Energy sector merger sees extra jobs created as consultancy grows

There are many positive business stories throughout Dundee, Angus, Fife and Perthshire. Here we highlight some of them.

Perth-based energy consultancy MDG Group and Dunfermline’s European Utility Consultants have merged to form Here’s The Plan.

With offices on Perth’s Tay Street, the merger and subsequent further growth of the team has created jobs in the city.

Here’s The Plan helps firms with energy, water and telecoms contracts. It can also offer expertise on all aspects of utilities, sustainability, and compliance.

TEXO, with offices at Dundee Port, has offset its total carbon footprint for the financial year 2020-21 to become certified as a Carbon Neutral Business.

The firm has worked with Carbon Neutral Britain to plan its journey towards net zero by 2023.

Dundee and Angus College has established the Electric Vehicle Training School to train mechanics, first responders and those in the motor trade on maintenance and repair of EVs.

The college aims to bridge the skills gap within the motor trade around EVs and prevent local garages from being forced out of the market.

Pittenweem Preserves is helping to maintain Rosslyn Chapel’s historic links with Fife by offering a selection of jams for sale in the Chapel gift shop.

Fiona Audsley started the company with her husband Michael in 2018 when a local store asked her to supply homemade jam to sell to locals and visitors.

She makes all the preserves in maslin pans, with fruit sourced from local farms and gardens wherever possible.

Thermal imaging company IRT has won funding from The Data Lab to develop and use AI to reduce heat loss in homes and support Scotland’s net zero strategy.

The firm identifies how housing developers can make their property portfolio more energy efficient through thermal imaging data capture and analyses.

IRT will work with Robert Gordon University to develop software to automatically remove objects like trees and cars from its thermal image scans, saving time in manual cropping.

The University of Dundee will work with the Association of British HealthTech Industries (ABHI) to develop innovative healthcare technologies.

ABHI is the leading UK industry association for health technology, which is a key component of the Growing the Tay Cities Biomedical Cluster project.

Dundee University head of IP and commercialisation Anne Muir said: “Our strategy is to accelerate innovative solutions into the healthcare market, be it new surgical devices, digital clinical decisionmaking tools or disruptive technologies. We can help bring life-changing technology into the hands of patients, clinicians and others who need it most.”

ABHI chief executive Peter Ellingworth with Anne Muir.