An environmental consultancy in Inverness is shifting its focus away from wind farms to target work supporting the £300million City Deal bid.
Atmos Consulting said it has already trebled the size of its specialist workforce and will relaunch its office this week.
Managing Director, Stewart Lowther insisted the firm had been making plans to to diversify its business before the UK government had delivered “a body blow to wind energy” with changes to the subsidy regime – but it was doing so because it had foreseen the winds of change affecting the sector.
He said: “Atmos has always been an environmental consultancy. We have never been just a wind farm consultancy, although onshore wind has dominated our work in the last few years and we may too often be seen as associated only with wind energy developers.
“We are not turning our back on wind, which still has a future in the region. However our skills and expertise are much broader and we feel the time is right to make a bit more noise about that. We don’t want to be seen as just involved in wind farms.
“This widening of our focus pre-dated the government’s announcement on the curtailment of onshore wind subsidies. We have been working on changing our strategy for about 18 months, recognising what was happening in the north.”
The company said that Dr Greg Fullarton, Atmos’s Highland regional director “enthusiastically” embraced the firm’s changes.
Mr Lowther added: “We have recognised that the region as a whole is one where economic development has really picked up, in terms of housing and commercial development around Inverness and the wider region across the Highlands and Grampian.”
“A City Deal for Inverness would ensure the momentum continues. We think Atmos can help.”
Energy minister Fergus Ewing and Drew Hendry, MP for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey, will help relaunch the Inverness office on Thursday.