Telling the story of a £100 billion ambition

The scale of opportunity emerging across the Highlands is difficult to overstate. Last year, Highlands and Islands Enterprise identified more than £100 billion of regional transformational opportunities spanning renewable energy, ports and harbours, electricity transmission, housing and wider infrastructure.

While rooted in the Highlands, this is an opportunity of national importance. These projects have the potential to transform the UK’s energy transition, strengthen critical infrastructure, create skilled employment and generate opportunities for businesses and communities across Scotland and beyond.

There is however a window in which to realise that potential. Other regions across the UK and Europe are competing for the same investment, talent and supply-chain capacity. Scotland must therefore communicate the strength of the Highland proposition clearly and confidently – not simply through individual announcements, but through a compelling and co-ordinated account of what is happening across the region.

Earlier this year, BIG hosted an event in partnership with Burness Paull, Porter Planning and HAUS Collective at Inverness Castle, bringing together senior leaders from ports and harbours, renewable energy, housebuilding, housing, construction, investment, local government and economic development to discuss how the region can turn its significant investment potential into long-term economic growth.

Our aim was to move beyond the £100 billion headline and explore what the opportunity looks like in practical terms, what could prevent it from being realised and how the public and private sectors can work together to maintain momentum.

What is clear is that the investment pipeline is already taking shape, with major projects progressing across energy, infrastructure and the built environment. The more complex question is how we create the housing, skills, planning capacity and investment conditions needed to turn that pipeline into completed projects – and at the pace required.

Communications have a significant role to play in that process. Investment decisions are influenced not only by the strength of individual projects, but by confidence in the wider region. Investors, governments, businesses and communities need to understand how different developments connect, the collective benefits they can deliver and the long-term opportunity they represent.

The recent attention surrounding Inverness Castle illustrates why that wider context matters. Questions were raised after figures showed that the visitor experience is not expected to meet its original first-year financial forecast. Its performance should, of course, be monitored and discussed openly, but its success cannot be judged on financial projections alone or before it has had time to establish itself.

The Castle is a long-term investment in the Highland economy, its tourism offering and its people, with the potential to support regeneration, attract visitors and strengthen the region’s profile. The response from both the Scottish and UK governments reinforced that broader perspective, reaffirming their support for the investment and the wider economic benefits it is intended to deliver.

This is exactly why the story surrounding major investment matters. Without a clear account of the long-term ambition and collective benefits, individual figures can too easily become the defining narrative.

The same principle applies to the £100 billion opportunity. Delivery will take place over many years and involve funding decisions, planning milestones, infrastructure improvements and inevitable challenges. A co-ordinated approach to communications can help maintain confidence throughout that process and ensure each announcement contributes to a clear and credible picture of where the Highlands is heading.

That does not require every organisation to use precisely the same words. It requires a shared understanding of the opportunity and a collective voice across sectors – one that clearly explains how investment will benefit communities, create lasting economic impact and contribute to national priorities.

That was the real benefit of bringing such a broad group together: not simply repeating the £100 billion figure but starting a shared conversation about how the ambition can be delivered and how Scotland can communicate it with the confidence it deserves.

BIG is proud to support many of the organisations driving this transformation through strategic communications and stakeholder engagement, and to be part of the wider conversation about the Highlands’ future.

If your organisation is part of the Highlands’ investment pipeline, or wants to be, we’d love to chat about how your story connects to the bigger picture. Drop us a line at [email protected]