Connecting businesses in Scotland’s more rural communities with the rest of the country could be the lightning bolt our economy needs to spark back into life.
That’s why I was delighted to see a multi-million-pound network upgrade deal announced last week with one of our country’s biggest electricity players at the helm.
The Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks Distribution (SSEN) have announced a £450m investment programme in the North of Scotland.
The move, which will see huge upgrades made across the grid network, is also set to create 300 jobs across the region as we approach 2030.
It’s the kind of boost the area, which includes cities like Aberdeen and Dundee but also rural locations in the Highlands and Islands, really needs as many smaller communities are still struggling with poor connections – and a lack of employment opportunities.
Now, down to the details of the deal and what it could mean for the business landscape of the North of Scotland.
The works, as mentioned above, will see massive upgrades made across nine sub-regions in the network area, including repairs and upgrades to pylons, overhead lines and substations which provide vital connections for Scotland’s rural economy.
The work will be delivered collaboratively by OCU Utility Services, Clancy, Freedom Group, MacAulay Askernish and Brush Group (which includes KUS Power Engineering and McGowan Group).
Beyond the infrastructure investment and jobs creation, the deal brings very practical benefits to customers and businesses across the north of the country – namely increased connectivity and reliability, which can also support growth.
In these more isolated communities, improvements to the network should help people stay connected and link up areas which notoriously struggle, particularly when there is adverse weather effecting the supply chain of the 800,000 people in this area.
There are also green benefits to this latest news as the Scottish Government continues to push towards its net zero targets.
If done right, this project should see benefits with a knock-on effect for business. For example, providing further work for those delivering low-carbon solutions and decarbonisation technology.
In theory, these upgrades should also allow for the faster rollout and smoother delivery of new technologies like electric vehicle chargers, solar panels and heat pumps as more households get connected to the grid in a stable manner.
This, of course, benefits business in Scotland as we try to move forward with the green revolution and away from our past titans – heavy industry and oil and gas.
That transition will, naturally, continue to be a difficult one for business leaders and policymakers alike to handle.
Upgrades like this one, however, will go a long way to make the journey smoother for everyone involved as we link more of the country together.
The world moves at such a fast pace now and we can’t leave communities in more geographically isolated areas behind.
Doing so would affect us all and Scotland’s overall reputation as a global leader in energy and innovation.
Generally speaking, I think Scotland punches way above its weight in the global market and I sincerely hope that continues. As any good businessperson knows, though, remaining steady is one thing and growth is another.
The latter is what we really want if our economy is to spark into life again. It’s been a trying few years but, despite an uncertain global picture, what we do know is focusing on improving infrastructure on our own shores can only provide benefits as we seek a brighter future.
Personally, I have faith that those leading the charge, like the bosses at SSEN, have our best interests at heart and the wherewithal to help get the whole of Scotland moving forward together with this latest project.
If executed properly, towns and villages across Scotland could greatly benefit from this work and the opportunities and improvements it promises to bring, not least businesses operating in these areas.
Charge on I say and let’s light up the nation once more.
Lottery Makes Us All Winners
The National Lottery is one of the most impressive business models out there.
It asks people to hand over their cash for almost no chance of a return. And they do it happily!
It is not a smart bet, but it is a smart system. A voluntary pot that goes on to fund everything from major museums to dry-stone wall apprenticeships.
Scotland has just hit the £1 billion milestone from the National Lottery Heritage Fund. That is more than 5,000 projects funded in the last 30 years.
We are talking about restoring ancient sites, training stonemasons, bringing the Lewis Chessmen home, and even turning an old Irn-Bru factory in Falkirk into a new centre of excellence for traditional skills.
The genius is in the scale. Lottery players rarely win, but their blind hope has quietly funded a wave of investment. Money has flowed into small islands and city centres, into conservation, skills training, and green jobs to set the nation up for the future.
Take a Dunkirk ship restored on Loch Lomond or Lews Castle, now a Gaelic museum and community hub. These projects are not just about history. They are about people, jobs, places and pride.
Not everyone gets lucky with their numbers, but Scotland is lucky that so much good has come from the gamble. The Lottery turns small losses into big wins for communities.
And in business terms, that is a model worth taking very seriously indeed.
It Made Me Smile: Driving Forward Success
You’ve got to hand it to Chris and Julie Ramsey, when they take a road trip, they really commit.
Most of us might head to the beach. However, the Aberdeen duo travelled from the Arctic to Antarctica in an electric car.
That’s over 29,000km of range anxiety and charging apps. And presumably, a lot of awkward silences after missed turns.
But hey, they’ve broken records and proven electric vehicles can handle more than weekly shopping run to Tesco.
It’s a fun story, but there’s a serious business point here. Pushing boundaries is how innovation gets traction.
Whether it’s pole-to-pole driving or something smaller and closer to home, success depends on testing limits and proving what’s possible.
It Made Me Cry: When Reputation Isn’t Enough
It’s always sad to see a company go under, especially one like Orr Decorators, with four decades of history and a solid reputation.
But this collapse wasn’t about bad workmanship or lack of demand, it was a cashflow crisis brought on by relentless cost pressures.
Even with £3 million in turnover and clients across major sectors, Orr couldn’t outrun rising overheads.
A company can live in debt, but rarely in growing debt. When costs run ahead of payments, even the best-run firms can hit a wall.
Construction and contracting firms often live or die on timing and cashflow.
When that balance goes, insolvency can come quickly. It’s a brutal reminder that reputation alone isn’t enough in today’s economy.
