Interim arrangements confirmed for chairing Highlands and Islands Enterprise while recruitment for new head takes place
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Deputy HIE chairman Alistair Dodds will step up as chairman until a replacement for current head Lorne Crerar is appointed.
Professor Lorne Crerar is due to leaves the post on February 29.
A former chief executive of Highland Council, Alistair Dodds was appointed to the board of HIE in 2014 and took on the role of deputy chair the following year.
He also chairs the agency’s risk and assurance committee.
Professor Crerar joined the HIE board in 2008 and has been chair since 2012.
He is a founding partner and chairman of leading Scottish law firm Harper Macleod LLP.
Lorne’s other public appointments have included convener of the Standards Commission and chair of the Independent Review of Regulation, Audit, Inspection and Complaints Handling of Public Services in Scotland.
He was also a non-executive director of the Scottish Government Justice Programme Board, co-chair of the National Council of Rural Advisers, deputy chair of Scottish Enterprise Glasgow and one of three chairs of the Housing Improvement Task Force.
The HIE board normally meets at least six times a year and has overall responsibility for ensuring the agency fulfils its statutory duties and meets the aims and objectives set out by the Scottish Government in Scotland's Economic Strategy and the national Programme for Government.
The Scottish Government is currently recruiting a new permanent chairman for HIE, for a three-year period from 1 May 2020.
