Moving to a new country to take up an important position within your company can be an unsettling business.

It's not just the upheaval of moving, but finding a new home, registering with the police and working out how you get your basic services, such as gas and electricity. The experience can be made doubly stressful if you have children who will need schooling. But help is at hand thanks to South Lanarkshire Council's new booklet 'Living in Lanarkshire'

Written in partnership with North Lanarkshire Council and Lanarkshire Development Agency, the booklet aims to help foreign business families settle into Lanarkshire quickly and is packed full of useful information and contact numbers.

A number of copies have already been passed out to the growing foreign business community in Lanarkshire, including to companies such as Motorola, Fuji Electric, JVC and Panasonic, to a favourable response.

Booklet author Hiroko Mackenzie, from the Council's Economic Development Azami office, said: "We wanted to produce a guide that would help foreign business families settle into Lanarkshire life more quickly. The idea was that we would put together a booklet that had all the information a foreign business person might need, including important information such as police registration to the lighter side of life such as Scottish traditions and festivals.

"It can be difficult for a foreign business family to settle into Scottish life, particularly if they are from a completely different culture. They may not speak English and it may take them some time to make new friends. If they have children, there is also the added worry about what school to send them to and finding them English tuition.

"Living in Lanarkshire has been produced in English, but we hope to have it translated into other languages in the future."

Councillor Tom McCabe, leader of South Lanarkshire Council, said: "The Council is committed to giving residents of South Lanarkshire the best service and that includes the foreign business community. The Azami office was set up for the purpose of helping foreign business people and providing them with the information they need on areas such as council services. This new booklet is an extension of that service."

He continued: "We originally planned to produce the booklet for South Lanarkshire, but then North Lanarkshire Council and Lanarkshire Development Agency came on board which we were delighted about. That meant we could extend the booklet to throughout Lanarkshire."

Councillor Harry Curran, Convenor of the Economic Development Committee of North Lanarkshire Council, said: "The Council is committed to ensuring that members of the foreign business community and their families are offered the opportunity to play a full part in the economic, social and cultural fabric of North Lanarkshire.

"The Living in Lanarkshire booklet is a one-stop source of practical information that will assist foreign business families from other parts of the world to settle down and better understand our way of life."

Ian Livingstone, chairman of Lanarkshire Development Agency said: "Inward investors and their workforces make a major contribution to life in Lanarkshire and we all have a role to play in making them feel welcome. I am sure this booklet will offer great assistance to people choosing to locate in Lanarkshire."

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