Inner Moray Firth businesses take opportunity to share their concerns and optimism with senior Highlands and Islands Enterprise team
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Supply issues and staff shortages are among the main concerns north businesses have raised with Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE).
However, HIE chairman Alastair Dodds was also impressed by the positivity shown in the agency's online discussion with businesses and communities in the Inner Moray Firth area.
"They were all coming up with innovative ideas and I was really pleased to hear that," he said.
Other positive signs were "significant opportunities" for the Inner Moray Firth and wider Highlands, especially in renewable energy such as offshore wind and green hydrogen, with the recent announcement of a proposed £110 million wind tower factory at Nigg an example of the kind of major development the region could attract.
But he also emphasised the importance of more traditional sectors of the Highlands and Islands economy which employ significant numbers across the region, as food and drink and tourism and hospitality.
"That doesn't mean to say that they don't need to change," he added.
"We need to help them improve quality and help them create attractive career opportunities, which is something that HIE can help with."
Mr Dodds welcomed signs of optimism from the hospitality and tourism sector, which had been one of the industries most affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
"There is positivity. There is a feeling that things are building up again," he said.
He also highlighted the importance of the creative sector, both for its economic and job creation potential, but also for its contribution to a sense of well-being, which had become even more important over the course of the Covid crisis.
However, the latest in the series of online consultations hosted by HIE did highlight the immediate concerns for business, including supply issues affecting a number of sectors and rising costs, with the latter including not only materials costs, but the cost of utilities, which was directly affecting consumers and the community as a whole, as well as businesses.
Associated with supply chain issues were concerns about an undersupply of staff and the ability of those staff who were available to be trained in the skills required by employers.
Related to that was a need for suitable accommodation for staff, an issue which HIE had raised with the Scottish Government, Mr Dodds said.
"Particularly important for our region is viability," he stated.
"If you are building 200 houses in Inverness, that's going to be quite attractive to a developer, but if you are building four houses in somewhere more remote, that is not going to be so attractive. That is something we can perhaps have a conversation with government."
Transport and digital infrastructure were also areas where improvements were called for.
Interim chief executive Carroll Buxton added: "Obviously there have been great strides over the last few years, but there are certain businesses that rely on high upload and download capacity and obviously if their broadband isn't great, that's a real challenge. The main centres are relatively well served at the moment, but it's when you get out into rural areas that there can be challenges. Certainly businesses are mentioning it as an issue."
Mr Dodds also paid tribute to HIE's own staff, who had worked quickly an efficiently to get £40 million of additional support to where it was most needed in the region during the pandemic.
"That has been of benefit to the whole Highlands and Island," he said.
impressed by HIE staff moved to get the money where it was needed quickly
Ms Buxton said that the record amount of funding released last year had made a tremendous difference to the area.
She added: "HIE has invested a significant amount in tourism and hospitality, not only to specific businesses, but also to organisations like destination management organisations whose job it is to work with the industry to attract visitors to the region and make sure they have the best possible experience while they are here.
"So we are confident we can continue to support the industry as we already have."
She also agreed that there were signs of optimism in the north economy.
"We do a regular survey of over 1000 businesses and over the last few surveys, there has been an increased sense of optimism," she said.
"They are getting back to pre-pandemic levels and some have exceeded those. They are looking at innovation like net zero, they are looking at productivity and I'm pretty confident that trend will continue. HIE can support them, not only through capital development, but looking at ways they can innovate and increase their productivity and how they can move to net zero. It's not going be an easy journey for everybody, but those are areas where HIE can really help development in the future."
Another area where HIE is working with partners is in helping to reverse the region's ageing population, she continued.
"We have to offer young people opportunities in order to either keep them here or attract them in, and that's good employment opportunities or good education opportunities," she said.
"The University of the Highlands and Islands has been doing a great job in attracting or encouraging young people to stay by offering their curriculum, but also has a number of specific courses across the Highlands and Islands that attract young people into the area.
"I think there are opportunities that we have to develop the renewable energy sector and net zero. We have talked about being able to export knowledge and there are great opportunities for young people to get into that sector, whether it's design or engineering, which can be done remotely and then sold around the UK and overseas."
Exciting developments in the region's industries, including its more traditional sectors, also had a role to play in retaining or attracting young people.
"We were talking to representatives from the aquaculture sector and people think its jobs are about going out in the cold and wet and feeding fish in the winter. Well, it's not all about that," she said.
"The sector is highly technical now, it uses sensors in looking at data and is very highly automated so there are good and interesting jobs across our region, so that is one of the primary things. One of the secondary things is providing places for our young people to live when they come here, so there are a mix of things we have to address in order to be really successful in doing that."
The new year will see the appointment of a new chief executive for HIE in Stuart Black, who is currently HIE lead area manager for Moray and who has also worked for Highland Council as director of planning and development, and later as executive chief for transformation and economy.
Mr Dodds is looking forward to Dr Black's appointment.
"He has excellent ideas and he has energy to drive through these ideas," he said.
"He is a team player and very supportive, but he will also make sure that we continue to improve. I have got every confidence in Stuart and his appointment has gone down really well with the business community. He has a really good range of experience. His previous experience in HIE, his work around planning and development and infrastructure and then coming back, has given him a really strong foundation for taking HIE forward. "
