FOREWORD Welcome to the winter 2020 edition of FOCUS magazine. This has been an incredibly tough year for us all – one none of us could ever have imagined – but I have been so impressed by the way our clients, partners and colleagues have risen to the challenges and worked so hard to support our region and country. Throughout the months of lockdown and all the uncertainty we have faced, there have been some wonderful examples of community spirit, kindness, entrepreneurship and strong leadership. This issue of FOCUS will showcase some of these successes as well as some of the ways we are planning to recover from the economic impacts of the pandemic, including a fair and green recovery, retaining and creating jobs, and supporting resilience and innovation within our businesses and communities. We hear from a selection of the organisations we have worked with throughout the crisis and a range of industry leaders on how they have had to adapt and are planning to recover. Our tourism, hospitality and creative industries have experienced some of the most difficult hurdles during lockdown, but many have adapted and found new ways to work to survive and plan for the future. In May we appointed a new chair of HIE, Alistair Dodds. We are delighted to have his support and leadership as we tackle the economic challenges that lie ahead. Read more about Alistair and his ambitions for HIE and our region on the following pages. Our vision for the region to continue to be an increasingly attractive place for people to live, work, study, invest and visit has not changed. There are clearly some new challenges for us to overcome but also many opportunities too. We will continue to work with businesses and communities in every part of our region as well as our local, regional and national partners to ensure our region’s economy not only recovers but thrives. Finally, I would just like to wish you all a safe and healthy winter and assure you that we will continue to do our absolute best to support the Highlands and Islands of Scotland.
CHARLOTTE WRIGHT Chief executive, HIE
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