Ross and Cromarty Enterprise (RACE) has appointed Clifford Davison as their new chairman, to replace Sally Cartwright, who stepped down in December.

Clifford moved to Ross-shire from Northern Ireland 22 years ago to set up Fairburn House, a nursing home specialising in young to middle-aged adults with physical disabilities and head injuries. He now has several business interests in the care sector, and has been a board member of RACE for six years and vice-chairman for three.

Following his appointment, he said: "I would to like to publicly thank Sally Cartwright for the excellent manner in which she has steered RACE over the last six years. This makes my job as the new chairman of RACE a real challenge.
 
"My vision for Ross and Cromarty is a place where there is full employment, a good standard of living, a place where it is a pleasure to live, where families will be proud to bring up their children and finally a place which has a good community spirit.

"Having been in business for over 35 years, involved in the private, public and voluntary sectors and held many different posts, I feel that I have a lot of experience to offer to the local enterprise company."

Clifford spent the first 20 years of his career in architecture, the majority of them self employed, but when Fairburn House, near Muir of Ord, was put on the market he and his family decided to make the move.

"My wife is a nurse and we had identified a need for this type of care. When Fairburn House became available, we saw an ideal opportunity. It is a great privilege to be able to live and work in the Highlands. Most people, after 20 years in the same job, fancy a change but not everyone gets the chance. I was lucky that the opportunity arose."

Ten years ago, Clifford set up Seaforth House, just outside Dingwall, which is a respite care centre and shortly afterwards he took over Grandview House, a care home for the elderly in Grantown-on-spey. He runs the business with his wife Margaret, two sons Richard and Geoffrey and daughter Susan.

Around the same time, they converted a building within the grounds of Fairburn House, which is known as Fairburn Activity Centre. The centre is used as a base for people wanting to take part in outdoor activities. The building also houses conference and training facilities and quality accommodation.

As well as his appointment as chairman of RACE, he is involved in the opening of a new care home for the elderly in Newtonmore before Easter.

He has, for most of his working life, taken a keen involvement in the community. In Northern Ireland he was a local councillor for 10 years and deputy mayor for four years in Ballymena, County Antrim.

Today, he is vice president of the Registered Nursing Home Association; director of Healthcare, Education and Training Ltd, which he founded in 1995 to provide training for nursing home staff in the Highlands; he is chair of Ross and Cromarty Sports Council; and a member of the board of Puffin Pool Ltd.

He is also elder in the Church of Scotland, holding the post of Clerk to the Congregational Board of Urray & Kilchrist Parish Church. Another interest is family history and he is a member and treasurer of the Clan Davidson Association.

Gordon Cox, chief executive of RACE, paid tribute to Sally and welcomed Clifford to the new post.

He said: "We at RACE are very grateful for all Sally's hard work and commitment during her time as chairperson of RACE, and we wish her all the best for the future.

"I very much look forward to working with Clifford, who brings with him a wealth of business experience. He is well known within Ross-shire due to the fact he has played such an active role in local business as well as the sports and community sectors."

Clifford is a keen cyclist, and certainly the only LEC board member to cycle from the mainland to the Convention of the Highlands and Islands when it was held in Portree on Skye. Earlier this year he cycled from Land's End to John O'Groats, and the year before he cycled from one end of Ireland to the other.

In October this year he took part in a cycle from Paris to London to mark the centenary of the Entente Cordiale.

"I was 100 yards from the finish line in Rochester when there was an accident and I hit a traffic bollard," explained Clifford. "However I managed to pick myself and my bike up and finished 20th out of 150 British cyclists, despite the fact I required crutches for a couple of weeks."

Clifford has been in post since 1st January, and will chair the first board meeting of 2005 on 25th January.