boiling 60 2kw kettles simultaneously for 45 minutes.
Mr Cowie said “ SLICE has a great future in the renewables and smart power sectors, but now this project shows a key future role in the decarbonisation of transportation.”
A quarter of the UK’s trains run solely off diesel and the government wants them phased out by 2040.
The Hydroflex train will start running tests on the UK mainline from March under the auspices of rolling stock company Porterbrook and in partnership with Birmingham University’s centre for Railway Research.
Source: John O’Groat Journal
With much uncertainty remaining around Brexit, and the deadline date of 31 October fast approaching, the Europe Direct Information Centre (EDIC) for the North Highlands & Islands is aware that many across the region still have concerns about how Brexit will impact them.
To help address these concerns and provide the most up-to-date information on the current state of play with Brexit, the EDIC team will be hosting a series of drop-in events across the North Highlands & Islands over the course of July.
These events will be open to anyone with concerns or questions about Brexit or other European issues, and will take place from 10:00-16:00 on the following dates:
- 3 July 2019 – Wick, East Caithness Community Facility
- 5 July 2019 – Thurso, Thurso Library
- 10 July 2019 – Kirkwall, Orkney Library
- 17 July 2019 – Tongue, Tongue Hall
- 29 July 2019 – Dornoch, Dornoch Library
No registration is required, just drop in on the day to meet the team and find out more. Anyone looking for more information, or who has concerns but is unable to attend one of the events, can contact the EDIC team direct on europedirect@caithnesschamber.com or by calling 01847 500108.