SfG and Plexus Teaser Event - Inverness 13th March

On 13th of March we were treated into a real insight into what makes a successful collaboration by Plexus and SfG Software that had recently worked together, with HSPC, on a project to redevelop the way HSPC provided information to their customers via their website and through their shop in Inverness City Centre.

David Garvie from SfG talked about how he was initially approached by HSPC after they had been visited by a consultant ITspecialist from Edinburgh who had proposed a very expensive solution to the issues they were having. David visited HSPC shortly after this initial contact and then put together a proposal which looked at what they were currently doing - much of which worked really well infact. Instead of advising them to reinvent the wheel he advised them to fix the 20% which wasn't working as they wished. This turned into a project that involved Plexus Media who provided the website and quite a bit of the technical support they currently used and were very happy with infact, the main issue was that they had a separate system which didn't work in tandem with Plexus and this caused lots of issues keeping the systems up to date, in sync etc.

Energy North Inverness Focus Group Lunch 6th March

On the 6th of March Fusion attended the Energy North Inverness Focus Group lunch at the Kingsmills Hotel. These events provide an opportunity for attendees to find out the latest development in the Energy industry in the area, to hear about Energy North activity and to update others as well as to ask plenty of questions.

The format of the event was really good with plenty of time to discuss issues. Interface did a presentation on how to use their service to work effectively with Universities throughout the whole of Scotland and provided some interesting examples of really effective partnerships they had helped create.

Outer Hebrides Tourism Industry Association Opportunities

The Outer Hebrides Tourism Industry Association has identified a potential need to seek support on a wide range of activities and wishes to establish a register for the next 18 months of individuals and businesses interested in working on short term projects on a contract basis. The skills or expertise currently anticipated are;

Project Management/Co-Ordination
Marketing (inc social media)
HR - Market Research
General Research
Finance
Local knowledge of all areas and tourism businesses in the Outer Hebrides
Archaeology
Wildlife
Photographer
Database creation/maintenance
Graphic/creative design
Website specification
General office support

The hourly rates for the contracts will vary from National Minimum Wage up to £14.50 per hour depending on the specific requirement of the contract.

If you have skills or expertise in these areas and would be willing to work on tourism related projects then please contact Ian Fordham (ian@tourism-hebrides.co.uk) for an application form and more information.

Applications close on Friday 16th March 2012
 

Fusion at 4Networking 7th February 2012

It was an early start here at Fusion to take part in the 4Networking event at the Kingsmills Hotel. This group has been running for nearly 2 years and meets every fortnight for a breakfast networking session. The sessions are informal with the first 30 minutes for open networking, an introductions round (over breakfast), a speaker section of around 10-15 minutes and 3 ten minute appointments with people you want to meet in the room. 4Networking has networking breakfasts throughout the UK and is now spreading further afield - to Australia for example. Membership costs are £200 for 200 days membership plus £10 for each breakfast you attend. Non member attendance is limited to 3 breakfasts. Fusion was attending to promote Fusion as a networking organisation but also to look for opportunities, connections and links for our members.

The Secret of Business Success is Potatoes

At long last we have discovered the secret of business success and it's clearly related to the humble spud.

At the Fusion conference in November 2011 Peter Crome opened his speech by telling the audience his first job in catering and hospitality was peeling potatoes and he did this for three weeks solid. He was very proud of his potato peeling skills to the current day.

A recent news article about Steve Langmead of Capita UK stated that he started life as Mr Chip walking the streets of Aberdeen accompanied by his friend Harry Haddock.

Looking at the Equality Act with Gillian Shaw of Harper MacLeod

On the 1st of February Fusion attended the Women's Educational Event at Eden Court which always features an interesting speaker. This event was no different with the speaker being Gillian Shaw from Harper MacLeod. The session was looking at the Equality Act which could have been quite dry material to go through but Gillian included lots of recent examples of cases to make it all much easier to digest.

Women in Business at 4Networking Inverness

Today, 24th January 2012, Fusion attended a 4Networking breakfast in Inverness with some members of it's Women in Business group. It was great to see a full house in the Burns Room of the Kingsmills Hotel and to be advised by Paula from the hotel team that Robert Burns did infact dine in that room previously and the letter about this occasion is behind reception for anyone interested.

Developing Enterprise in the Highlands and Islands

On the 17th of January Fusion kicked off their 2012 season of events with an event at Highlands and Islands Enterprise. Alex Paterson gave an overview of the role of HIE and underlined it's work in supporting economic but also community growth. 

It was an optimistic look ahead, with the news that HIE's current budget will be maintained over the next 3 years, and that there was some good news coming along the funding pipeline also. Alex outlined how the Highlands and Islands compared to other parts of Scotland and the UK and highlighted that the unemployment rate here is below that of the UK and there are more jobs advertised currently than there were the same time last year.

Global Energy Group - Plans for Nigg

At the recent FSB event in Inverness about Real Life Entrepreneurs Alastair Kennedy gave us a quick overview of what Global Energy was doing at present and it's plans for Nigg.

There are currently 23 companies within the Global Energy Group and they are on track to turnover £280 million. They have 40 offices and operate on 6 continents.

4 of the rigs currently on test at the EMEC facility in Orkney were built at Isleburn in Invergordon and Global are currently working on wind turbines at the old Alcan smelter in Invergordon.

Business Gateway Event - Elgin

On the 29th of November Fusion attended the Business Gateway roadshow at the Laichmoray Hotel in Elgin. This event followed the normal format of exhibitions, questions and answers and then informal networking. The venue was great with plenty of room for everything to take place. The questions and answer session included some pre-submitted questions and some time was spent debating public procurement. In Moray everything over £30,000 is put on the Public Contract Scotland site for tendering and for any spend between £5,000 and £30,000 the procurement team require 3 quotes with these going onto the website through their quick quote process. The Moray team also use the Supplier Finder service which enables organisations to put all their marketing information on the website. The Moray procurement team are encouraging the public sector in their area to look locally first and to get more than 3 quotes where possible.

The Federation of Small Business - Real Life Entrepreneur Event Inverness 29th November 2011

Inverness Caledonian Thistle Stadium opened it's doors to business players from across the region who were attending the Federation of Small Business event about Real Life Entrepreneurs. Hamish Fraser the Chairman of the Highlands and Islands Region of the FSB welcomed everyone to the event by outlining what a real life entrepreneur was - someone who starts a business. He outlined the FSB view that these people need as much recognition as those more famous business people we might think of when we visualise entrepreneurs.

Member Profile - Wright, Johnston Mackenzie

Member Spotlight

Angus MacLeod

Wright, Johnston & Mackenzie

agm@wjm.co.uk

www.wjm.co.uk

Wright Johnston and Mackenzie (WJM) have recently arrived in Inverness but they are certainly not a young company – in fact existing for 157 years. Legal services over the years have increasingly specialised but Wright, Johnston and Mackenzie have deliberately kept high levels of expertise in a wide range of services so that they are able to get the global picture of any of their clients’ businesses and be in a position to help whatever the client needs. Their aim is to not just react to clients’ problems but to help them avoid problems in the first place, and apply this through their “Client-Centric”™ approach, which developed from the firm’s market-leading practice in advising family businesses.

15 years ago WJM became involved in the Centre for Family Enterprise and co-sponsored the Centre for a while. This involvement set the firm on the road to a unique and detailed understanding of why family businesses are different - and why they need and deserve a different approach from their advisors. Family businesses do of course face many of the same issues as other businesses, but the involvement of a family dimension means the solution is not always the “usual” one diagnosed by advisors – a more sensitive and creative approach is required.

You could be mistaken for thinking that all their clients are small family businesses but they in fact deal with private individuals, entrepreneurs of all kinds, family businesses of significant scale, major PLCs and some well known names such as Vodafone, E.on, Npower, KPMG, HSBC, Clydesdale and Lloyds TSB.

Angus himself has a background in intellectual property, having worked with Roslin Institute helping to commercialise its cutting edge genetics and genomics research (think Dolly the Sheep.) He is the head of the WJM franchising team, having taken it to the number 1 team in Scotland for 5 years in a row, to date. Angus was originally from Inverness, attending Millburn Academy and then heading off to Glasgow University. He then spent 19 years in Glasgow and joined Wright, Johnson and Mackenzie in the early stages of his career. In 2005 he became a partner and moved into mergers and acquisitions, private equity and commercial contract work, and then became head of the firm’s Corporate group before moving to Inverness to open the firm’s office there.

It is clear that Wright, Johnston and Mackenzie like to do things differently – since moving to Inverness they have become actively involved in the local business network. Angus has been described as the “perfect boss” who always has a smile on his face. It’s clear he loves his work and that he has a genuine enthusiasm for working collaboratively with clients to steer around upcoming business obstacles rather than crashing directly into them. The legal service provision in Inverness is surely improved by the addition of such a great asset and of course the back up of an experienced and valuable team.

Create Awards at Inverness College - Itison.com

The second speaker at the Create! awards at Inverness College was the really engaging Oli Norman of DADA and Itison.com. He runs an events and marketing agency that has worked with lots of customers including Dominos & Hilton Worldwide to name a couple. They have 80 employees and specialise in experiential marketing. Oli told a great story of when they hired a double decker bus and had Miss Scotland on the top of it whilst in Parish for a match. They had no permission to be there whatsover and when the police chief appeared Oli thought they would be told to move on. His fears were unfounded though, the police chief just wanted his photo with Miss Scotland and they then decided it would be a good idea to use the bus to lead the thousands in the crowd to the match venue.

Oli seems to have a knack of being in the right place at the right time and his natural enthusiasm and excitement for business really shone through during the evening.

Create Awards at Inverness College

Fusion recently attended the Create! awards at Inverness College. The evening started with a speech from Alastair Kennedy of Global Energy who gave everyone an update on plans for Nigg. Firstly though he gave a bit of a feel of what it was like to work for Roy MacGregor - a man clearly passionate about his business as Alastair described him as "living and breathing it". Roy it seems is someone who looks for the right people and then finds a job to fit rather than the other way round, job descriptions are flexible and he expects commitment from every member of his team. His unorthodox approach seems to have worked extremely well ad Global now has a turnover of £250 million and employs 5,000 people.

Alastair then gave an update on plans for the Nigg yard. About £10 million of investment is required to get Nigg up to standard so Global have an interim plan to try and attract rigs into the base for longer term repairs and refits of £5-£10 million in value in the next couple of years whilst they work on the yard and try to source a windfarm company to be based at Nigg. He advised that a training academy with modern apprenticeships is planned for the future.

How lucky we are to have Nigg locally - it is the largest dry dock in Europe and it has the biggest fabrication buildings in the UK.

We look forward to hearing much more about Global and the developments at Nigg in the coming months.

Conference Biography - Gary Williamson, Williamson Foodservice

As a young man, Gary chose not to join the growing family retail and wholesale food business but instead opted for a military career. On leaving the Armed Forces, Gary joined his father and brothers in the family business, eventually taking on the role of Managing Director. A stickler for good service and delivering a quality product, Gary and his wife Jacqui began a separate retail food business under the banner of Corner on the Square Ltd which Jacqui runs on a day-to-day basis.

Photography has always been a passion of Gary’s and one way he unwinds from the stresses and strains of running a large food business. Showing his true entrepreneurial spirit, Gary has turned this hobby into an additional business, Gary Williamson Photography.  Recognised for his attention to detail and passion about selling good quality food, Gary has for some 6 years been a judge on the panel of the Highland Food & Drink Awards of which he is currently Chairman and a Sponsor.  Innovation, collaboration, service and quality are all important in Gary’s everyday working life and he looks for their application in the business of nominees for the awards he judges each year.

Conference Biography - Councillor W. J. “Ian” Ross OBE, FICF, FRSA

Ian Ross is chairman of the Highland Council's Planning, Environment and Development Committee and previously chaired the Council's Sustainable Development Committee for six years. He is a forestry graduate from Aberdeen University; a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Foresters and the Royal Society of Arts; past Chairman of the Forestry Commission Scotland’s Highland & Islands Forestry Forum and member of the Scottish Forestry Forum. He is a Highland Councillor for East Sutherland and Edderton.

Ian is a visiting lecturer on forest and social policy and sustainability at the Scottish School of Forestry, University of the Highlands and Islands.

As a councillor he has been actively involved in a number of sustainable development initiatives and projects. He is a Director of Highland Opportunity Ltd – the Highland Council’s Enterprise Trust and is also currently the vice-convener of the Northern Joint Police Board.

Conference Biography - Mike Neilson – Acting Director-General (Enterprise & Environment) The Scottish Government

Mike Neilson was appointed Acting Director-General Enterprise & Environment in December 2010.His role spans the Rural Affairs and Environment, and Finance and Sustainable Growth portfolios. His previous role was as Director of Marine Scotland.

In Scotland, he has also worked on Public Service reform, housing and regeneration and sponsorship of the Water Industry. Before joining the Scottish Government, Mike worked at the UK Treasury, the UK Permanent Representation to the EU, and the European Commission on a wide range of issues including financial markets, the EU budget and European Transport policy.

Conference Biography - Janet McDonald, Janet the Coach

Janet MacDonald is an internationally-certified life coach, having undergone a rigorous training with the Academy of Coaching Excellence and is a Professional Certified Coach (PCC) with the International Coaching Federation She works mainly with individuals, small businesses and teachers. Her clients include financial advisors, film makers, lawyers, coaches, educationalists, creative artists, personal development practitioners, sales people, designers and local authority personnel.

Janet has been helping people to improve their lives for over 25 years, having a wide experience of working with individuals and groups as a life coach and in the field of complementary medicine. She feels that the skills and experience she gained from her earlier career as a shiatsu therapist, teacher and assessor informs and enriches her current work as a life coach. Both involve interacting with people, understanding their needs, directing them to look at areas of their lives that are not working effectively, and supporting them through changes that they wish to make in order to improve and enhance their health and lifestyle.

As a coach her aim is to empower her clients beyond their self-imposed limitations in order for them to create and attain exciting and meaningful goals that will enrich their lives. She works by drawing out the best in people, focusing on their strengths and encouraging them to do the same, whilst holding them accountable for their choices and actions. Janet is warm and inviting and will support you to lead a life full of possibility and promise. She aspires to coach with rigour and compassion

She lived much of her adult life in London and Bristol but in 2003 returned to her roots, a place of outstanding natural beauty in the Western Highlands of Scotland. A large percentage of her work now takes place over the telephone, Skype or in a residential setting.

Women in Business - Battle of the Sexes

Inverness has seen many epic battles over the years but maybe none so epic as that which took place at Toastmonsters on the 23rd of November at the Glen Mhor Hotel. The battle was to decide who was better - men or women and the event was based around the theme "Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus". 5 intrepid ladies went along for an evening of banter and of course public speaking practice. They all rose to the challenge and introduced themselves wonderfully well and several also took up the Table Topics challenge which is to speak on a subject for 2 minutes with no notice. After a break in the bar it was back to battle and two very different speeches. The speech for the ladies was themed around the toilet seat and how it related to the differences between men and women. This speech used scientific facts and figures to demonstrate that women are better leaders, make better investors, can multi-task efficiently, are better drivers - infact the list went on. The speech for the men picked up on the toilet seat theme but took a different approach and tried to explain how  men thought - this was quite an eye opener to some of us there. It certainly gave us some helpful hints on how to ask questions, when to ask questions and what to expect in the way of answers of our menfolk.

At the end of the evening we discussed the event and how everyone had felt. Everyone seemed to have got something out of the evening and enjoyed attending with the Fusion group as this had given "safety in numbers".

Well done ladies for making this such an enjoyable evening and rising to the challenge on behalf of womankind and of course Fusion!

Conference Biography - Alastair Kennedy, Global Energy Group

Alastair studied Marketing at Napier University where he also secured his Chartered Institute of Marketing Diploma in Marketing. A well-known marketing man, Alastair has put his talents to many uses including taking a prominent role in raising the profile of Ross County Football Club from a successful but almost unknown club outside the Highland League to one of the most prominent Scottish football clubs and now contenders for the Scottish Premier League.

Alastair’s “day job” is Communications Director of the Global Energy Group, the Easter Ross based oil and gas supply and support company which has just taken over control of the former Nigg Fabrication Yard. The past fortnight has seen Alastair put his talents to work as the Global Energy Group Board of Directors have played host to Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond, UK Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne and Chief Secretary to the Treasury and Inverness MP Danny Alexander.