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NHS Highland PR boss joins Highland Council’s £1.7 million management team as Ruth Fry takes up £109k chief officer job while Paul Reid takes on fleet and facilities





Highland Council headquarters in Inverness. Picture: Gary Anthony.
Highland Council headquarters in Inverness. Picture: Gary Anthony.

NHS Highland’s head of communications Ruth Fry has taken up the £109,285 a year communications and human resources chief officer role at Highland Council.

The appointment alongside Paul Reid as chief officer for facilities and fleet management fills two of the last vacancies in the restructured senior leadership team with three more to be filled.

The council agreed to a new senior management structure last March with two layers of 11 chief officers on £109,285 a year reporting to three assistant chief executives on £129,279 – they then report to chief executive Derek Brown on £184,000.

As the head of PR and HR, Ms Fry has two of the toughest jobs at the local authority – trying to get a good press and dealing with a workforce of around 10,000 people.

Both areas have proved problematic in recent years and converged when The Inverness Courier reported hundreds had made claims of bullying and harassment.

Ms Fry previously worked for Edinburgh, Clackmannanshire and Perth and Kinross councils in communications and performance roles.

She is currently NHS Highland’s head of communications and engagement and is expected to start with the council on 28 April when she will report to Allan Gunn who is the assistant chief executive – corporate.

Mr Reid will also take on another enormous job given the huge expanse of the local authority and the plans underway to mothball or repurpose many facilities.

He has been NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde’s head of transport and travel since 2017 and before that he worked with Aberdeen City Council.

Mr Reid worked for Stagecoach in fleet compliance and management – experience that could prove useful with the council building up its in-house bus service.

He is expected to start work at the council in early May when he will be reporting to Malcolm MacLeod, the assistant chief executive – place.

Council convener Bill Lobban said: “I would like to congratulate Ruth and Paul on their appointments and welcome them to The Highland Council. They bring with them a wealth of experience and leadership to the council.”

Leader of the council, Raymond Bremner, claimed: “The new structure is forecast to initially deliver savings of £370,000 as part of the budget savings agreed by council in February 2024, and it is anticipated that savings will eventually equate to around 20 per cent of senior management team costs as part of a more streamlined management structure.”


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