Creative industries
Creative industries are diverse and fast-growing, making an important contribution to our region.
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Explore our region
The Highlands and Islands are packed full of wonderful places to live, work, invest in and visit. Our region has eight distinct areas, each with a local office staffed to help organisations develop and grow, as well as helping businesses looking to locate here too.
Have a look at our regional map to find out more about the area and discover why the Highlands and Islands offer you the perfect business base amidst our thriving communities.
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Argyll and the Islands
Argyll and the Islands, located on the west coast of Scotland, is home to around 86,000 people. The area includes 23 inhabited islands and is well known for its natural beauty, wildlife, and outdoor activities.
The stunning natural environment lends itself well to the areas world renowned food and drink and tourism sectors, as well as a leading location for those working in marine research and the renewables sectors.
Find out more about Argyll and the Islands
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Caithness and Sutherland
People travel the length of the country to come to the North Highlands. It's home to Scotland's most famous drive - the North Coast 500, and to one of our most iconic destinations - John O'Groats. It's no surprise that when people discover Caithness and Sutherland they want to stay.
The landscape is breathtaking, featuring spectacular mountains and flat rolling moorlands. With the world renowned Royal Dornoch golf course and an internationally recognised surf spot around the Thurso East reef, the area is a draw for outdoor sports enthusiasts. Featuring beautiful beaches and bays, wildlife, high hills and big skies, Caithness and Sutherland has much to offer, whichever mile on a journey of 500 you’re on.
Find out more about Caithness and Sutherland
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Inner Moray Firth
Home to almost 160,000 people, HIE’s Inner Moray Firth area is the most populated area in the Highlands and Islands. It stretches from the Dornoch Firth in the North, borders Perth and Kinross in the South, heading to Nairn in the east and most of the way along the Great Glen.
It’s a thriving region that includes Inverness City – the Capital of the Highlands, Cairngorms National Park, and one of Scotland’s first Green Freeports. There’s a wealth of business growth and investment opportunities, including renewable energy and offshore wind developments.
Inverness Campus has world-class business facilities and is a prime location for life sciences, digital healthcare and technology organisations. It’s already home to some of the leading health-care businesses in Scotland, and the ideal location for academic, business and research collaborations.
The Inner Moray Firth boasts some of the most beautiful scenery in Scotland across the Beauly, Cromarty and Moray Firth coastlines. It’s home to world famous attractions including Loch Ness and Culloden Battlefield, both within minutes of the vibrant city centre.
Find out more about Inner Moray Firth
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Lochaber, Skye and Wester Ross
Situated on the west coast of Scotland, Lochaber is a diverse and dynamic community offering the perfect blend of bustling excitement and natural beauty.
From the highest peak to mystical pools and one of the best drives in the world, Lochaber, Skye and Wester Ross have the monopoly on A-list natural attractions.
But while Ben Nevis, the Isle of Skye’s Fairy Pools and the Bealach na Ba road draw visitors by the thousands, there’s more to this area of the vast western Highlands than mere world-class natural beauty.
Rich in natural produce, food and drink is a key local employer with companies such as Mowi farming salmon and exporting globally.
Find out more about Lochaber, Skye and Wester Ross
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Moray
Home to 50 of the country’s 135 whisky distilleries and some of its best-known food producers, Moray sends a flavour of Scotland around the globe and boasts the world-famous Malt Whisky Trail. The stunning coastline, including Findhorn, Lossiemouth and Cullen offer the outdoor enthusiast the perfect playground. The area also boasts a range of golf courses, fishing and cycling routes and cultural activities to be enjoyed year-round.
With close links to the cities of Aberdeen and Inverness, Moray’s villages and towns combine a sense of history and tradition with modernity in a rural landscape. The ancient city of Elgin is the central node in a network of smaller market towns including Forres, Keith and Buckie. The village of Findhorn boasts a thriving alternative arts and culture scene, while Tomintoul skirts the breathtaking natural beauty of the Cairngorms National Park, a gateway for adventure seekers, nature lovers and holidaying families alike.
As well as the flourishing food and drink and tourism sectors, Moray is also a powerhouse in north-east manufacturing and is the focus of the North Coast Space Cluster.
Find out more about Moray
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Orkney
Orkney is made up of around 70 islands clustered where the North Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean, and fewer than half are inhabited. It’s a breathtakingly beautiful area of Scotland just begging to be explored, whether that’s across the land or around the coasts. You can walk or cycle the islands, take to the seas in a kayak or to the air for a bird’s eye view.
Wind, wave and tidal power make Orkney a world-leading location in marine renewables, energy and the low carbon sector. Other sectors thriving here and supporting those lucky enough to live here include tourism, farming, fisheries, aquaculture, food processing and manufacturing.
Find out more about Orkney
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Outer Hebrides
The Outer Hebrides is a group of islands that sit off the west coast of Scotland, each with its own unique way of life. The Hebridean islands offer wild Atlantic waves, diverse wildlife and a vibrant Gaelic culture. Fifteen islands are inhabited, with the commercial and cultural hub of Stornoway being home to over 6,000 people.
Atlantic rollers crashing along the miles of unspoiled beaches and reef breaks make the Outer Hebrides a world-renowned haven for surfers. On land, ancient relics such as the Calanish Standing Stones, Carloway Broch and Lews Castle also draw visitors by the thousand each year.
Life sciences and renewable energy are growing sectors along with creative industries, food and drink, textiles and tourism.
Find out more about Outer Hebrides
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Shetland
The Shetland islands have some of the richest Viking heritage and most incredible landscapes. Lying roughly 100 miles off the north east of Scotland and with almost 1700 miles of coastline, the Shetland Islands are the northern-most tip of Scotland. Here, you can enjoy spectacular wildlife including seabirds, seals, otters and orcas, and of course the famous Shetland ponies.
The coastline is the lifeblood of the economy. The seafood industry is worth over £300m a year and a leading aquaculture and oil industry, as well as a growing wind and wave energy industry are amongst the sectors supporting people who choose to live and work here.
Find out more about Shetland
Explore our growth sectors
From energy to engineering, these growing sectors all have the potential to bring significant economic and social benefits to our region.
Our region at a glance
Rich in natural and environmental assets, the Highlands and Islands has:
Published on 22/11/2023
61
of the UK's coastline
90
inhabited islands
12
people per sq km
51
of Scotland's land mass
Our regional projects
We invest in significant developments across the region where we can take advantage of our distinct regional opportunities. Our aim is to attract more people to live, work, study and invest here. Explore some of our investments below.
Manufacturing Innovation Centre Moray
Opening in summer 2025, the Manufacturing Innovation Centre Moray will provide diagnostics, advice, information, signposting, and brokerage services to manufacturing companies across the area.
Gàidhlig | Gaelic
Supporting Gaelic development and the use of the language is at the heart of our remit for economic and social development in the Highlands and Islands.
Inverness Campus
Inverness Campus is a world-class business location for those operating in life sciences, digital healthcare and technology.
Orkney Research and Innovation Campus
The Orkney Research & Innovation Campus (ORIC) is a multi-million-pound project creating an improved home for Orkney’s wide range of clean energy and low-carbon expertise.
Base your business here
Looking to locate your business in our region? Find out how we can help.