Business Focus: Building and construction sectors have key roles as Inverness aims to recover from Covid-19
Stewart Nicol, chief executive of Inverness Chamber of Commerce, on the road to recovery.
I was delighted to be invited to speak at the Build It Inverness Conference which was held a couple of weeks ago and, as the opening speaker, was able to set the scene.
I’ve spoken at three such conferences, and each time have emphasised how important the building and construction sectors are to the city and the Highlands.
Inverness Chamber of Commerce has a strong representation from these sectors in membership, and we also work closely with them through our Developing the Young Workforce activities, which are delivered by my DYWICH team.
Both the building and construction sectors have, for many years, invested significant resource and finance into delivering important initiatives which encourage young people into apprenticeships. These programmes have led many of our young people into long and rewarding careers.
As businesses across the city and region seek to manage the impact of the pandemic, and move forward to recovery, I am convinced the building and construction sectors have a key role to play.
There are a number of key projects already ongoing in the city centre.
These include the castle and Victorian Market, which will help redefine our tourism and cultural offering to visitors to our city and region. We will undoubtedly see a shift in our use of the city centre, and this is already happening in the provision of much-needed housing through the projects being completed in Academy Street and commencing in both Castle Street and Union Street.
These projects, along with a number of hotel developments, illustrate the importance of our built environment in terms of providing skilled jobs and creating much-needed infrastructure and buildings that will be seen as iconic for future generations.
The main sponsor of the conference was CityFibre. The impact of its fibre network in Inverness and elsewhere in the Highlands was clearly demonstrated in their presentation. I am absolutely clear that an appropriate fibre network across the whole of our region is an essential component of the built environment that we need to sustain and build the economy of our region.
