Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) is supporting an iconic Highland pottery, which has over 30 years experience in the business, in its bid to tap into new online markets with a three year investment project.

Highland Stoneware, based near Lochinver in West Sutherland, produces a distinctive brand of gift and tableware inspired by the natural environment of the Highlands and Islands, including ranges like 'Landscape', 'Machair' and recently 'Homecoming 2009'.

The business was launched in 1974 by David Grant, who was then studying ceramics at the Royal College of Art in London. He commented: "We have worked hard to build up a strong creative brand and as well as our shops in Lochinver and Ullapool we sell direct by mail order and supply a range of quality retailers. Like everyone working in today’s economic climate it is important we are proactive in reaching out to new markets.

"Thanks to a collaboration with HIE and their innovative 'Byte the Bullet' business improvement programme, we have been looking closely at the best ways of using technology to benefit our business. This project has resulted in an ambitious £100,000 plan to introduce leading edge systems and technologies, developed with assistance from Nairn based Pinnacle Business Solutions."

The project highlighted the benefits of increasing the company’s use of the web, and central to the plan is development of a new generation Web 2.0 website which will be launched soon in conjunction with an extensive on-line marketing campaign.

"We see this development as complimentary to our existing strong Scottish customer base, as it gives us the opportunity to widen our horizons and promote our genuinely Scottish product to an international market. The flexibility of our production, based on our people skills, is also ideally suited to short production runs to be sold via the internet," said David.

HIE has awarded £25,000 to the project and account manager Keith Muir commented: "One of HIE’s main aims is to work with businesses with significant growth potential. We are delighted to be working closely with Highland Stoneware and have been able to offer it access to expert, in-depth consultancy on how best to use technology to transform business performance and processes. This support will be ongoing and we are delighted to be helping the dedicated team there develop new skills in e-commerce."