Our first FSB Highlands & Moray Business Bootcamp took place in Inverness Caledonian Thistle Football Club’s Caledonian Stadium on Friday the 26th of April 2024.
The venue was perfect, and much thanks to FSB member ICTFC for hosting us so well.
Billed as a day of inspirational thoughts, support and networking, we sought to pack the morning with as many stimulating activities as possible. In particular, we wanted to get away from death-by-PowerPoint lectures, replacing them with conversations based on interviews and questions from the floor. This on the basis that we would provide a summary of the key points, tips, sources of further information and contact details in blog form after the event. This is that blog!
But first, a big thank you to all the speakers and panellists – it could not have happened without you!
Left to right: Mike Duncan, FSB NE Scotland; Calum MacPherson, Inverness & Cromarty Firth Green Freeport; Richard Carson, Planit Scotland; Tim Hartley, Scotland Can B; Catherine Bunn, Highland Campervans; Darrel Paterson, Highland News & Media; Jim Johnson, SMAS Scottish Enterprise; Sandie Gordon, Candles from the Croft and FSB Scotland Young Entrepreneur of the Year; Michelle Denoon, Skills Development Scotland; David Richardson, FSB Highlands & Islands
Contents
Talks
- Scot Gardiner, CEO Inverness Caledonian Thistle Football Club – Running a football club in the Highlands
- Sandie Gordon, Candles from the Croft - FSB Scotland Young Entrepreneur of the Year – My journey
Panels
Session 1: Attracting Customers and Boosting Sales
- Richard Carson, Google & SEO Lead, Planit Scotland
- Darrel Paterson, Highland News & Media’s Business Development Manager
Session 2: Staff Recruitment & Retention – and Managing Without
- Catherine Bunn, Highland Campervans
- Michelle Denoon, Skills Development Scotland
- John Johnson, Scottish Enterprise
- Plus notes from Developing The Young Workforce (DYW) and The Highland Employability Partnership (HEP)
Session 3: New Opportunities For Growth
- Tim Hartley, Scotland Can B
- Calum MacPherson, CEO Inverness & Cromarty Firth Green Freeport
Additional Information
FSB Membership: You Need Not Face Business Challenges Alone!
Business Support from the Public Sector
Talk 1: Scot Gardiner, CEO, Inverness Caledonian Thistle Football Club
Scot, a Dundonian with vast football management experience gained across the UK, told us about the challenges of running a Highland football club; one lacking a billionaire owner. The Club has always sought to position itself at the heart of the local community, but to do so it has to operate first and foremost as a business, using profits from the business to fund all footballing activities. Scot has to use every trick in the entrepreneurial book to make this happen.
The Club has bought all of the land surrounding it – a fantastic asset – and amongst other things, it is using part of it to provide park-and-ride facilities for the Red John pumped storage hydro scheme on Loch Ness. They are also seeking to build a new battery farm.
Teamwork applies both on and off the pitch, and it was good to see commercial director Keith Haggart doubling as car parking marshal, which meant that he got to welcome everyone as they arrived, leaving no networking stone unturned!
Talk 2: Sandie Gordon, Candles from the Croft, FSB Scotland Young Entrepreneur of the Year
Email: [email protected] Tel: 01854 332004
Sutherland is home to Sandie Gordon, FSB Scotland Celebrating Small Business Awards’ Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2024.
Sandie set up and runs ‘Candles from the Croft’ from her family’s working croft in Altass, Central Sutherland – it has been in her family for 5 generations. An ambitious and driven entrepreneur who had previously been a director in a local manufacturing company, Sandie had ambitions of her own. Realising that there was a gap in the market for a luxurious but affordable sustainable product in her local area, she set out to make hand-poured home fragrances such as candles, wax melts and diffusers.
Now, 14 months on and with support from organisations like Highland Business Gateway, Impact30 (part of the Inverness City/Region Deal), the WYK Digital Programme, HIE’s Export & Import Programme and the Royal Bank of Scotland, plus her own marketing endeavours at trade events across the UK, she supplies 25 stores throughout the UK and online customers at home and abroad. She also fulfils independent commissions for local organisations and individuals, her community having such an important influence on what she wishes to offer.
Panel Session 1: Attracting Customers & Boosting Sales
What with increasing costs, the squeeze on consumers’ wallets and the shortage of staff, we know that many business operators are not finding life easy, so we chose ‘Attracting Customers and Boosting Sales’ as the theme for our first session.
Session 1: Richard Carson, Google & SEO Lead, Planit Scotland
Email [email protected] | 01463 389160
For over a decade, Richard Carson has worked with businesses across the Highlands, the UK and around the world to create compelling digital marketing campaigns that attract new customers and boost sales. He is a certified advertising partner of both Google and Microsoft, guiding Planit Scotland on its journey to becoming the only Scottish agency to be recognised by Microsoft for digital marketing excellence.
Question: How do we know what customers are thinking when they’re looking for products or services? What are the thought processes?
Answer: I’m lucky to have worked with almost every kind of business imaginable – but even an expert isn’t a mind reader. With the right kind of analysis and a bit of common sense, you can uncover what your audience truly wants and needs.
As discussed in the session, there are free tools from Google (Google Analytics and Google Search Console) that can help you get insights into what is happening on your website. These allow you to view the traffic to your website – where it comes from and much more.
Question: So, if I have a pretty good idea about what my customers are thinking, how do I capitalise on it given that money is tight? Marketing feels like a maze and I don’t know where to focus my efforts. Is it on a website, social media, or looking at other channels… there are so many options?
Answer: People are getting lazier and attention spans are getting shorter. If a customer does a search on Google, or clicks on a social media link to your website, you need to make sure it counts.
Before undertaking any marketing you need to ensure your landing page is up to scratch. What makes you better than rest? For example, is your business family run for 150 years; do you offer free delivery; have you won awards?
By having an appealing landing page with all the key info front and centre, you stand a far better chance of success.
There are a lot of digital channels out there and every business is different, so there are digital platforms for everyone. What I would recommend for every business, though, is a website and setting up a Google Business Profile.
Question: Are online ads on the likes of Google and Facebook worth it?
Answer: Online ads are not for every business – but it also doesn’t have to involve spending thousands to get results.
Advertising platforms like LinkedIn, Google & Facebook are happy to take your money, but you need to ensure you are making a return on your investment.
I mentioned Google Analytics earlier and how you can track what is going on in your website. If you have a contact form on your website, for example, you can make that trackable. The same goes for someone completing a purchase on your website and – within reason – any action on your website that is valuable to you. Then you can look at the traffic that comes in from ads and whether they completed any of these actions, using Ads and Analytics to refine your strategy.
Question: Is it worth outsourcing my marketing or can I do it myself? What are the pros and cons and how do I decide?
Answer: Time is one of a businessperson’s most valuable assets. If you feel you have the time to learn, you may not have to outsource. However, if you work with an expert, you get the benefit of all the learning they have already done.
If you choose to outsource, go to the agency with a specific goal in mind: for example, increasing sales of a certain product by 10% in three months. This will allow the agency to pitch how they will get to that figure… or work with you if it is not achievable.
Question: Businesses are constantly bombarded by folk promising to boost their websites up the rankings, but we know that some are better at it than others. Do you have any tips or general pointers on how to separate the wheat from the chaff?
Answer: Marketing in the Highlands and Moray is different to the rest of the UK. People here buy into people: what do their reviews say, who else do they work for? This is no different when finding a legit SEO marketing company.
Google algorithms change all the time, and there are some technical aspects to SEO, but good quality, relevant content has always been the biggest factor for me – and that has never changed.
And if someone is emailing you with guarantees of top page ranking, that’s a huge red flag.
Session 1: Darrel Paterson, Business Development Manager, Highland News & Media (HNM)
Email: [email protected] Tel: 01463 246575
Prolific networker Darrel Paterson project manages the HNM brand ‘Executive’, overseeing a suite of services that includes the leading B2B magazine in the North of Scotland, a new dynamic podcast, an exclusive Business Club and innovative digital marketing solutions.
HNM is transforming its approach to the digital landscape and its offering to businesses, securing its position and making it a pioneer in digital media. And its network of 12 news brands and websites offer tailored marketing solutions to help businesses engage with their target audiences and achieve tangible results.
- This video explains the work behind the transformation: HNM – Our Work with Google & the Financial Times (Note: some prices and T&Cs have changed since it was made 8 months ago)
- And this video describes the progress made: Inverness Courier Video
Question: What are the most common misconceptions that businesses have about working with the media, and how can they be addressed?
Answer: The most common is that the media is only interested in negative and sensational stories. While it's true that conflict and controversy attract attention, we are also interested in the positive, the informative, and in human-interest stories that resonate with our audience. We are here to support our local communities – they are where our employees work, live and enjoy their time off, so, we are invested in fostering relationships with local businesses. And if they have interesting stories to tell, we want to know about it!
Another misconception is that businesses have little control over how they’re portrayed in the media, and that’s not true. While our journalists have editorial independence, businesses can influence their coverage through strategic communication, by building relationships with journalists, and by providing accurate information.
And of course there’s also the option of paid advertorial. Businesses buy space and fill it with an advert and some words about the business.
Question: In your experience, what are the key elements of a successful media strategy for businesses?
Answer: Knowing your customers and being driven by a well-thought-out marketing strategy leads to a successful media strategy.
Your audience is exposed to 10,000 adverts every day, and on average someone needs to be shown your brand 7 times before they make a buying decision, so your approach should be very carefully thought out.
Think about your own approach to brands and local businesses – you can learn a lot of lessons from that – and using all media formats is important too: local media, radio, TV, social media, outdoor advertising, networking…
Question: Where does networking and being visible appear in the mix?
Answer: You are effectively a walking, talking extension of your brand, and appearing at networking events has a very important role to play for many businesses – ultimately, it all comes under ‘word-of-mouth’.
I’m a serial networker and show up to lots of different events, which can lead to ribbing from colleagues, but it means that Highland News & Media and Executive Magazine are what people think about first when deciding where to advertise.
Question: How is digital media changing the media advertising landscape, and what are the opportunities and challenges for businesses?
Answer: Everything is changing, and HNM is to be a Digital First business by 2027. Standing still is not an option for any news publisher nowadays – fewer and fewer people buy newspapers – and we’ve been working with Google and the Financial Times to redefine our model, focusing on digital subscriptions and our online multimedia presence.
Subscribers can now opt for our newsletters and video content, and use our App to read content, and we continue to focus on the important local stories of the moment and to give businesses platforms on which to advertise. The trick for our team is to keep up with new innovations and technologies - but it’s a very exciting world!
Panel Session 2: Staff Recruitment & Retention – and Managing Without
We know only too well that a shortage of staff, let alone skilled staff, is holding businesses back. In fact in August 2016 we interviewed businesses on Skye and found that a third of employers were short-staffed – and we thought that that was bad. However, subsequent FSB surveys have revealed that the situation is getting steadily worse, the Big Small Survey that we conducted last February finding that in 2022 57% of Highlands & Islands businesses were short staffed, as against 45% in the rest of Scotland. It’s no surprise that tourism & hospitality were particularly hard-hit.
The result? Business were cutting back on opening hours and the services they offered - or both. Last year was no better; this year…?
In this session we sought to identify hot tips, business support and new ways of thinking that can help employers overcome the obstacles.
Session 2: Catherine Bunn, Highland Campervans, Dalcross
After spending several years in the RAF as a Flight Operations Officer, Catherine left in 2007 to start a family and begin a small business called Highland Campervans. Initially working from home whilst raising two small boys, the business has grown considerably and now employs 25 staff as a thriving Motorhome Dealership.
It is very much a full-time job for both Catherine and her husband Steve. Outstanding customer care is central to the business’s success, and that is down to the staff. Building a team who all believe in the business and helping customers’ create amazing memories, is core to continued growth and success.
Question: I think that my business might need an extra pair of hands and/or someone with a skill that’s missing, or a function that needs beefing up. How should I go about deciding if this really is the case, and if it is, how should I design the new role?
Answer: This is how I go about it:
- Discuss recruitment need with the line manager
- Can the recruitment of a new member of staff be delayed or avoided by improved process efficiencies?
- Can work be restructured, changed or reallocated to avoid or delay the recruitment of a new member of staff?
- What tangible benefits will the new role/position bring to the company? How will these benefits be measured?
- What is the impact on the business by not recruiting to this role?
- Prepare a job description so that everyone understands what the role will be/titles/salaries/skills/requirements
- Consider how essential/desirable skills can be measured or tested during the application and interview process? (Pre-selection, short listing, interview, skills assessment exercise, second interview)
Question: Where should I advertise? There are lots of alternatives out there.
Answer: I find these useful, so check them out and see what you think:
- Your own website and social media pages (including Linked In)
- Indeed for businesses
- Local papers
- Facebook – Post jobs on various groups.
- The local Job Centre
- UHI/Moray College/Schools/local DYW coordinator
- Local shops can also work for some businesses/jobs
Question: Do you have any top tips for interviewing?
Answer: Keep it simple and fair:
- Use an interview grid for shortlisting applicants (keep it neutral and fair)
- Always use the interview questions for everyone and fair scoring system (positive & negative indicators)
- Recruit for attitude, train for skills – but gut instinct is not something to ignore!
- Follow up on references – can be time-consuming but important
Question: Recruiting staff can be expensive and retaining them thereafter matters in this time of shortage, so treating them right and retaining them is important. Do you have a staff induction process and how does it work?
Answer: Yes – it’s very important. I ensure that each new member of staff has:
- A training plan that includes time in other departments
- A 100-day plan that looks after them in those delicate early stages
- A Health & Safety overview
- You should also consider putting people on probationary periods before confirming their permanent appointments.
Question: And continuing the retention theme, once they’ve bedded in and become established in the team, how do you keep them motivated and engaged?
Answer: Try all or some of these
- Skills analysis – (Use Skills Development Scotland’s services)
- Allow staff room to breathe & show initiative (NB. Don’t confuse with allowing someone taking over!)
- Hold Team-building events and days
- Have an annual Christmas training day, produce company updates, present team-building challenges
- Enter business awards and get the staff to contribute ideas and examples, and to proof-read the application – it raises awareness of all the good things)
- Remind the team of the other, non pay-related benefits that are provided, eg cycle to work scheme, High-life Highland, the use of company assets, training opportunities, and so on.
Question: Have you got anything to add?
Answer: A few points:
- Deal with personality clashes – never ignore them and seek help if need be
- Staff shortages – consider temporary staff for short-term cover
- Departing staff – always try to stay on good terms and conduct exit interviews whenever possible.
Session 2: Michelle Denoon, Employer Engagement Executive, Skills Development Scotland, Inverness
Email: [email protected] Tel: 01463 383375
Michelle works with employers in the Highlands, Islands and Moray to grow their businesses, collaborating with partners to help them develop their workforces, identify training opportunities and maximise public sector business support. She has a Business Management degree and has previously worked in the private and public sector on European projects, Public Procurement, Recruitment, Sales and Marketing. In her spare time, Michelle enjoys the great outdoors with her husband and children, and she recently achieved a personal milestone with a 1.5km outdoor swim.
Question: What is Skills Development Scotland, what is your role, and what area do you cover?
Answer: I work in the employer support team at SDS as an Employer Engagement Executive, which means helping and supporting SME’s to focus on their people and skills as a key part of their growth and resilience.
Question: How do you support employers generally?
Answer: We help employers get the best out of their existing employees and also to attract new talent by using the online tools in our Employer Hub and/or face-to-face through our through our Skills for Growth
Question: How can you support businesses’ recruitment activities – in their bids to attract talent?
Answer: The Employer Hub has a dedicated talent attraction section (Inclusive recruitment guides, Talent attraction webinar and other resources).
We can also offer 1:1 specialist support to employers through our Skills for Growth programme.
This is an organisational review from a people and skills standpoint. The review involves speaking to the key people within the organisation about the various business functions to get an idea for the existing skills within the organisation and where the skills gaps are. This can identify opportunities for upskilling/reskilling, and in terms of talent attraction, it ensures employers are recruiting for the correct roles. We write a report based on our analysis which contains recommendations on training, local business support and funding available to the organisation based on their skills needs.
Specifically for talent attraction we can:
- Support the development of a recruitment strategy unique to the organisation
- Look at current recruitment practices and make recommendations for improvements.
- Look at the culture and how employers can better demonstrate it to potential new talent, using for example, videos of existing employees describing why it’s a good place to work, or accepting videos from potential candidates instead of covering letters.
- Assist employer engagement with education through our links with schools and colleges.
- Support an employer develop their equality, diversity and inclusion practices and ensure that these are part of their recruitment strategy.
Question: What is the eligibility for Skills for Growth
Answer: For any sector and generally suits employers with 5 or more employees
Question: What does Skills for Growth involve?
Answer:
Question: What are the benefits?
Answer: A third-party organisational review with a people and skills focus to reflect on current skills and identify skills needed for the future. Skills for Growth can give employees an opportunity to be listened to and to be developed and also introduce innovative workplace practices.
Question: What other public sector support is out there and how do you work with it?
Answer: Working with partners such as HIE, Business Gateway, FSB, SMAS, Interface, DYW, local schools and colleges etc is key to Skills for Growth and we make onward referrals based on skills needs.
Question: Which local businesses have benefited from Skills for Growth and what was the outcome?
Answer: This Glen Mhor Hotel case study gives a good example of what can be achieved from a Skills for Growth project.
John Johnson, Lean Practitioner, Scottish Manufacturing Advisory Service (SMAS), Inverness
Email [email protected] Mob 07967 234015
SMAS works with businesses across Scotland to help them grow by making best use of the resources available to them. In short, they support improvements to productivity, culture and behaviours across the business, and their help can be tailored to solve everything from immediate business issues to more significant, lont-term change.
SMAS’s goal is to take industry best practice and share across all of Scottish businesses. Together, everyone achieves more.
Inverness-based John has over 20 years of manufacturing & process engineering knowledge, and new product design and introduction experience gained through working with major OEM companies such as Amazon, Johnson & Johnson and Motorola. He is Process Excellence Green Belt certified and a qualified ICF Coach and DiSC Behavioural Trainer.
His role with SMAS is to make businesses more efficient, “My own thinking is, if you can make someone’s role or task easier, they will naturally be more productive.”
- SMAS provide a free operations review for all SME’s.
- We help businesses implement productivity improvements through things like improving layouts and workplace organisation, and through output & cost reduction using process excellence tools (lean practices).
- We assist with leadership development hold workshops
- We provide both online and on-site support.
Want to know more? Contact John.
Session 2: Developing The Young Workforce (DYW)
DYW is a Scottish Government-funded organisation that operates on a regional basis.
DYW aims to connect education with employers to better prepare young people for the world of work and support businesses to employ and support young people. We run things such as career fairs, mock interviews, career talks and workplace tours, to name a few. We also provide employer support to ensure that they are equipped with knowledge and information to support young people into work.
If you would like to find out more or get involved, please get in touch. Click here for your local office.
Session 2: The Highland Employability Partnership (HEP) - Recruitment Opportunities Are Out There!
If you need additional help in your search for staff the Highland Employability Partnership (HEP) may be able to help you.
The HEP takes a multi-agency approach, its partners (including the FSB) working collaboratively to help would-be employees and employers come together in a mutually beneficial arrangement.
The Highlands is home to a surprising number of people of working age who face multiple barriers when starting or getting back into the world of work.
Employers play a vital role in achieving positive outcomes for people in this situation and they can quickly become real assets to your team.
Support may be available too for existing staff - especially parents earning below the Universal Credit threshold - through in-work progression opportunities.
HEP partners are keen to hear from any who think they may be able to help – including you!
Please email [email protected] if you would like to discuss things further.
Session 3: New Opportunities For Growth
Businesses, economies and countries never stand still: they go forward, growing and expanding; or they go back, shrinking and contracting. In this session we wanted to explore some of the opportunities for businesses and the local economy.
Session 3: Tim Hartley, Delivery Lead, Scotland Can B
Email [email protected]
In a few short years the conversation about business as a force for good has moved on from asking “why” to asking “how”, and at Scotland CAN B we are building a nationwide culture of business as a force for good.
We’re doing this because all businesses have a vital role to play in the context of a rapidly-changing operating environment (the climate, demographics, cultural trends) - and those that respond soonest will be ahead of the curve. Ultimately people want to do business with businesses that are meaningful and that can show they have positive impact on the world around them. Evidently, based on Friday’s event, your part of the world is trailblazing in this direction - it was palpable. The call to action is for businesses to step back and consider what impact they create on the world around them - and to think about what they can start doing differently, or stop doing, to make even more of a positive contribution.
There will be much you’re already doing that creates positive impact, so take a moment to acknowledge what those things are.
The fee? It doesn’t cost anything. Periodically Scotland CAN B runs training programmes for small cohorts of businesses and business advisors - anyone who wants to stay connected are encouraged to sign up to the Scotland CAN B newsletter (via our website). Longer term we hope that the whole of Scotland’s business support system (the business gateways, enterprise agencies, business schools, private consultants, etc) are all singing from the same hymn sheet - but of course that will take time. Meanwhile, the best place for any business to start is to read up about what’s going on in this space, to find their own inspiration. I’ve included some additional resources below, but also check out Scotland CAN B’s website, featuring the Impact Journey
Additional resources/Read more about it:
- INSPIRE - a groundbreaking report into what business purpose means, including case studies of fantastic Scottish businesses.
- BENCHMARK - jump right in to start understanding how and where your business creates impact.
- INFORM - the campaign is well underway to change the way company law works, so that every company aligns their interests with those of wider society and the environme
Session 3: Calum MacPherson, CEO, Inverness & Cromarty Firth Green Freeport ICFGF
Calum told us that at around £3 billion, the Inverness & Cromarty Firth Green Freeport (ICFGF) is the largest industrial development in Scotland in our lifetimes, and if one includes the Red John high-pump hydro storage scheme, the transmission work, and offshore investment, we already have the largest investment that's been announced in our region in a generation. However, we can take lessons from the sudden growth during the oil boom of the late 1970s. We must do things differently, ensuring that we bring much more benefit to local supply chains and long-term benefit to our region.
In 10 years’ time, the Inner Moray Firth will be a very different place to what we see today, with offshore wind infrastructure being built in the Cromarty Firth, more shipping traffic, and establishing an international hub of excellence. To this exercise, we bring the Highland ethos of doing the right thing for people and place. For example, all landowners within the tax sites, had to sign a Fair Work and Environmental Charter.
Hundreds of jobs have already come to the area, one or two thousand more are expected in the coming years, and at least 10,000 in the next 10 to 20 years. It’s important that as many of these jobs as possible – they cover everything from welders to drone controllers to environmental specialists, marine workers, land transaction specialists, accountants, lawyers and more – come from the Highlands and Moray. Why should young people have to leave the area when jobs like these will be on their doorstep? One challenge is that we don't have enough apprenticeship funding. This is something we need to work together to resolve.
Another challenge is housing – there isn’t enough of it, and there certainly isn’t enough at entry-level pricing. ICFGF is working with Highland Council, developers and housing agencies to increase capacity and address this challenge. Additionally, the Non-Domestic Rate fund which can be created by the Green Freeport will be redirected to support critical services like housing.
And when it comes to the procurement of goods and services, everything possible should be done to help local businesses win contracts. Local small and micro businesses should have the opportunity to bid for appropriate contracts, and where appropriate, perhaps larger contracts could be broken down into smaller lots to help accessibility for smaller businesses.
To find out more, follow the ICFGF and Port websites.
SUPPORT FOR YOUR BUSINESS – FSB & PUBLIC AGENCIES
The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB)
Running your own business is rewarding, but you don’t have to face the challenges alone.
If you are already a member, do take another look at our Member Benefits. They are constantly evolving as we strive to give you the best possible help and support, and you don’t want to miss out! Member Benefits.
If you’re not a member and you’d like to find out more about joining the UK’s largest and most respected business organisation – the Voice of Smaller Businesses – then please read on.
With the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) by your side, you’ll have all the support and expertise you need to start, run and grow your business. As the leading voice of 5.5 million small businesses and the self-employed heard in governments across the UK, we’re always working to deliver real change on the issues that matter most. FSB membership unlocks market-leading business services and tools including:
- 24/7 legal, tax and employment advice line
- Debt recovery service
- An extensive online legal hub with over 1,400 documents and templates
- A range of local and virtual events - free and open to all
- Easy access to funding
- Bespoke insurance quotes and advice tailored to you.
Membership starts from £195 per annum.
And if you’d like to speak to someone who knows what’s what, if you live in:
- The Highlands please contact Jim Aitken on 07716 192626 or email [email protected]
- Moray or Strathspey please call Mike Armour on 07746 574662 or email [email protected]
Business Gateway
For general enquiries of a business nature, whether you are starting up or you’ve been at it for many years, your first port of call is Business Gateway.
Highlands & Islands Enterprise – HIE
HIE can provide advice and support, knowledge exchange/learning, and certain types of funding.
Check out their website for more information
Skills Development Scotland (SDS)
Skills Development Scotland is the national skills body supporting the people and businesses of Scotland to develop and apply their skills.
Contact Michelle Denoon for more information: Email: [email protected] Tel: 01463 383375
Scottish Manufacturing Advisory Service (SMAS)
See John Johnson’s words above to find out more about how they can help you.
Email [email protected] Mob 07967 234015
Scotland Can B
See Tim Hartley’s words above to find out more about how they can help you.
Email [email protected]
The Highland Employability Partnership (HEP) - Recruitment Opportunities Are Out There!
See their words above to find out more about how they can help you.
Please email [email protected] if you would like to discuss things further.
Developing The Young Workforce (DYW)
See their words above to find out more about how they can help you.
If you would like to find out more or get involved, please get in touch. Click here for your local office.