Tribute paid to retiring Council director
20th December 2013
Tributes were paid at the full meeting of The Highland Council on Thursday 19th December 2013 to Neil Gillies, Director of Transport Environmental and Community Services, who is retiring on 31 January next year after 35 years service.
Convener Councillor Jimmy Gray and Councillor Graham Phillips, Chair, TEC Services, praised Mr Gillies for his leadership and dedication as director of a crucial frontline service.
Mr Gillies joined the former Highland Regional Council in 1978 after spending a year working in Caithness improving the road from Thurso to the Scrabster Ferry terminal.
In his early career he worked on a wide range of civil engineering projects including roads, bridges, and marine works.
He then made the move to road maintenance, working in the Inverness and Nairn areas, where he had responsibilities for both the Council and trunk road networks.
The loss of the trunk road contact in 2001 had a significant impact on the Council and resulted in 3 Council Services coming together to form TEC Services, and Mr Gillies was appointed as Head of Roads and Community Works in 2002.
He was appointed Director of TECS in December 2007 and during his time at the helm has worked under three Chairs, Charlie King (Mallaig), John Laing (Dunvegan) and now Graham Phillips.
Attending his last meeting of the full council, Mr Gillies said:”It has been a privilege to work for the Highland Council over the past 35 years, and when I look back it is good to see the difference that TEC Services has made to the Highlands in terms of improvements to our road and bridge network, flood protection, and our waste management services. All of these improvements could not have happened without a great team, and I would pay tribute to my staff and to our Elected Members for their support over many years.”
Related Businesses
Related Articles
As intimated in Highland Council's budget plan, a new senior management structure is to be implemented following approval by Council 14th March. It reconfigures the senior management team into two layers, rather than three and brings Highland Council into line with other benchmarked authorities.
Today, Morrison Construction introduced some of their local apprentices who are working on the UK Governments' Levelling Up Funded refurbishment project at the Northern Meeting Park in Inverness. All these apprentices have been recruited from the Highland area.
The by-election to elect a councillor to represent Ward 19 - Inverness South on The Highland Council has been won by Duncan Cameron McDonald - Independent who was one of the eight candidates who contested the vacancy. Voters in the ward went to the poll yesterday (Thursday 11 April) and the by-election count was held this morning in The Highland Council Headquarters in Inverness.
The Technology Placement Programme offers funding to businesses in the Highland Council area to cover up to 70% of the cost of employing a student or graduate. The Technology Placement Programme offers funding to businesses in the Highland Council area to cover up to 70% of the cost of employing a student or graduate.
Following the success of its Business Digital Grant scheme launched last year, The Highland Council is delighted to announce further funding. This is to help Highland companies access digital support alongside other business growth support.
The Highland Council is delighted to confirm a highly successful second year for Public Service Obligation (PSO) flights between Wick and Aberdeen. The period from April 2023 to March 2024 has seen a substantial increase in passenger numbers, with several months seeing over 1,000 passengers using the service, and overall the service has seen year on year growth of 25%.
Members of Highland Council, who met on Thursday 14 March 2024, approved a corporate Digital Ambition, which has been designed to deliver significant organisational change across Council services, recognising the current priorities within the organisation. The Strategy, which is embedded within the wider Council Delivery Plan, has been developed to focus attention and resources on areas of change which will deliver the greatest benefit to the Council.
The Council remains committed to supporting mentoring in our schools, including the support that is currently delivered through the MCR Pathways programme. Highland Council is currently undertaking a review of Employability Support provided by a number of different council services and how these relate to the work carried out by external partners and in our schools.
Highland Council members have considered and agreed a revised draft Highland Outcome Improvement Plan. The partnership plan has been reviewed and updated by the Community Planning Partnership.
Members at today's (14 March 2024) meeting of The Highland Council agreed the local authority's new draft Community Wealth Building Strategy. They were also asked to note that a period of public engagement on the draft will now begin, with a final strategy returning to full Council for consideration in September.
