Caithness and North Sutherland regeneration manager appointed

A lawyer with extensive international experience in various sectors has been appointed to the post of inward investment manager with the Caithness and North Sutherland Regeneration Partnership.

Fiona Macpherson (50) who has Caithness connections, is returning to Scotland to take up the two-year contract after spending 20 years working in the USA, latterly with Scottish Development International.

She begins her new job on Monday, (September 22) and succeeds Roy Kirk, who earlier this year became Highlands and Islands Enterprise's area manager in Caithness and Sutherland.

Mr Kirk said this week: "I am delighted that someone of Fiona's calibre has been offered and accepted the job of inward investment manager with the Partnership. She has impressive credentials as well as the experience, know-how and overseas contacts to make a real difference in her new job."

The Caithness and North Sutherland Regeneration Partnership was formed in 2007 to drive forward new initiatives aimed at counteracting the effects of the decommissioning of the Dounreay nuclear plant on the area's economy.

Originally from Forfar in Angus, Fiona went to Dundee High School before going on to graduate with a degree in Scots Law from Edinburgh University. She worked in the city as a solicitor for seven years before emigrating to the United States.

She initially took up employment as a paralegal and early in her career worked on the island of Maui in Hawaii. She then changed direction into the hospitality industry, working for the Pebble Beach Company in California. She was instrumental in the company opening its well-known boutique hotel, "Casa Palmero" in 1999.

Fiona moved from the West Coast to the East Coast when she was offered a job as Director of Guest Services for the Hilton Head Health Institute on another island, Hilton Head in South Carolina. She said: "We transformed people's lives through diet, exercise and healthy living."

From there she moved north to Boston, Massachusetts, where she was introduced to a network of local Scots and also to Scottish Development International (SDI) - the international division of Scottish Enterprise which is funded by the government and has the remit of developing international trade and investment.

Said Fiona: "I was thrilled to think that I could live in America and work for my country at the same time, so I applied for the first available job with SDI." She worked in Boston as an executive assistant to the President of the 'Americas team' – the 30-strong team of SDI staff located throughout North America – for just over two years before transferring to the SDI's office in California to work in the field helping generate inward investment into Scotland.

Fiona, who enjoys singing, amateur dramatics, music, theatre, hill-walking and being outdoors, is delighted to be returning home to Scotland and in particular to the Far North.

She said: "My roots are embedded in Caithness on my father's side. My grandmother was a McKay who was born in Latheron Wheel at the foot of Mount Morven, which is one of the reasons that I was so interested in applying for this position. In fact my sister, who lives in London, is called Morven because of the Caithness connection."

She added: "I am very much looking forward to this new adventure and chapter of my life in Caithness where I hope to be able to truly make a difference to people's lives which was my sole intention when I decided to study law at Edinburgh University."