Community sports hub secures £400k support
The Inverness Caledonian Thistle Community Development is leading the £1.28m project, which will create five jobs and around 50 volunteering opportunities.
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The Opportunity Cromarty Firth (OCF) bid is a collaboration of more than a dozen organisations representing industry, academia and the public sector around the Easter Ross and Inverness area.
The aim is to stimulate transformational regeneration through economic activity in manufacturing, and from local and inward investment, innovation, skills development and employment.
The OCF area has been highlighted as the main location for the UK to benefit from floating wind manufacturing.
Reacting to the news, HIE’s chief executive Stuart Black, said:
“We congratulate Opportunity Cromarty Firth (OCF) on their successful bid. This is fantastic news.
“Our collective belief in the region and the key ports’ capacity and capability to play an essential role in offshore wind and green hydrogen delivery has been confirmed by the dedication, commitment and resolve shown by the bid partners. This paves the way for even greater industry collaboration. The consortium’s physical assets, natural resources, experienced supply chain, and can-do people have proven to be a winning combination that can lead to future success.
“The Highlands and Islands will play a critical role in meeting the challenging net zero targets at both Scotland and UK levels. Green freeport status for the Cromarty Firth will be a huge asset, driving collaboration between industry, academia and the public sector to stimulate transformational regeneration through economic activity, investment, innovation and skills development.
“It will attract large-scale manufacturing and create thousands of green jobs that complement the skills of the local workforce and accelerate Scotland’s and the UK’s progress to achieving net zero targets.
“A green freeport will also build on recent significant investments made in ports and harbours across the region and the historic and ongoing strengths here in energy, engineering and life sciences.
“It will be a key enabler for supply chains of the future, rapidly accelerating domestic manufacturing capacity in an area with a long-standing industrial heritage.
“We very much look forward to our region working in partnership with OCF, as we seek to secure maximum socio-economic impact, not just around the Cromarty Firth and Inverness but throughout many parts of the Highlands and Islands.”
The Inverness Caledonian Thistle Community Development is leading the £1.28m project, which will create five jobs and around 50 volunteering opportunities.
Businesses in the Highlands and Islands are invited to apply to the 2025/26 Scottish Rural Leadership Programme.
A multi-million pound investment is being made in one of Scotland’s most strategically important ports.
The renewable energy credentials of the Highlands and Islands has attracted a visit this week from the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ).
HIE’s application is for permission to establish infrastructure, such as roads and utilities, to create serviced plots for sale to developers.
Plans for a second phase of development at the pioneering facility move ahead.
New state of the art automated plant and machinery, including artificial intelligence (AI), is being installed.
A £1.6m project to boost the Easter Ross economy through net zero initiatives, community learning and development has been awarded up to £450,000 from HIE.
The move will help facilitate the company’s further growth. Its corporate and compliance team of ten will relocate to Aurora House, with the company’s operational base remaining in Beauly.
There were 1,013 responses received from enterprises across the Highlands and Islands region operating in a wide range of sectors.
The additional funding brings HIE’s total investment in the project to £2.863m.