WELCOME

First of all, may we wish all Aspire readers a very happy, successful and prosperous new year.  If you managed to get a break over the festive season, we hope you have returned feeling energised and refreshed, and raring to go!

As ever, new items in this edition are are marked with a * to help you spot them more easily, while still-relevant items from the last edition are repeated separately, in case you missed them first time around.

FUSION EVENTS AND NEWS

*   Changes at Fusion 
For the past 18 months David Fraser has combined the roles of Chief Executive and Deputy Chairman of Fusion while maintaining his own business commitments in the UK and Singapore. In early December David advised the Board of Directors that he wished to step down from the role of Chief Executive to enable him to concentrate on his other commitments. David deserves our thanks and gratitude for having stepped into the breach and steering Fusion through a period of rapid change and rationalisation, enabling the Board to adopt a positive attitude toward the challenges ahead in these times of economic  upheaval and fiscal tightening.  We are happy to say that we will not be losing David's valuable input altogether, as he will be remaining a member of our Board.
 
The Board of Directors is pleased to announce that Mark Sutherland-Fisher has been appointed Chief Executive in succession to David. Associated with Fusion almost from the start, Mark has served as a Fusion director for 5 years and brings to the role his experience of working with Bruce Morrison and all members of the team over the past 8 years.
 
Commenting after his appointment was announced, Mark stressed Fusion’s role as the organisation best placed to link rural businesses throughout Scotland so that they can benefit from one another's experience and expertise and - as a result of the practical support, help and encouragement they can give one another - become more successful. He pointed to the importance of our members forming the backbone of a network of individuals motivated to play their part in leading Scotland’s rural economy forward, building businesses and creating jobs; and he emphasised that Fusion would continue to work closely with colleagues and partners, whether in other trade and professional bodies or in the public and social enterprise sectors, as well as further develop close ties with UHI and other academic bodies from Shetland to Dumfries.

Mark can be contacted at msf@fusionlinking.co.uk