Ishan Crawford

Offshore Energies UK, the leading representative body for the UK offshore energy industry, held its annual Health Safety and Environment (HSE) conference on Thursday, 8th February 2024, at the P&J Live centre in Aberdeen. The event attracted over 300 delegates from various sectors and organisations, who came to learn and share best practices on how to tackle the challenges and opportunities of the energy transition and net zero. Collaboration for climate and environmental goals One of the key messages of the conference was the need for collaboration across the industry and beyond to achieve the climate and environmental goals and…

Hearts have set a high price tag for their star striker Lawrence Shankland, who has been linked with a move to Rangers in the January transfer window. The Edinburgh club are reportedly asking for more than £4.5 million, which would break the Scottish transfer record between domestic clubs. Shankland’s impressive form for Hearts and Scotland Shankland has been in sensational form for Hearts this season, scoring 21 goals in 25 appearances in all competitions. He has also earned 12 caps for Scotland, netting four times, including a stunning strike against Denmark in the World Cup qualifiers. The 28-year-old has attracted…

A devastating diagnosis Lynne Mackie was heartbroken when her son Ryan died at the age of 19 from a rare blood disorder called Diamond-Blackfan anaemia (DBA). He was one of only 125 people in the UK with the condition, which affects the production of red blood cells and can cause severe anaemia, bone marrow failure, and other complications. Ryan was diagnosed with DBA when he was just six weeks old, after he stopped feeding and became very pale. He had to undergo regular blood transfusions and steroid treatments to keep him alive, as well as multiple surgeries and procedures to…

A young father has become the fourth person to die after a horrific crash on the A9 in the Highlands. Steven Macdonald, 28, passed away on Friday night at Raigmore Hospital in Inverness, where he had been fighting for his life since the collision on Monday. Family’s Heartbreak Steven’s family said they were “devastated” by his death and paid tribute to him as a “loving son, brother, partner and dad”. They also thanked the emergency services and hospital staff for their efforts to save him. Steven, from Inverness, was driving a Ford Fiesta that was involved in a head-on crash…

A Scots postmistress who was sentenced to a year in prison for embezzling £20,000 from her Isle of Gigha branch has had her conviction quashed after 12 years. Aleid Kloosterhuis, 64, was one of the hundreds of victims of the Horizon IT scandal, which saw faulty accounting software falsely accuse post office workers of stealing money. A miscarriage of justice Kloosterhuis, who moved to Scotland from the Netherlands in 1998, pleaded guilty to embezzlement at Campbeltown Sheriff Court in 2012, based on evidence from the Horizon system. She was the only one of the six Scots postmasters and mistresses who…

A decade of driving and fundraising Craig Duncanson is not just an ordinary bus driver. He is also a dedicated volunteer for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI), a charity that saves lives at sea. Craig has been working as a bus driver for Xplore Dundee for 10 years, and he started volunteering for the RNLI fundraising team last year. He spends his spare time helping out with various events, such as bucket collections, sponsored walks, beer festivals, and open days. Craig said: “I decided to volunteer after speaking to some members in my local pub. It’s a great way…

An award-winning Scottish sculptor who creates realistic fake food replicas for various purposes has seen her business grow rapidly with the help of Business Gateway. Her products have been featured in the Barbie movie and other international projects. From Art to Business Kerry Samantha Boyes is the owner and founder of Fake Food Workshop, a business that produces high-quality and realistic fake food sculptures for a range of uses, including in theatre, television, interior décor and marketing. She uses a variety of sculptural techniques and creative disciplines to replicate food, such as weighing, mixing, and layering. Boyes has 30 years…

A new report by the Sutton Trust has revealed that Scottish students from disadvantaged areas are four times less likely to go to university than those from wealthy backgrounds. The report also showed that Scots are less likely to go straight to university, and half who go via college repeat at least one year. This is despite the fact that Scotland has free tuition for higher and further education. The shocking access gap The Sutton Trust is a charity that aims to improve social mobility through education. It analysed data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency and the Student Loans…

Water desalination is a vital process that provides clean and safe water for millions of people around the world. However, it also has some negative impacts on the environment, such as high energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, and marine pollution. To address these challenges, a Scottish company has partnered with a global leader in green energy and water desalination to develop and promote “Green Desalination” technologies. Scotmas and ACWA Power sign a Memorandum of Understanding Scotmas, a global leader in chlorine dioxide-based water treatment systems based in the Scottish Borders, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with ACWA Power,…

A consortium of four Scottish renewable and maritime companies have secured a UK Government grant of over £785,000 to develop an innovative UK-first approach that will use clean, green hydrogen energy to reduce carbon emissions from vessels when berthed in port. A Circular Economy Approach to Port Decarbonisation The year-long trial, run by partners Forth Ports, Waterwhelm, Logan Energy and PlusZero, will deliver a state-of-the-art demonstrator system for green hydrogen shore power which marine vessels can use when they are berthed, removing the need for the diesel-powered systems which are currently in use on some quaysides. The project draws together…