Business Focus: Inverness Chamber of Commerce chief calls for Highland businesses to sign up to the Young Person's Guarantee
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By Stewart Nicol, Inverness Chamber of Commerce chief executive
We held our first in-person networking lunch in over two years last month.
This was only the third in-person event we have held since the pandemic struck and it was great to be back to meeting colleagues in a face-to-face setting, which almost felt ‘normal’. Given one of our strategic objectives as an organisation is connecting businesses to support their growth, it was good to witness that happening.
Our venue for our event was the fabulous new facility only 20 minutes south of Inverness at Tomatin, The Strathdearn. Equidistant between Inverness and Aviemore, The Strathdearn are justifiably proud of the quality of their facility and the high environmental standards they have achieved. They do indeed make the most of the countryside location with their wall-to-ceiling windows framing amazing views over the Findhorn viaduct and hills beyond.
As is often the case with Inverness Chamber of Commerce events, we managed to turn on some fabulous weather for the occasion too. Our guests enjoyed the best of Highland fare, provided by Good Highland Food and our event feedback has confirmed what we all knew, the lemon posset was exceptional.
I’m delighted that DYW Inverness and Central Highland were sponsors of the event, which gave our colleagues the opportunity to bring everyone up to speed on the latest developments with the programme. Everyone learned of the key role our school co-ordinators have in each of our secondary schools and the impact they are already having in helping our young people positively transition to meaningful employment.
However, the focus of the presentation was to highlight opportunities arising from businesses signing up to the Young Person’s Guarantee, or YPG. This had particular significance, as just last week the national programme achieved the marvellous milestone of having 500 businesses signed up.
I’d strongly advocate every business across the city and region seriously consider signing up to the Young Person’s Guarantee. It will help young people locally.
