An interview with our chair

Interview with Alistair Dodds CBE, chair of HIE

‘Strange’ is a word Alistair Dodds uses a lot when describing his first six months as chair of HIE.

Having been a member of the agency’s board for six years Alistair has been involved in a great many board meetings in the Inverness office, An Lòchran on Inverness Campus, and in locations across the region.

But just as he was appointed chair, all that changed.

“That was six months ago now, and I’ve not even been in the building, let alone around the region and the area teams,” he reflects. “That’s certainly been something of a challenge and not what I expected. Like so many other people I’ve pretty much had to do everything from the home office.”

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. 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 overnight 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,” says Alistair. “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.”

Alistair acknowledges that while working from home may sound fantastic to some, for others such as those with caring responsibilities or who maybe don’t have much space to work at home it’s not so easy. This underlines the need for what he describes as the “positive and supportive manner” in which people at HIE have adapted.

And then there’s the organisation’s business. This had to change too.

“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.”

Over the summer, the regional development agency enabled upwards of 800 businesses to access more than £25m in additional Scottish Government funds and awarded 205 grants worth nearly £4m to support resilience and tackle hardship in communities across the Highlands and Islands. That, the chair asserts, has been a “huge achievement”.

“It involved taking applications, speaking to businesses and to communities, assessing applications and distributing the money very quickly, which is absolutely essential. 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 £20m to make it a yearround attraction, including reinstating the funicular railway. This is expected to make a huge difference not just to those who visit or are employed on the mountain but to the wider area’s economy and the businesses who rely on it.

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.

Meanwhile, HIE’s innovation programmes, such as Innovate Your Business, IMPACT30 and Pathfinder, are being delivered virtually, as is the adventure tourism programme, ‘Let’s Grow’.

WHO IS ALISTAIR DODDS?

Alistair Dodds CBE was appointed chair of HIE in May 2020.

Born in Kelso in the Borders Alistair later moved to Glenrothes in Fife. He holds an Edinburgh University honours degree in economics, a post graduate diploma in personnel management from the University of Strathclyde and an MBA from Dundee University.

XpoNorth, the country’s largest creative industries conference, was also run virtually and reached around three times its anticipated number of participants had it been a physical event.

Alistair has always been optimistic for the region. He points to natural advantages in areas such as adventure tourism, renewable energy and the drive to the country’s net zero targets. These he says will generate new opportunities for economic growth, particularly around the islands and coasts, which are among the most vulnerable locations. However, he admits it’s still difficult to imagine how things will be after another six months in post.

“I’m positive and optimistic. I’d love to see a vaccine having been developed that puts everything back to some kind of normal. In the meantime, 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 across the Highlands and islands.”

The road to recovery is still a long one but Alistair is confident there will come a point where things have stabilised. He believes HIE has a critical role to play in the region’s economic recovery citing strong leadership and good collaboration with government, public sector partners and with industries and communities as key.

“All of this will enable us to achieve many positive outcomes across the Highlands and Islands and reach a strong platform from which we can all move forward.

“HIE has been leading community and economic development in the region for 55 years, and so I know we can offer experience, advice and support to steer our region through these challenging times.

Before embarking on his successful public sector career, Alistair took a couple of years out. Temporary occupations included park officer, golf starter, builder’s labourer and a stint as security guard in the St James’s shopping centre in Edinburgh; something he described as “horrendous”.

In a 12-month spell in France, he picked grapes, worked in furniture removals and taught English to people in the fashion industry. He also helped translate a science fiction book called ‘I was a guinea pig for the men from outer space’. These two years proved “invaluable”, giving him a knowledge of what goes on in the real world.

Alistair’s professional career in the public sector has been through various human resources roles in Lincolnshire County Council, Fife Regional Council and The Highland Council, where he later served as chief executive from 2007 to 2013.

In 2014 Alistair joined the HIE Board. That same year he was appointed CBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list for services to local government in Scotland. He was also awarded an Honorary Fellowship by the University of the Highlands and Islands for his work on the integration of health and social care.

A keen sports follower, Alistair has attended many international rugby games at Murrayfield. He enjoys a game of golf, has a keen interest in Scottish contemporary art and is deputy chair of the National Galleries of Scotland.

Alistair lives in Inverness with his wife Ann and their two dogs. He has a daughter, son-in-law and two grandchildren.

“Importantly we will continue to be the voice of the Highlands and Islands, representing our businesses and communities at Scottish and UK levels to ensure our own particular challenges and opportunities are understood and taken into account when decisions are being made.

“The events of this year have shown just how committed and passionate we are as an organisation and as individuals – employees and board members – to ensuring HIE continues to make a significant contribution to Scotland’s economy and to the people of the Highlands and Islands.”