Highlands and Islands Enterprise has adapted well to Covid-19 pandemic challenges, says chairman
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Strange is a word Alistair Dodds uses a lot when describing his first six months as chairman of Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE). The former Highland Council boss tells us more about the impact of the pandemic
Having been a member of the HIE’s board for six years, Alistair Dodds may not have expected his first six months as chairman to have panned out like they did.
Instead of being at the agency’s head office at An Lòchran in Inverness Campus, he has done the majority of his duties at home.
For someone who prides himself on his ability to build relationships face to face, this is clearly one of the strange things he’s had to get used to.
“I’d much prefer to go and speak to businesses and to communities and see first-hand how some of our investments are benefiting the region,” he said. “As a board, we’ve always found this insightful and valuable, and we really miss it.
“However, I do believe we’ve picked up on the technology and used it to good effect. Board business has been able to continue effectively and, while we can’t actually visit any businesses, communities or public sector partners, we have been able to engage with them through technology.”
Of course, it’s not just the board who have had to adapt. HIE employees had to make the switch to home working back in March, while finding ways to meet the rapidly changing needs of their clients.
“I think HIE adapted extremely well under the circumstances,” Mr Dodds said. “Colleagues across the organisation adopted the technology very quickly and put it to good use so they could continue operating, just as effectively as they did previously.
“As people we’ve had to adapt, but the same is also true of the organisation. We’ve had to look at our priorities and the areas where we need to focus, and we’ve had to change some of those to reflect circumstances.
“All that has been done very smoothly. We’ve adapted to the pandemic. We’ve taken on responsibility for distributing government funds and applied an amazing amount of effort in doing so. I’m really proud of what HIE colleagues have achieved over the past six months, and are continuing to achieve, in quite difficult circumstances.”
In just a matter of weeks, the regional development agency had enabled upwards of 800 businesses to access more than £25 million in additional Scottish Government funds and awarded 205 grants worth nearly £4 million to support resilience and tackle hardship in communities.
“It involved taking applications, speaking to businesses and to communities, assessing applications and distributing the money very quickly, which is absolutely essential,” Mr Dodds said. “At the same time, in many ways we’ve also had to continue with business as usual, while prioritising some of the areas in which we were wanting to invest.”
During lockdown, a significant amount of work has been done on two of HIE’s most high-profile projects, Cairngorm and Space Hub Sutherland.
The Cairngorm business case was finalised, securing an investment package of more than
£20 million to make it a year-round attraction, including reinstating the funicular railway.
And in relation to Space Hub Sutherland, where a whole range of things have to be taken forward for this very complex project, the significant milestone of gaining planning consent was achieved.
While remaining optimistic, Mr Dodds admitted it is difficult to imagine how things will be after another six months in post.
“HIE has a big part to play in helping the Highlands and Islands continue to adapt, not only to the pandemic situation, but in meeting the challenges of leaving the EU. We can help business with things like innovation, leadership, digital and entrepreneurship as well as funding.
“We can do the same with communities, who play a really important role.”
