Town House gets a new logo at a cost of £950 paid out of the Inverness Common Good Fund
Highland Council has redone the logo for the Inverness Town House at a cost of £950 in a move that left some elected members scratching their heads.
The development was revealed during a discussion at the Inverness committee today and is part of a drive to better market the historic building to the private sector.
According to council papers: “Work is under way in conjunction with UHI Inverness to develop a new logo alongside the website, in order to create a branding for the Town House.
“However, it is important to consider longer-term strategies and potential uses for the Town House to maximise its use and ensure sustainability going forward.”
Some people have been left wondering why the logo of the Inverness Common Good Fund - which was used to pay for the new Town House branding - could not have been adapted in order to save some money, given it already features the building.
The council was the main occupant of the Town House but in a bid to save £370,000-a-year in rent to the common good fund it took the decision to leave the building after 140 years in December 2022.
Since then it has been an uphill struggle to occupy the building though new tenants have been found but nothing like the sums paid by the council as the current annual income is just £56,380.
That comes from Police Scotland being located in the civic section; HITrans has a five-year lease, Social Security Scotland has an annual lease and there is still the council’s service point.
The same paper stated: “There is some income generated from Police Scotland and Social Security Scotland and these leases have now been formalised.
“The council continues to operate the service point from this location and a new lease has been granted to HITrans. Current income is £56,380 per annum recovered from the following tenancies.”
The aim is to lease office space but that must be done while “not prejudicing its primary function as a first-class location for civic events”.
