Everyone knows the 12 Days of Christmas — but 2025 gave Focus North plenty more to celebrate. From partnership milestones to regional progress, here are our 12 achievements from across the partnership.
1. The Flow Country gains World Heritage Site status
A landmark achievement for the North Highlands, delivered through a huge collaborative effort across partners. Alongside global recognition, we secured funding for peatland restoration training, with early success stories already emerging – including Joyce’s work at Armadale Farm. The designation opens the door to ethical investment via the Flow Country Green Finance Initiative, academic tourism, and world-class UHI expertise, while supporting new green jobs and slow tourism opportunities
2. £100m education and community campus for Thurso
Highland Council has committed £100m for an education and community Point of Delivery (PoD) in Thurso. The new campus will bring together education and community functions alongside the UHI North West and Hebrides campus – creating a corridor of opportunity for learning, skills and employment. Highland Council recently held pre-consultation events across Thurso to ensure community and youth voices help shape a positive long-term future.
3. Our first summer programme with Developing the Young Workforce
In partnership with Developing the Young Workforce, we launched our first summer programme to directly engage young people — and their parents — about the future of the region. Workshops ran throughout the summer and continued at our annual conference. The Minecraft Reinventing Regions programme is now live in Wick and Thurso and will be a Scottish first when students unveil their designs in early 2026 – watch this space!
4. Focus North film unveils massive investment to come
We premiered a new Focus North film created by Kevin Matthews of Local Lens Media, celebrating the scale of investment heading into the Highlands and Islands – estimated at £100bn. The film highlights major North Highland developments across renewables, peatlands, education, space, airports and harbours. It’s a powerful storytelling tool for attracting investors, talent and partners. Missed it? Watch it here
5. Our most successful Focus North conference yet
Our annual conference saw a fantastic turnout and introduced a new interactive format using Slido live voting, which was extremely well received. Speakers outlined the unprecedented scale of development ahead, but most excitingly we put the next generation front and centre. Youth panels, video reports, the summer programme and the launch of our Minecraft Challenge marked a step-change in engagement.
6. Launch of the Live North website
North Highland Chamber of Commerce completed an ambitious rebrand and merged with Venture North, creating a single, sustainable organisation representing business and tourism. One standout success was the launch of Live North — the region’s dedicated talent attraction and recruitment portal. It’s a one-stop shop for jobs, relocation advice and opportunities — and a key tool for growing our workforce.
7. Visit from the Just Transition Commission
A brilliant collaborative effort saw partners present a compelling case to the Just Transition Commission during their visit to Caithness and Sutherland. The Commission praised the region as a national example of the triple-helix approach in action. While showcasing leadership in the green transition, we also spoke honestly about challenges around housing, transport and infrastructure – earning recognition at a Holyrood event attended by Ministers.
8. Net Zero Nation support for North Highland SMEs
The first tranche of our Net Zero Nation Accelerator was completed, offering free carbon reduction planning to SMEs — fully funded by Focus North. Businesses from across sectors and every corner of our region took part in supportive one-to-one workshops and gave stellar feedback. Check out our case studies from JGC and Caithness Engineering Services, who said ‘carbon is money‘ and decarbonisation a no-brainer.
9. Peatlands featured in a BBC documentary
The BBC brought global attention to the Flow Country, filming the story of a delicate habitat restored by dedicated environmentalists and recognised as a World Heritage Site. The programme featured UHI expert Roxane Andersen alongside young businesses and apprentices building new careers in peatland restoration. It showcased the North Highlands as a place of innovation, stewardship and opportunity.
10. Expansion of apprenticeships and graduate placements
Regional developers and NRS Dounreay continued to expand apprenticeship and graduate opportunities, building on the success of the Caithness Business Fund. The programme has delivered training, apprenticeships and a new graduate placement pilot, helping local employers access talent while giving young people high-quality routes into work.
11. New HIE offices at Wick Business Park
Highlands and Islands Enterprise has extended Wick Business Park by investing in new, flexible office space, strengthening the area’s business infrastructure. The development supports growing companies, encourages collaboration, and reinforces Wick’s role as a key employment hub. It’s a visible vote of confidence in the region’s economic potential.
12. Growing our team and strengthening local partnerships
This year we welcomed Vicky Rosie to the Focus North team – a local young person keen to be part of positive change in her home region. We worked with more local companies than ever before, living our values by using local talent wherever possible. Supported by a powerful network of public, private and academic partners, our small team continues to drive big opportunities for the North Highlands.
Watch the film below, where Vicky and our programme manager Peter Faccenda set out their positive vision for North Highland in the years to come.