Members News - Page 13 of 29 - Caithness Chamber of Commerce

The May Executive Magazine is out now!

You can read it online, this month includes our usual quarterly Caithness Chamber Newsletter.

Read the full magazine here and see the Caithness Chamber Newsletter from page 23.

The Newsletter includes updates from;

Reading through the magazine, you’ll spot even more members! Andrew Mackay from the Caithness Collection & Mackays Hotel, Wick discuss Staycations being a saviour for the hospitality industry and Sharon Wooller from Dava Dawn explains more about Health and Safety in our businesses.

Editorial inclusion in the quarterly Chamber Newsletter within Executive Magazine is free of charge while members also receive exclusive discounts on advertising within the magazine. To discuss including your next good news story or advert, please just get in touch. info@caithnesschamber.com

State-of-the-art robotic technology will be used as part of an innovative project led by Cavendish Nuclear, to transform the way nuclear waste material is sorted – more safely, quicker and at lower cost.

Cavendish Nuclear, a wholly owned subsidiary of Babcock International Group, has won funding for its new OptiSORT system, which will be carried as part of an industry-wide partnership including Bristol Robotics Laboratory.

The funding forms phase 1 of a 2 part competition awarded by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), in partnership with Innovate UK1 to fund innovative ideas that will lead to cheaper, safer and faster ways of sorting and segregating radioactive waste. At the heart of the project is an innovative technology package, which will feature the integration of multiple sensors and real-time decision making, using machine learning and artificial intelligence algorithms.

Tony Burnett, Head of Innovation and Technology for Cavendish Nuclear said,

“The use of this technology will be brand new and is not something currently carried out on nuclear sites.” Along with Bristol Robotics, the OptiSORT partnership includes Clifton Photonics Ltd., Imitec Ltd, Fraunhofer Centre for Applied Photonics, Structure Vision Ltd. and Acrovision Ltd.
The collaboration brings together extensive experience and capabilities in the selection and use of instrumentation for radiometric and chemical characterisation, spatial and visual identification and software tools for efficient packaging, and robotic/autonomous systems, to deliver a holistic and integrated solution to the challenge.

Tony added: “It’s the strength of this partnership along with the technology that is really bringing the innovation to life. Our goal is
to develop something that will save time, reduce risks and costs to make a significant contribution to achieving Nuclear Sector Deal2
objectives. OptiSORT is a significant technological leap forward and has the potential to transform the speed and efficiency at
which we can decommission complex redundant nuclear facilities.”

An initial £60,000 (including VAT) of funding has been provided to Cavendish Nuclear and to thirteen other consortia, to undertake the three month technical research and development feasibility study. Following conclusion of Phase 1 in late May, the consortia will compete for a number of contracts to take the concept to the next stage, which is to demonstrate system operation. This will involve developing and demonstrating a full scale prototype in a non-radioactive environment.

North Highland College UHI - Logo

North Highland College UHI is a partner in the University of the Highlands and Islands and a leading college of further and higher education offering training, education and skills development opportunities from access to PhD level. The college has gone through major expansion over recent years and we are proud to have four campuses serving the north of Scotland.

The Board of Management of the North Highland College Board sets the overall strategic direction of the College and is responsible for its corporate governance. Membership of the College Board is an excellent way to share your knowledge and expertise to help the Board address the needs of students, employers and other stakeholders.

The Board seeks to appoint up to four independent members from a broad range of backgrounds and a range of sectors who can demonstrate:

experience and knowledge in areas of relevance to the College such as Accountancy, Audit, ICT, Law, Estates Management, SMEs, the third sector, renewable energy, industry, and General Executive Management. However, applications from other disciplines are welcomed.
a willingness to give time and energy to assist with the effective governance of the College.
a commitment of around 120 hours per academic year for Full Board and Committee duties.

Membership of the Board is unremunerated, however, reasonable expenses incurred for Board business will be reimbursed.

In line with our Equality and Diversity policy, North Highland College UHI is committed to ensuring that all candidates are treated on the basis of their merits and abilities, and that unfair and unlawful discrimination is eliminated. The Board positively welcomes applications from all sections of the community and is committed to reflecting the community it serves.

All Board positions are subject to Enhanced Disclosure checks with Disclosure Scotland upon appointment. Members are also asked to sign up to a Code of Conduct, and to formally register any interests which may have a bearing on their work for the Board.

If you would like to be considered for membership, please send your CV and a covering letter outlining the qualities you could bring to the North Highland College Board of Management, to Fiona Sinclair, Secretary to the Board of Management by email: Fiona.sinclair@uhi.ac.uk

For an informal discussion about the role, please also contact Fiona.sinclair@uhi.ac.uk

Closing date: Friday 23^rd April 2021

On Wednesday 23rd March, we were joined by Dr Debra Carr from The Defence & Security Accelerator (DASA).

DASA, which is part of the Ministry of Defence, finds, funds and fast-tracks ideas that are of interest to HM Armed Forces and UK Security. DASA’s Scottish based Innovation Partner, Dr Debra Carr briefed participants on the funding opportunities available and Gary Webster from Glic Ltd spoke about the success they’d had using the DASA service and being awarded funding.

Get an overview of DASA and the services they can offer with this quick bites video:

Learn more about DASA by contacting Dr Debra Carr direct or by navigating their website. You can also see previous projects which have been awarded funding through DASA here. Contact Debra by email on: djcarr@dasa.service.mod.uk.

See the presentation that was given as part of the event here and download a copy here.

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Cavendish Nuclear, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Babcock International Group, has been awarded a £2.8m contract to deliver modifications to Dounreay’s existing processing facility, which will support the site’s strategy to safely decommission the site and reduce hazards.
The contract is to develop a scheme design and a Hazard and Operability Analysis 2 (HAZOP) study for an extension to the processing facility within the Fuel Cycle Area and to modify existing equipment to enable the safe extraction and packaging of nuclear material ready for export from the site.

Working in collaboration with Mott MacDonald and small-medium-enterprises Alpha Engineering and 3T Safety Consultants and with support from Frazer-Nash, the contract is expected to last around 13 months and forms part of the Decommissioning Services Framework.

Gary Ward, Cavendish Nuclear’s Business Unit Director, said, “Along with our partners, we are pleased to have secured another important contract. This builds on our ongoing commitment to supporting Dounreay’s overarching priority to safely reduce the hazards on the site.”

Budding Engineers CIC - Logo

GD Energy Services Ltd based in Caithness have donated seven brand new Lenovo Chromebooks to Budding Engineers CIC along with some used IT equipment for refurbishment.

The new devices along with the refurbished items will be issued to families in need in Caithness to allow the children to participate in their schools current and future online learning programmes.

GDES_Budding_News_Item

Picture above showing GDES team handing over one of the new devices to Dave & Liz Kerr of Budding Engineers.

An historic mill on the outskirts of Castletown could be transformed after it was bought by a Caithness business.

Martin Murray, the co-founder of Dunnet Bay Distillery, says it offers “exciting potential” for the award-winning firm – though he stressed there was much work to do to bring the plans to fruition.

Mr Murray confirmed that the business had bought the 200-year-old mill building and surrounding land opposite the Castletown beach.

He said the company, which owns the Rock Rose Gin and Holy Grass Vodka brands, is considering applying for planning permission for the site, which would include refurbishment of the dilapidated, listed mill building.

The aim is to create “further resources” for the expanding business. The distillery products sell strongly across Scotland and the rest of the UK and are also being exported to around 24 countries across the world.

Mr Murray, who started the company with his wife Claire in 2014, said:”We are at the early stages of this particular development, which offers exciting potential for our business and for the local community, not least as our future development plans include the employment of more staff. However, there is much work to do before we will be in a position to make any announcement.”

Dunnet Bay Distillers has gone from strength to strength over the past seven years, winning a number of awards.

A year after they started up Rock Rose gin it took the award for the best new business at the Highlands & Islands Food & Drink Awards.

The same year Dunnet Bay Distillers was also featured among the prize-winners at the Great Taste Awards and the Global Gin Masters, while Rock Rose was chosen as the best new launch design at the World Gin Awards.

In 2016, the company won the new product category at the Highlands & Islands Food & Drinks awards, this time for its Holy Grass vodka.

The three-storey mill dates from the early 1800s but has been lying empty for a long time. Over the years, a few plans have been mooted for the building and did not materialise – but that could be about to change.

A brief update from Fibre 1;

At the start of December Fibre 1 were shortlisted for Reseller of the Year at Comms Business Awards. Although we did not win the award, to be shortlisted and in the top 3 out of 200 businesses at such an early stage in the business is an incredible achievement for Fibre 1 and we are so pleased to have been shortlisted and recognised for such an esteemed award. It is a massive achievement for us and we could not be more proud of the hard work accomplished to get us there.

Moving into 2021 many businesses have taken the decision to close offices and work from home permanently, this means being connected and able to effectively communicate is vital. Microsoft Teams is a great tool to enhance easy remote working. We can fully integrate with Microsoft Teams, allowing you to instantly have remote working enabled for your users with your current VoIP system.

We are on hand to ensure you are best equipped to adjust to what your new normal will be and offer more flexibility in remote working.

Teams Integration will allow your users to make and receive calls wherever they are with the added collaboration benefits of: File Sharing, Screen Sharing, Video Calling and Instant Chat. No extra software or hardware is required to get you up and running on Teams and includes your existing bundled minutes. All that is required is an additional licence to enable Teams integration which compliments your VoIP phones to provide users a physical desk phone whilst in the office and Teams for calls when out of office.

For more information;
info@fibre1.uk
0800 9890 052

The February Executive Magazine is out now!

You can read it online, this month includes our usual quarterly Caithness Chamber Newsletter.

Read the full magazine here and see just the Caithness Chamber Newsletter here or read below.

The Newsletter includes updates from;

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Executive Magazine May 2021

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