Thurso area to benefit from RES wind farm scheme

The Pentland Floating Offshore Wind Farm (PFOWF) has joined the Caithness Chamber of Commerce as a diamond partner – the highest level of membership.

This will support the Chamber in its mission to create a vibrant business community within the North Highlands and maximise the opportunities the project will bring to the area.

The PFOWF is a 100-MW project being developed off the coast of Dounreay in Scotland which once completed, will generate enough clean electricity for almost 70,000 homes, approximately 65% of those in the Highland Council area.

Scheduled to be operational by 2026, the development will test and demonstrate new floating wind technology solutions which will reduce costs, accelerate industrialisation and offer learnings for future ScotWind projects and floating offshore wind globally.

Commenting on new membership, Richard Copeland, Project Director said:

“Highlighting our ongoing commitment to the region, our membership will allow us to engage further with the local supply chain in Caithness and beyond, providing opportunities to promote the wider benefits of the project, both during construction, and when operational.

“As part of our plans to work with local suppliers, we look forward to building a partnership with the Chamber to deliver social and economic benefits wherever possible; from the development of our O&M base at Scrabster Harbour to the wider infrastructure and support services the project will generate.

“We’ll also look to collaborate on skills initiatives through local colleges to provide provision for apprenticeships and training that bring further employment to the area. Complementary to this, is our education and training fund which will assist local school students going on to study STEM courses in further and higher education.”

Trudy Morris, Chief Executive at Caithness Chamber of Commerce, added: “We are delighted to welcome Pentland Floating Offshore Wind Farm as Diamond Premier Partners. This cements the importance given to maximising opportunities for the local supply chain and wider community and is a significant commitment by the organisation. We look forward to working with the team to help realise the opportunities for businesses, communities and our young people.

“This will be a transformational project for the region as offshore wind developments such as the Pentland Floating Offshore Wind Farm play a key role in helping Scotland and the UK reach their net zero targets as well as create jobs and drive investment in skills and infrastructure.”

www.pentlandfloatingwind.com

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The developer of a major new offshore windfarm has joined the Caithness Chamber of Commerce with an ambition to maximise the long-term economic benefits the project will bring to the north of Scotland.

In January the West of Orkney Windfarm secured the rights to an area of seabed from the Crown Estate Scotland in the highly competitive ScotWind process, to bring forward a 2-gigawatt windfarm around 25km km north of the Sutherland coast. The project is now being developed by a joint venture comprising Corio Generation, TotalEnergies and Renewable Infrastructure Development Group (RIDG).

Scheduled to be generating electricity by 2030, the project will be capable of powering the equivalent of more than two million homes for decades to come.

The developer has now joined the Caithness Chamber of Commerce as a diamond partner – the chamber’s highest level of membership. This will help the windfarm engage with the local supply chain in Caithness and the north of Scotland and maximise the opportunities for local businesses during both construction and the longer-term operations of the project.

In October last year the project partners announced a £105 million investment initiative that will be enhanced to £140 million by third parties to support the offshore wind supply chain locally, in Scotland and across the UK ahead of a Final Investment Decision in 2026.

Commenting on the new membership, West of Orkney Windfarm Development Manager Jack Farnham said:

“Our membership of the Caithness Chamber of Commerce underlines our commitment to working closely with local businesses and the communities in the north of Scotland to maximise the long-term economic and social benefits this project will bring.

“Our ambition is to deliver up to half of the project’s content in Scotland over its lifetime and we believe the best way to achieve this is through close collaboration with industry and the communities in which we operate, supported by targeted investment where appropriate.

“We have been engaging actively with key local supply chain partners for a number of years and already the project is working closely with contractors across the Highlands and Islands.

“In September last year, we signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Scrabster Harbour Trust underscoring our commitment to support the enhancement of the port’s infrastructure and position the area to support offshore wind projects in the future.

“We have received a very warm welcome from Trudy and her team, and we look forward to working closely with the chamber to help enhance the capacity and opportunities for businesses in the north of Scotland.”

Trudy Morris, Chief Executive Officer of Caithness Chamber of Commerce said:

“We are delighted to welcome the West of Orkney Windfarm to the Chamber as a Diamond Premier Partner.  This is a significant commitment not just to the Chamber but to the local business community.  We look forward to working closely with Jack and his team over the coming years to help maximise opportunities for the local supply chain and optimise the socio-economic benefits for the region.

Offshore wind developments such as the West of Orkney Windfarm will play a key role in helping Scotland and the UK reach their net zero targets as well create a substantial number of jobs, drive investment in skills and infrastructure and deliver sizeable benefits to local communities.  It is great to see some of our members such as Scrabster Harbour already working with the West of Orkney Windfarm and one of our jobs over this next period will be to ensure other members have visibility of the opportunities that will be created through this development.”

In April the West of Orkney Windfarm published their Supply Chain Development Statement (SCDS) Outlook document.

The 21-page publication, which was submitted originally to the Crown Estate Scotland as part of the application process outlines the project’s supply chain and skills development plans, underpinned by a £140 million investment programme

Funds will be allocated across a range of initiatives, including:

• Over £9 million of direct support for the enhancement of local ports and harbour infrastructure in the north of Scotland.
• Funding design and delivery studies to allow suppliers to plan investment in additional capability and capacity and position themselves competitively against the project’s procurement requirements.
• A bespoke programme with EMEC to support innovation and cost reduction in areas specific to the West of Orkney Windfarm.
• A skills development programme over the next five years to support long term employment opportunities in the wind sector and to support the project’s ambition to achieve a 50:50 gender balance across all operations from first generation.

The document also details the partners’ commitment to spend £932 million in Scotland during development, construction and the first six years of operations, underpinned by a target of 60 percent UK content (40 percent in Scotland and 20 percent in the rest of the UK), measured over the life of the project.

www.westoforkney.com

This month, we’re thrilled to welcome Myconsultant.biz, ROSE Sustainability Ltd, Park Lodge International Ltd, Caithness Agricultural Society and Liddicoat PR Consultancy to the Chamber membership group.

We also delighted to welcome Highland Coast Hotels Collection which includes Newton Lodge, Kylesku Hotel, Royal Marine Hotel, Tongue Hotel, Royal Golf Hotel and the Plockton Inn.

To discuss membership, please reach out to our Business Development manager, Fiona Levack. You can contact Fiona by email: fiona@caithnesschamber.com. You can read about membership on the website using this link.

If you’re already a member but would like a reminder of how to get the most from your membership, Fiona will gladly go over that with you too.

Dunnet Bay Distillers has been granted Planning Permission to refurbish the 200-year-old Mill and surrounding land at Castletown, near the distillery’s headquarters.

The Caithness-based company which owns the multi-award-winning Rock Rose Gin and Holy Grass Vodka brands, acquired the historic Mill in 2021. The restoration and fit-out of the refurbished building could cost up to £4million.

The plans involve a full refurbishment of the dilapidated, listed Mill building, with a view to creating further resources for the rapidly expanding business including a visitor centre and a whisky distillery.

Dunnet Bay Distillers products sell globally, enjoying strong sales throughout Scotland and the rest of the UK as well as being distributed in 24 countries across the world.

The eco-friendly spirits company was established in 2014 by husband-and-wife team, Claire Murray and Martin Murray.

Claire Murray, co-founder and co-director of Dunnet Bay Distillers, said: “We are delighted that we now have planning permission to convert the old Mill and thank Highland Council for its decision.  We have been working hard with our plans and are looking forward to sharing them in the coming months.  The warehouse building has already commenced work and we hope to open a temporary café and small visitor area soon.”

Earlier this year, the company was granted permission to develop a temporary visitor centre, café, and shop near the site of the Old Mill.

Martin Murray, co-founder and co-director of Dunnet Bay Distillers, added: “We’re excited at the prospect of regenerating this fine old building which has lain empty for many years.   The Mill will become a Caithness landmark once again and its development will transform our already successful business.”

The company earlier this year asked anyone with connections to the Mill to get in touch to tell their personal stories about the building.  The company intends to embed the story of its history into the fabric of the building as they create a new destination on the north coast of Scotland. “We aim to make it into a local destination distillery and so the history is something we wish to remember,” said Martin Murray.

Andrea Wise, Director of Organic Architects, said: “This is a rare opportunity for a thriving local business to regenerate this landmark building which has been unable to find a user for decades. The distillery will be powered by green electricity, making it one of the most sustainable distilleries in the UK industry.” The designs will be contemporary whilst respecting the fabric and style of the old building.

The company has not yet announced when work will commence.

-ENDS-

NOTES TO EDITORS

Image link: https://we.tl/t-PA9iKV7EPI (expires in 7 days’ time)

Jo Jacobius

Dunnet Bay Distillers Press Office

c/o Axiom Communications

jo@axiom-uk.com

+44 (0)7850338998

+44 (0)208 347 8206

Leading independent accountancy and business advisory firm, Johnston Carmichael, has bolstered its private client advisory team with three new senior appointments.

Katy Burke has been appointed as director and Michael Jamieson and Roger Campbell have both been appointed as senior tax managers in the team, all working with Johnston Carmichael clients across the UK.

Known as one of the largest private client tax teams in Scotland, the team’s head count has increased by 17% over the past 12 months alone given the continued increased demand for the team’s specialist tax services.

Key growth areas include succession planning, pre-sale planning and reshaping existing family businesses in a tax efficient way, as families and businesses alike navigate a challenging economic climate and require increasingly specialist advice.

Partner and Head of Private Client Tax, Alexandra Docherty, said: “During and since the pandemic we saw increased demand for our private client tax services, as clients recognised the importance of having in place a clear tax strategy and a strong relationship with trusted advisers. Katy, Michael and Roger are highly experienced advisers who each bring specialist skills in personal tax, both advisory and compliance, and will complement our existing skilled team to drive the business forward.

“In the past year we’ve recruited 10 new advisory experts to the team, and we continue to invest in our people at all stages. As a result of our recent recruitment drive, we’re in a very strong position to capitalise on the opportunities that lie ahead for Johnston Carmichael.

The private client tax team comprises 68 staff, including three partners, across the business.

The senior appointments in recent months further augment the firm’s existing deep private client experience. They come at a time of predicted growth with increased demand for national and international advisory services.

Specialist services provided by the private client team include income tax, capital gains tax, inheritance tax planning, succession strategies, partnership taxation, global mobility, domicile and residence planning, and personal and trust taxation including trust accounting.

Johnston Carmichael has 13 offices across the UK. For further information about Johnston Carmichael visit https://johnstoncarmichael.com.

In July 2021 as you know we started a new project across the North of Scotland called Tech4tots & Teens which ran to the end of April 2022.

This was part of the Device Refurbishment Fund, funded by SCVO.

Due to the high demand of requests from families out with our boundaries, at the end of January we changed our company constitution and extended our project and all our services/activities to Scotland Wide.

Our project made quite an impact as you can see below, this includes jobs, education, numeracy, literacy, social inclusion, poverty and some children’s mental health, this has all come from the feedback we have received.

This project has now finished, and we managed to donate 475 devices across Scotland with 82 families receiving several devices, coming from the Highlands area and 2 families from Orkney.

We are now looking for different funding streams to allow us to continue with this recycling project as a rolling project, with costs rising so rapidly many more families will be turning to us for devices.

Passing on unused tech and refurbishing them contributes to net zero and climate change.

Our organisation is quite unique as there are other businesses recycling devices however not like us.