Inverness business leader who aimed to make city life better announces he is stepping down
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One of the Highlands’ most respected business leaders is to step down next year.
Stewart Nicol, chief executive of Inverness Chamber of Commerce, has announced that he will leave the role he has held for almost 15 years at next May’s Highland Business Dinner.
Mr Nicol said of his decision: “It has been an honour and a privilege to serve the business community in Inverness and across the Highlands and Islands. I look forward to the next phase of life, in particular utilising my non-executive director experience and the charity trustee roles I have held for some significant time. I will also enjoy having more time to devote to my family.”
He continued: “I reflect with a real sense of accomplishment all that I have achieved as the first full-time chief executive of Inverness Chamber of Commerce. The organisation has been transformed from a modest entity into a dynamic, resilient business which, as the strong voice of business in Inverness and the Highlands, is dedicated to actively connecting and representing businesses across the Highlands to support their growth.
“In addition to transforming the services we offer business, I’m particularly proud of the colleagues I have worked with and the team we have built over many years. I’m looking forward to supporting the board to find a successor and working with the team to ensure a smooth handover.”
Inverness Chamber of Commerce president, Andrew Stott, said: “We want to thank Stewart for his hard work and enthusiasm over the years in leading the organisation and working tirelessly on behalf of our region’s business community. He leaves an organisation which is strong and agile, with a clear focus and strategy for the way forward. The process of finding an appropriate successor will begin in earnest early in the New Year.”
As he reflected on the highs and lows of his tenure it became clear that Mr Nicol was not a man who shirked backing ventures that might ruffle a few feathers if the chamber thought they would be of wider benefit to the city and the wider Highlands.
In some quarters, for example, there is a belief that Inverness gets more than its fair share of assistance compared with the rural areas, but ge said: “I would argue that we should get more government funding because we drive the Highland economy. It is not for our benefit only.”
And he is keeping his fingers crossed that the Opportunity Cromarty Firth (OCF) consortium will be chosen as a Green Freeport any day now.
OCF is backed by port owners Port of Cromarty Firth, Global Energy Group, Port of Inverness and Highland Council alongside a dozen regional businesses, public sector organisations and academic bodies.
Mr Nicol said: “A Green Freeport will be absolutely transformational for the whole of the Highlands and I have been in the media arguing its case. All the heavy lifting has been done but we have a unique role in that.”
He reflected: “I have always had the broader perspective if it is for the good of the area.
“I was asked ‘how can you support out-of town ventures such as Nando’s coming in to the retail park?’ but argued that we need this sort of investment. We need the Nando’s, and if they want to come to the Highlands then that’s what we have to take. Yes, it is out in the retail park but we have to make the city centre more attractive.
“Anything I did was to make the case that Inverness is a great place to work, to live and to have your business.”
The plan for the West Link Road and canal crossing was not universally popular but Mr Nicol and the chamber supported it.
“There were times I was getting it in the neck in arguing for it,” he said. “The Highland Council did a really good job in engaging with the community over that.”
The Inverness Chamber was also very much to the fore in the mid 2000s’ successful campaign to restore BA flights between Inverness and Heathrow.
Stewart cites the famous Kelpies art works and the Falkirk Wheel as being “transformational” for that part of Scotland, and thinks Inverness should be aiming for something similar.
“But we shy away from Nessie when it is a global icon and gives us that connectiveness between Inverness and Loch Ness,” he said.
“We don’t make enough of the River Ness which is such a phenomenal asset to the city. We haven’t got that quite right, and perhaps we have to take risks.”
Mr Nicol was also critical of the north roads network just as it was revealed there has been a spike in A9 deaths between Inverness and Perth – with 13 fatalities this year already.
“We have a vibrant business community across the Highlands, but we do all we can despite our transport infrastructure, not because of it,” he said.
“The dualling of the A9 should be a lot further on but only one section has been completed since the Inverness to Perth dualling announcement was made, and with the A96 we haven’t had one foot of it done since its dualling announcement. We need our roads transformed.
“The Highland main rail line is still in Victorian times. These were frustrations and they will continue to be a major issue for my successor to campaign for.”
Covid was a major challenge for the chamber but Stewart said every request for help during that crisis was dealt with whether the business was a member or not.
He cited CityFibre as a major broadband success for Inverness with that company now talking about further phases in the north and they told him the chamber’s support has helped with that.
Mr Nicol said: “I am moving to the next step of my life.
“I have been a strong voice for business in the Highlands because of our engagement with Scottish chambers, British chambers and the global network and we have access to all the connectivity, power and leverage that brings.”
