Welcome from Alistair Dodds CBE,
Chair of Highlands and Islands Enterprise

The Highlands and Islands of Scotland is one of Europe’s most beautiful and diverse regions. It’s an enviable place to live, work, study, invest and visit.

I’m Alistair Dodds, and it’s my privilege to chair the Board of Highlands and Islands Enterprise.

For more than 55 years, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, HIE, has worked with partners at national and local levels to make our region strong, successful and resilient. As the Scottish Government’s economic development agency, we tackle challenges and create opportunities to benefit the region’s people, businesses and communities, both now and in the future.

We integrate actions to strengthen communities with initiatives that develop businesses and create the conditions for growth in every part of our region. Ours is a diverse economy, with sectors ranging from tourism and food and drink to life sciences, energy, creative industries, universities and the new frontier of space. As an agency, we have always been ambitious. And we remain so today – committed to doing all in our power to help our economy grow further, and faster.

Driving that ambition will be a key focus for our new chief executive. The opportunities are immense. Our vision and priorities aim to harness our region's full potential, working closely with local, regional and national partners to maximise our contribution to Scotland’s success.

We need a strong leader to deliver this, and to meet the challenges our region faces – not least to accelerate recovery from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and adapt to the changes brought about by Brexit.

You’ll be committed to building economic resilience in every part of the region – with a focus on net zero, fair work and population.

You’ll implement Scotland’s Economic Strategy.

You’ll build on decades of knowledge, experience and success.

You’ll have the ideas, energy and commitment to lead our organisation into a new phase of achievement – working collaboratively to benefit all parts of the Highlands and Islands.

And you’ll be supported by creative, hard-working colleagues, proud to be working for HIE.

Thank you for your interest in Highlands and Islands Enterprise. This appointment offers a unique opportunity to play a key role in the future prosperity of our wonderful region.

Alistair Dodds CBE
Chair, HIE