Coronavirus: Government support for SMEs

20th March 2020

Useful information for SME’s from the Institute of Directors. The link to the full article is here however, we’ve copied over the relevant information for Scottish Businesses below: Statutory Sick Pay Relief The Government has announced that it will bring forward legislation to allow SMEs to reclaim Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) paid for sickness absence […]

Find out more

Coronavirus update from Chamber Chief Executive

19th March 2020

Dear Members, These are unprecedented times and we are all having to get used to a new reality with things changing daily and even hourly right now. As a chamber, we are following the new guidelines from Government and my team and I will be working from home by Monday 23 March.  Naver Business Centre […]

Find out more

SCC comment on covid-19 announcements made by the Scottish Government

19th March 2020

On the further package of support measures for businesses, Dr Liz Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Chambers of Commerce said: “We welcome the Scottish Government’s package of increased support for businesses facing difficulties because of the coronavirus outbreak. The value of the package is around £2.2 billion and includes grants to smaller firms. The Scottish […]

Find out more

SCC welcomes £320million package of support for businesses in Scotland

16th March 2020

Commenting on the Scottish Government’s announcement of an initial package of support to help businesses being affected by the COVID-19 outbreak, Dr Liz Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Chambers of Commerce said: “As we have seen the number of cases of Covid-19 rise in Scotland, we have heard calls from increasing numbers of businesses […]

Find out more

Bright future in the pipeline for Subsea 7 in Caithness

16th March 2020

The future for Subsea 7 at its Caithness yards looks “very positive”, according to site manager Willie Watt. The company, which makes pipeline bundles for oil companies, is busy with two contracts and is tendering for other work. Mr Watt was speaking just before two towheads were due to be transferred from Wick harbour to […]

Find out more

Caithness Chamber statement on the decision from Loganair to end their Wick – Edinburgh flight service.

13th March 2020

Regular, reliable regional aviation links are critical to our region’s continued economic success.  This is a significant market failure which will have serious short, medium and long-term economic impacts.  We need and expect urgent action from Scottish Government to address these. While there are particular external pressures on the regional aviation market at the current […]

Find out more

Scottish Businesses and Coronavirus

13th March 2020

Yesterday, it was announced by UK Government that we have moved from the containment to the delay stage in the Coronavirus pandemic. Implementing the delay stage means social distancing measures have been put in place with many public gatherings of 500 or more people being cancelled and many smaller events being cancelled or postponed as […]

Find out more

Caithness Chamber of Commerce comment on UK Budget 2020

12th March 2020

Speaking about the UK Budget delivered on 11 March 2020, Trudy Morris, Chief Executive of Caithness Chamber of Commerce, said: “The Chancellor has today (11 March) announced a substantial package of measures to support individuals and businesses impacted by coronavirus. This is a welcome recognition of the unprecedented potential for economic impact that coronavirus presents. […]

Find out more

Trudy’s Leader Magazine Column March 2020

11th March 2020

Apprenticeships have vital role to play for local firms Talent attraction and retention has long been an issue facing businesses in the North Highlands, and it is one which has come into focus in recent weeks due to the UK Government’s proposed new points-based system for immigration. Whatever your position on immigration policy, there is […]

Find out more

Tourism workshops getting under way in Thurso

11th March 2020

A SERIES of tourism information workshops will be delivered in Thurso during March. The events are being run by Thurso Community Development Trust with subject areas ranging from slow tourism to information sharing. Last year, under the Discover Thurso project, more than 100 tourism providers attended successful workshops aimed at improving tourism knowledge, increasing partnership […]

Find out more