Supporting growth and opportunity across Orkney
Yesterday, along with our chair Angus Campbell, I visited Orkney with area team leader Ruth Kirkpatrick, meeting partners driving growth and opportunity.
It’s not every day you see world-leading energy innovation set against the backdrop of Orkney’s coastline but that was exactly what yesterday offered.
Discussions focused on innovation and collaboration across Orkney and included a stop at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC). For more than 20 years, EMEC has led global marine energy innovation, contributing £370m to the UK economy and supporting 540 jobs. It continues to build on this success with a £120m programme focused on ocean energy and green hydrogen.
I was particularly struck by the scale of innovation at EMEC. It’s incredible to see something based in Orkney having such global impact.
We also stopped at Heriot-Watt University’s Orkney campus where we heard about the important role it plays in helping to stimulating and support Orkney’s marine innovation cluster.
At UHI Orkney we hosted a community engagement session to hear local priorities, build partnerships and highlight work supporting communities and businesses.
Hearing firsthand about the loss of key flights really brought home how connectivity directly affects economic opportunity in island communities.
A strong example of community in action was the Tomb of the Eagles in South Ronaldsay. Re-opened after six years thanks to a great community effort, the site and visitor centre are now in community ownership, preserving Orkney’s heritage while creating new opportunities for tourism and local growth.
In Kirkwall, the impact of regeneration was highlighted at Bridge Street Garden Square, a £6m leisure development designed to revitalise the town centre, support the night-time economy and help attract and retain young people.
The visit also highlighted the strength of local enterprise, including Leask Marine Ltd, where managing director Douglas Leask has grown the business from a small diving operation into an internationally active marine contractor supporting offshore construction, subsea operations and renewable energy.
The visit left me even more convinced of Orkney’s potential and I’m looking forward to continuing those conversation in Shetland tomorrow, starting with our business and community engagement event at Lerwick Town Hall and meetings with Shetland Islands Council.
Stuart Black
Chief Executive
Stuart was appointed as HIE's Chief Executive in January 2022 having held the role of Interim Lead Area Manager previously. Originally from Inverness, he is a graduate of the universities of Edinburgh and Glasgow, where he gained a doctorate in town and regional planning. Stuart began his career with the University of Aberdeen, before joining HIE for the first time in 1996, as head of economics. Between then and 2008, he held several posts covering different parts of the organisation’s remit. These included local enterprise company chief executive, director of strengthening communities, and director of global connections. From 2008 to 2020, he was a member of the senior team at the Highland Council, initially as director of planning and development, and later as executive chief officer for transformation and economy.