Ambition and innovation thrive in Moray
One of the great privileges of serving on the HIE Board is getting out across the region and meeting the people who are turning ideas into jobs, stronger communities and new opportunities. Our two-day visit to Moray on 26 and 27 October was a perfect example.
We began in Enterprise Park Forres at the new Manufacturing Innovation Centre Moray (MICM), which officially opened in September. Funded by HIE and the UK and Scottish Governments through the Moray Growth Deal, MICM offers practical diagnostics, advice, demonstration equipment and space for businesses to test new products and processes.
We heard from the operators Elevator how early events on automation, artificial intelligence and product development have already attracted a great deal of interest. MICM is designed to help manufacturers innovate, improve productivity and move towards net zero and the potential to support existing firms, encourage start-ups and create higher-paid jobs is clear.
Nearby, Moray Waste Busters showed us a very different kind of innovation. Since 2002, this social enterprise has kept reusable goods out of landfill while providing affordable items, volunteering opportunities and employability support to Forres and the wider area.
Its redevelopment of Strathcona House at Enterprise Park Forres marks a step change, creating new jobs in a much larger community reuse hub with retail, café, workshop and activity space. Meeting the team there was a powerful reminder that the circular economy is as much about people and places as it is about materials.
At Logie Timber near Dunphail, we saw a young business growing quickly by making great use of natural resources. The company specialises in locally-sourced timber with strong provenance and has expanded from four employees when HIE began working with it in 2019 to the present team of 17. Walking through the sawmill and processing lines, we could see how investment in modern equipment and solar power is helping the business increase capacity while pursuing its goal of net zero by 2035.
Our next stop took us into the Cabrach, an area that has experienced severe depopulation over many decades and where the Cabrach Trust is responding with energy and imagination. Its Acorn Centre hosts rural skills workshops, wellbeing sessions and community gatherings, while the Discovery Trail provides an accessible way for visitors and local people to enjoy the stunning landscape.
The Cabrach Distillery project began in 2021 and is now producing its own whisky and building stocks, creating an economic asset rooted in local heritage. Plans for a heritage and visitor centre offer another exciting opportunity to attract people, activity and income to this remote community.
The day ended with a well-attended business and community engagement event in Elgin where HIE board members and senior managers heard directly from around 25 local organisations about their ambitions, the challenges they face and how HIE and our partners can help. We host similar events across the region and find open conversations invaluable in giving us richer insights into the local economy and the opportunities and challenges facing the businesses and communities we support. Discussion continued into the evening over dinner with representatives from Moray Council and Moray Chamber of Commerce.
On Tuesday, we travelled to Buckie. At Macduff Shipyards we toured the shipbuilding facilities, slipways and maintenance bays. Serving fishing, aquaculture, offshore energy and other marine markets, the company employs around 230 people across its group, including an impressive 40 apprentices. HIE’s support for a new slipping cradle has helped double vessel-repair capacity and create new jobs, opening the door to further opportunities linked to renewable energy.
The scale of that opportunity became even clearer during our final visit, when our partners in Moray Council outlined their emerging masterplan for Buckie Harbour. Expansion could strengthen established sectors such as shipbuilding, fishing, agriculture and whisky, while positioning the harbour to support further offshore wind operations and maintenance.
The harbour is already the base for Ocean Winds Moray West windfarm and is well placed for the Caledonia development in the outer Moray Firth. The proposal is still at an early stage and will require substantial investigation and partnership, but its strategic importance is undeniable.
What really impressed me throughout this visit was Moray’s remarkable range: advanced manufacturing, reuse and community enterprise, sustainable timber, whisky and heritage, shipbuilding and renewable energy. These are very different activities, yet they all bear witness to an area and people who embody ambition, resilience, skills and a strong sense of place.
My thanks go to everyone who welcomed us and spoke so openly, and to HIE’s Moray team for bringing the programme together.
Angus Campbell
Chair of HIE
Angus Campbell is a local businessman in Lewis, employing 30 people in his own business which he established in 1996. He has 18 years’ experience as a councillor with Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, serving as Leader for most of this time. Angus has strong experience of funding issues and socio-economic challenges across the Highlands and Islands, such as transport and housing, and is focused on developing transformational opportunities in the region, including the energy sector. He was a member of the Board of NatureScot and the Court of the University of the Highlands and Islands and was the founding chair of the Ferries Communities Board. Angus has a long-standing commitment to Gaelic language and culture. He is a passionate advocate for community land ownership and supporting a strong third sector.