Three new appointments have been made at Inverness and Nairn Enterprise (INE), part of the Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) network.

Ruaraidh Macneil is the new operations manager, dealing with all aspects of the enterprise company's programme delivery, and major case work including development of Inverness Medical and the freight and business park at Inverness Airport.  Mr Macneil has been with HIE for the past year working as healthcare and innovations manager, and prior to that was head of INE's business development team.

Meanwhile Maria Peter is INE's new business start-up advisor. She joined INE as marketing advisor in 2002, having previously held a variety of positions in the private sector.

The third appointment is that of Denise Pirie as development officer in INE's capacity building team. After completing an HND in Business Administration at Inverness College, Denise joined INE's community development team in 1997 and moved to the skills development team in 1999.  Her new role will include helping to deliver INE's skills agenda for individuals, businesses and communities.

Confirming the appointments, acting chief executive at Inverness and Nairn Enterprise, Stuart Black, said:  "I am delighted to announce these appointments, which will continue to improve efficiency of our service delivery.  Ruaraidh, Maria and Denise each have a thorough understanding of the remit of local enterprise companies, coupled with several years experience in the Inverness and Nairn area."