OREANDA-NEWS. Over 80 businesses attended SSE’s ‘Meet the buyer’ event in Fort Augustus to find out about the opportunities available with SSE’s pipeline of projects in the north of Scotland and potential investment of Ј5-10bn over the next 10 years across its renewable generation, energy networks, and energy services businesses.

The event attracted businesses from far and wide and over 80 people took the time to talk to SSE’s Open4Business procurement team about their services and how to register on SSE’s new Highlands and Islands Open4Business web portal www.sseopen4business-highlands.com.

Nolan Miller, one of SSE’s Open4Business Project Managers, said: "We are delighted with the interest that we had at the event and received some fantastic feedback from attendees. Our one-to-one appointments proved extremely popular and were fully booked by a variety of different businesses.

“As we grow and develop the web portal, our key focus remains the connections and relationships that we build at a local level, The Open4Business team supports all areas of the Highlands & Islands, but given the proposals in place around the Fort Augustus area, it is vital that we promote the opportunities SSE and its contractors can offer businesses in the Great Glen."

Dave Dignan, Director at Dignan Technical Services Ltd, said “This event was a useful opportunity for local businesses like mine to introduce ourselves to SSE on a local level. It was great to meet real people and be able to present our business to someone who has made the effort to come and listen to the local community. It is apparent that SSE is keen to create a local supply chain and I look forward to exploring the detail of these opportunities as they are developed.”

“As a father, I was also pleased to see the apprenticeship information at the event as it is important to provide training in more rural regions to help retain the skills and young people that benefit the area.”

Kenneth Knott, Fort Augustus Community Council Chairperson, said: “We’re pleased to see SSE responding to our requests by holding events like this which help local businesses to benefit from the opportunities in the area. SSE is well known in Fort Augustus and has been part of the community since the 1950s.”

SSE already employs over 2,000 direct employees and contractors in the Highlands and Islands, operating its power stations, electricity networks, retails outlets and energy services business.