Minister meets Moray work club

ENTERPRISE Minister Fergus Ewing has met members of the Moray Economic Partnership.

Mr Ewing used his visit to the area earlier today to call for the retention of Scotland’s RAF bases.

Following a meeting with business leaders, Mr Ewing also met members of the Kinloss Workclub, at RAF Kinloss, which has received Scottish Government assistance to help RAF military and civilian personnal affected by redundancy look for alternative employment opportunities.

Mr Ewing met board members of the Moray Economic Partnership (MEP), led by Elgin businessman Jim Royan, which has been tasked with pulling together all the different strands of Moray's economic regeneration plans.

"Projects such as the Kinloss Work Club are bringing together kety employment and enterprise services to mitigate the damage of the RAF Kinloss closure through helping job seekers identify new opportunities for employment and skills development," said Mr Ewing.

"The Moray Economic Partnership is also working hard to identify new opportunities for economic growth, jobs and investment."

MEP was established to drive forward economic growth in Moray, during a period of uncertainty due to the UK Government’s Basing Review process.

Mr Royan said: "His visit to the work club and to meet business leaders in the area will give him a good overview of the well connected response our community is taking to mitigate against the impacts of the defence review."

The work club was established to provide advice, support and skills development opportunities to people affected by the closure of RAF Kinloss.

The project brings together services from Skills Development Scotland (SDS),.JobCentre Plus, the Highland Employer Coalition (HEC), the Kinloss Skills Partnership, Career Transition Partnership (CTP) and Business Gateway.

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