OREANDA-NEWS. SSE, Scotland’s leading generator of renewable electricity, is holding a ‘Meet the Buyer’ event in Fort Augustus on Tuesday 12 February to raise awareness of the potential opportunities available for local businesses with its pipeline of projects in the north of Scotland.

The event aims to provide local suppliers and service providers with the information they need to access opportunities arising from the company’s potential investment of ?5-10bn in areas ranging from renewable generation and energy infrastructure to energy services and large scale construction over the next 10 years.

SSE’s Open4Business team will be on hand to introduce local businesses to SSE’s new Highlands and Islands Open4Business web portal* at www.sseopen4business-highlands.com which is a free online tool to help build better networks with local businesses so that they can secure potential jobs and contracts on SSE projects.

The event will be held on Tuesday 12 February at Fort Augustus Village Hall and doors will be open between 10am and 5pm. There will be a drop-in session throughout the day with the additional opportunity for one to one discussions with representatives from key areas of the business. There will also be information on SSE’s apprenticeship schemes** and current projects in the area.

Peter Gettinby, one of SSE’s Open4Business Project Managers, said: “We are proud to have been part of the Highland community for generations and we want to make sure local people continue to benefit from the responsible development of the area’s natural energy resources.

“We encourage all local businesses, whether small or large, to come along and have a chat with us about the opportunities we have and how they can get involved. Often people don’t realise that in addition to the obvious skills and services that we’re looking for like plant operators, fencing contractors, snow clearing services, steel fixers and so on, we’re also keen to meet businesses that can provide services such as accommodation, cleaning, and secretarial skills.

“The feedback that we’re receiving from communities and businesses just now is that they would like more information on the opportunities available, and this is exactly what our new Open4Business portal, and this Meet the Buyer event in Fort Augustus are designed to do.”

SSE is committed to working closely with the local community and stakeholders to maximise economic and employment benefits for the local area. SSE, known by many locally as Scottish Hydro, has a strong history in the Highlands and Islands, where it already employs around 2,000 direct employees and contractors, and sees the north of Scotland as key to its future investment plans.