Visits to the Buckie Shipyard and the Moray Firth Wildlife Centre are on the agenda for the board of Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) as part of their two-day visit to Moray starting today (25 August 2003).

The visit will also include a meeting of the HIE board, which is often held away from the agency's headquarters to enable the members to gain a greater insight into individual local enterprise company areas.

Chairman of Moray Badenoch and Strathspey Enterprise (MBSE), Derek Bedford said:

"I am pleased to welcome the HIE board here today as it will allow us to demonstrate how we have been working with the business and wider community since we took over responsibility for the area's economic development in 2001.  It also gives our senior management a valuable opportunity to share information and experience with the HIE board.

"I hope their visit will give them a taste of the diverse range of activity happening in the Moray, Badenoch and Strathspey area as a whole."

The visit will take in a tour of Buckie Shipyard, which has recently undergone a £1.5million demolition and rebuilding of a 1,600 square metre facility to house a state-of-the-art painting booth, a slipway, and new boat-lifting equipment funded by HIE.  The company has recently been awarded Investors in People status with help from MBSE, and is carrying out a comprehensive training plan for the 54 employees.

The board will also see how investment by MBSE has helped Moray College develop its new Learning Resource Centre in Elgin, which formed the final element of a £6.5million capital investment programme.

At James Jones and Sons Ltd in Forres, the board will see the timber company's new joist line, part funded by MBSE and a symbol of the company's policy of utilising some of the most modern wood processing techniques.

They will round off their trip with a visit to the Moray Firth Wildlife Centre at Spey Bay for a tour of the visitor attraction's Moray Firth Dolphins exhibition.

The HIE board meeting itself will take place at Mansefield Hotel on Tuesday.