Clacks Business Week 2018 Magazine

Alloa business empowers
local communities
An Alloa business is calling on landowners and communities to help
identify derelict land that could be transformed into areas that
generate affordable energy and create new revenue streams.
Having been instrumental in setting
up the ground-breaking Smart Fintry
project, which enables locally produced
green energy to be sold cheaply to the
community, Veitch Cooper, based in Alloa
Business Centre, is looking to replicate the
project’s success throughout Scotland.
Catherine Cooper of www.veitchcooper.com
said: “There is derelict land all over
Scotland and although some inroads have
been made to transform it since the 80s
there is still a lot lying unused. Our aim
is to contact landowners and community
groups who have identified areas, whether
it be a disused mine or an abandoned
industrial site, and work with them to
develop and install an energy system that
will generate affordable energy around
which the local community can build
an economic hub to open up additional
revenue streams.”
Having started her electrical and electronic
engineering career with British Aerospace,
Catherine became a tutor at the University
of Cambridge before returning to Scotland
to raise her children. She then worked for
a range of engineering companies, latterly
with SSE Plc. When she opted for voluntary
redundancy she turned to Business
Gateway Clackmannanshire to help her
launch Veitch Cooper.
She said: “Through Business Gateway’s
Growth Pipeline programme I’ve benefitted
from a strategic review that has helped
me commercialise my ideas, Intellectual
Property support that has made me think
about the business’ future and I’ve been
assigned a mentor who is expanding my
understanding of financing community
projects. Without Business Gateway
I wouldn’t have accessed any of that
support, which has been instrumental in
helping me move my business forward.”
Catherine
Cooper,
Veitch Cooper
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The Clacks Business Week Magazine
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