Stuart Black, chief executive of Inverness and Nairn Enterprise (INE) and Calum Masson from Scot Track Limited admire the company's latest model, which Scot Track delivered to Alan Davidson of Highlands and Islands Airports Limited (HIAL) last week.

HIAL bought the brand new SCOT-TRAC 2000R for their airport on the Island of Tiree.  The All Terrain Vehicle (ATV) will be used at the island airport as an emergency rescue ATV, capable of carrying people and recovering equipment from difficult terrain in the event of an accident.

The new SCOT-TRAC 2000R has been designed and developed at Scot Track's premises in Nairn and manufactured by Cestne a Stavebne Mechanizmy (CSM) - a Slovakian manufacturing company specialising in heavy earth moving machinery (see note to newsdesks).

The £100,000 development of the new Scot Track model was assisted by INE with a grant worth £25,000 through the Small Company Innovation Scheme (SCIS).  SCIS is an initiative designed to help small enterprises turn bright ideas into a reality.

The SCOT-TRAC 2000R is a radically revamped version of their well-established Hillcat 1100.  The new model however, is aimed at the industrial market and commercial user but particular attention has been paid to the needs of the North American markets with Certified Roll Over Protective Structure and safety harness - essential under North American product liability.

According to the company, the new ATV is also more powerful, reliable, comfortable and versatile while ultimately costing less.  It is also kinder to the environment because of the vehicle's low impact on the ground.

The delivery to HIAL of a SCOT-TRAC 2000R - which was slightly modified for HIAL's purposes - was the first order received for the 2000R but the company has since sold ten more machines and are working on orders for another four, with full production only having started in July.  Also in the pipeline is an order from North America for 48 machines and potential orders from the Ministry of Defence.

Scot Track technical sales manager Calum Masson said: "The assistance we have received from INE has been a great help, allowing us to concentrate on research and development and then go ahead with the production of the first three prototype vehicles.

"We are operating in a very competitive market but we believe our new 2000R will help boost our global sales and reputation."

Acting chief executive at INE, Stuart Black said: "Growing Business and Making Global Connections are priorities for INE and Scot Track is an excellent example of a local company doing just that. 

"With help from the Local Enterprise Company through the Small Company Innovation Scheme and their partnership with CSM, Scot Track have been able to spend more time on research and development and as a result, have come up with a high quality design.  Innovation is one of the key elements to long-term sustainability for small businesses".