Connectivity is vital for north Highlands to prosper

View from the Board by Stephen Sutherland

At the beginning of this month, we held our annual general meeting reflecting on the activity of the chamber during the past year. For the first time we were in the Royal Thurso Hotel and several of our members, myself included, reminisced on many happy times there in days gone by, and we were delighted to be back.

There was a warm welcome from the general manager and staff, and it was refreshing to hear of forthcoming plans and upgrades to the hotel.

As we settle into autumn, with its stretched shadows and crisp embrace, the year too reaches its final stretch. The changing seasons mirror our own need to evaluate and adapt, and at our AGM we reflected earnestly on the extremely challenging and increasingly harsh business environment.

Despite the challenging political landscape, we have never shied away from raising the issues that matter most to our business community to decision-makers in Holyrood and Westminster, either directly or working with our Scottish Chambers of Commerce colleagues.

We challenged government over ill-thought-out and burdensome regulations such as the Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) and alcohol advertising restrictions; and we have continued to champion the Wick/Aberdeen Public Service Obligation, for which we fought so hard.

At our annual dinner in September, a keynote address given by Dr Liz Cameron CBE, chief executive of Scottish Chambers of Commerce, again praised the creativity and resilience of the north Highland businesses community. The speech echoed concerns felt across our region, with threats to connectivity and failures to harness the vast economic potential voiced loudly.

Looking ahead, our membership remains our priority and, as a chamber community, we will continue our commitment to face rising challenges head-on, advocating for the north Highland business community.

We are continually grateful for the support of our membership as we close off another annual review and you can rest assured, we will not rest on our laurels, despite the challenges we all face.

We are a resilient business community and as our strapline says we are stronger together.

• Stephen Sutherland is chairman of Caithness Chamber of Commerce and director at JGC Engineering and Technical Services

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