'Lochaber's Pride and Produce' Event - 27th October

We are all aware of the stunning natural assets in Lochaber and our many thousands of visitors to the area every year are testimony to that fact. However, Lochaber seldom recognise the strengths of our businesses, organisations and individuals. This is perhaps more difficult because we think we cannot see these abilities and many of the local community are too modest to announce their successes. Lochaber Enterprise is therefore hosting a black tie dinner event to celebrate local successes, motivate and stimulate our local business owners to succeed further, and to showcase and whet your appetite with local produce.

The evening will be further enhanced by the presence of Lochaber’s finest talent ranging from our young musicians to hospitality students and award winning chefs!

The event will not be another award ceremony but instead an event where we celebrate awards already achieved, we think you will be amazed when you see them all hi-lighted in one evening. Success is always achieved as the result of hard work and requires strong management and leadership – you will see this demonstrated in the case of all the award winners.

The evening will commence with a Champagne Reception followed by a five course dinner with a strong emphasis on local food & drink. The celebrations of local successes will take place during dinner under the control of our MC for the evening, Dougie Vipond, BBC TV Presenter. The formal dinner will be concluded by an after dinner speech by our guest speaker John Simmonett (see profile below ). There will then be the chance to have some fun and support local charities in a charity auction. This will then be followed by entertainment from “Frankly Music” a new local “swing” band and the opportunity for a dance to some classic numbers.

This is a brief outline of the evening and a full programme of events will be available very soon. We are sure you will agree that this is a very exciting evening and will give us all the opportunity to come together and share in what has been a successful year for many of us.

There are limited tickets available for the event, which will be held at the Alexandra Hotel, The Parade, Fort William, so we would recommend that you let us know very soon if you would like to attend. The attached form can confirm your interest and also offers some other opportunities to your business/organisation at the event.

We hope to see you there…

Profile: John Simonett
John Simonett is a former schoolmaster and sportsman. He was a member of the Scottish Rugby Union squad and played in the Gloucester team, which won the John Player Cup at Twickenham in 1978. He holds a first class honours degree from Bristol University. In 1985 he left teaching to become a professional corporate entertainer and after-dinner speaker, and is now firmly established as one of the most original and entertaining speakers on the “circuit”. He has appeared at many conferences and other corporate events, both in the U.K. and abroad. His clients include major multinational corporations, many of whom have used his services on a number of occasions. He has also appeared on television, both on BBC and ITV.

Profile: Dougie Vipond
Dougie is the anchor and main reporter for BBC Scotland’s Sportscene. During the last ten years, Dougie has worked across many broadcast genres including six years reporting for BBC’s Holiday, Summer Holiday and Holidays Out programmes. In a past life, Dougie was founder member and drummer with the band Deacon Blue with whom he recorded and toured for eight years. He still plays with the band when commitments allow.

For further information please contact either Tina Davenport or Robert Linton at Lochaber Enterprise on 01397704326