West Highland Chamber of Commerce hosted their West Highland Vision Conference in Fort William on Thursday 20 March. Over 100 speakers and delegates from across the west highlands gathered at the Highland Cinema for a day of insights and discussion.
The day began with a trio of keynote views from three quite different perspectives. Professor Graeme Roy opened the day with an economist’s in-depth look at Scotland’s economic outlook, offering a clear analysis of the current landscape and future prospects in an uncertain world. We were pleased to learn that the outlook for the west highlands bucked the national trend in its positivity.
Next, Scottish Chambers of Commerce Director, and local business leader, Bruno Berardelli spoke from the heart about his experience of setting up and scaling a national business from the west highlands. The audience enjoyed hearing Bruno’s honest story of the ups and downs of business and were inspired by his obvious love for the people, landscape and culture of the area.
Finally, hospitality expert Stuart Cassells shared his expert view of hospitality. Stuart is probably best known as a founding member of the Red Hot Chilli Pipers. His journey from music to luxury hospitality showed us how creativity and passion can create business success. Striving to create ‘remarkable’ experiences is what transforms ‘good service’ into memorable ‘hospitality’ in its truest sense.
Get talking!
While the morning focused on soaking up big ideas, the afternoon was about us all getting to grips with hot local topics.
Sustainable Tourism: This session sparked a lively debate, particularly on the controversial transient visitor levy, and the need to balance economic growth with environmental responsibility.
Infrastructure Investment: With huge opportunities on the horizon, the need for infrastructure to enable growth is clear. Although major work on the A82 is still some way off, an integrated transport plan for the road network through Fort William is in progress, which will address the pinch points through the town.
Community Engagement: Skills were top of the agenda in this session, with everyone agreeing that there is a huge training need and opportunity in the west highlands. It was encouraging to hear from so many people about the positive needs for training and recognition of the valuable work being done by Developing the Young Workforce and the UHI to work with industry.
Celebrating real-life connections
As well as the formal sessions, delegates took advantage of the opportunity for casual chats and the chance to mingle in the relaxed ‘west highland’ atmosphere. The cinema provided an inviting setting for catching up over coffee or introducing ourselves over lunch. Almost five years to the day since the start of the Covid lockdown, the conference was a timely reminder of the power of bringing people together and the importance of building in-person connections.
What comes next?
The host for the day political commentator Catherine MacLeod, Alastair Nicolson of HIE, Donald MacLean of Prosper and CEO Frazer Coupland rounded off the day with a summary of key action points from the workshops. West Highland Chamber will now focus on creating a manifesto that will drive positive change for our communities and businesses.
Building on our momentum
Frazer Coupland invites all west highland businesses to get involved, saying, ‘If we learned one thing from the conference, it’s that there is no shortage of people who are enthusiastic about the future of the West Highlands! If you weren’t able to make it along to this event, don’t worry there will be many opportunities to get involved throughout the area over the coming year.’
The Chamber team is already looking ahead to next year’s conference in March 2026, which will be in the beautiful harbour town of Oban. They work with members from across the west highlands to create a sustainable, prosperous future for community and business. If you’re not a member already, get in touch and join today at westhighlandchamber.co.uk
