22 Jan 2009
The Secretary of State for Scotland Jim Murphy today visited Dundee to meet with a range of stakeholders as part of a series of regional visits across Scotland.
His programme of events kicked off with a meeting with Andrew Thomson, Chairman of the family- owned business DC Thomson and Co Ltd which employs more than 2,000 people across the UK. Jim Murphy was delighted to meet with him and with the Editors of DC Thomson and Co's flagship publications, The Sunday Post and the Courier.
Jim Murphy said:
"In times like these, it is natural for us all to focus on the challenges being faced by employers and how these challenges should be overcome. But equally, it is important to highlight the many positive examples of businesses who are continuing to weather the storm of the financial markets and keep people in jobs. They are after all, the key to our long term economic recovery".
The Minister then went on to visit Cycle Stop, a UK Government funded social enterprise project that has been set up to create sustainable employment opportunities for a number of long term unemployed people. He met some of the people who have benefited from the project and saw practical examples of the skills they have learnt in bicycle refurbishment. The project, run by Calverhouse, a not-for- profit charitable organisation based in Dundee, has established long standing relationships with many employers in Tayside from a variety of business sectors.
The Secretary of State added:
"Cycle Stop is just one of the many New Deal back projects across Scotland that are helping people back in to employment. These practical, training focused schemes are vital to ensuring that people are equipped with the skills and experience they need to reintegrate themselves back in to the workplace. It was also a great coincidence to meet Bob Magill who I went to school with when I was there."
The Dundee and Angus Chamber of Commerce then hosted a lunch for local business leaders, providing an opportunity for them to meet with and put questions to the Minister.
The Minister went on to say:
"The lunch with the local Chamber of Commerce provided an opportunity to discuss the action that the UK Government has taken – and will continue to take, to ensure that companies such as these can continue to keep people in employment during the current financial crisis, as well as the practical measures that have been introduced to help those businesses and employees who have been hardest hit by the downturn, to recover."
The afternoon focused on the Higher Education sector, first with a visit to the School of Creative and Computing Technologies at Abertay University, which provides students with an opportunity to work at the cutting edge of the computer game industry. The digital media and creative industries sector is vital to the Scottish economy - employing 94,000 people. That is why the UK Government has provided grants of almost £3.7m to collaborative R&D projects in the games sector over the last 4 years to ensure that it continues to expand and prosper.
Jim Murphy rounded off his day with a visit to Dundee University to hear about its pioneering research activity, which was up almost 20% in 2008.
He commented:
"Both the Universities I have visited today are prime examples of why Universities in Scotland have been successful in securing over 12% of UK Government-funded research money, (through the UK Research Councils). Scotland fares well against a population share of 9% reflecting the strength of a UK pot in helping Scottish Universities to compete on an international scale".
The Secretary of State for Scotland will be visiting other areas of Scotland in the coming months to see in action, the practical measures that have been introduced by the UK Government to help support businesses, the voluntary sector and the Scottish workforce through these challenging times.
Media contact
Tansy Main
Press Office
Scotland Office
Tel: 0131 244 9022
News Release: SS1469
Date: 22 Jan 2009