FROM LITTLE ACORNS
Rural enterprise can be successful with a little belief and support
It is tough starting a business from scratch wherever one is, however it feels extra tough in our region where the market is small, communications poor and logistics often nigh-on impossible. Internet provision is still patchy in the Highlands and mobile phone signal frequently non-existent. I have had a better phone signal in the jungles of Gabon then I have on much of Mull. And as for the ferries, don’t get me started...
We launched our business, The Ethical Shellfish Company, with a mortgage extension and a couple of credit cards. It was 2010 and the banks were feeling very jittery about any kind of lending. We managed to borrow a little personally against the value of the house, but there was no possibility of any business funding. Our local enterprise company was willing to give help in the form of advice and support putting together our business plan, but there was no money forthcoming. We quickly discovered that there were very few sources of funding for those vital early stages of a business, and if you’re not lucky enough to have capital behind you, you can be thwarted before you’ve even begun.
Fortunately for us, someone suggested the SJ Noble Trust. This is a remarkable philanthropic trust which was set up in 2002 following the death of Johnny Noble, founder of Loch Fyne
‘It takes courage to start a new venture and the belief and support of the Trust meant a lot to us’
Oysters and Loch Fyne Restaurants. Johnny was a well-spring of innovative ideas and very enthusiastic about enterprise. His personal motto was that stout oaks grew from small acorns, and he had proved himself the very great rewards that can result from innovative ideas and determination.
The idea of the SJ Noble Trust is, according to its own website, ‘to assist promising acorns’, with the overriding aim being to promote rural regeneration in Argyll. The trust aims to counteract the demise of traditional agriculture, forestry and fishing, and the inevitable effect this has had on rural communities by assisting in the generation of scale business and enterprise.
‘Bred over many centuries,’ it states on its website, ‘there has all too often been a negative attitude, an expectation of lack of success.’ Using the success of Loch Fyne Oysters as its inspiration, the Trust encourages bravery and determination in Argyll-based would-be entrepreneurs. It quotes the remarkable story of Loch Fyne Oysters which, registered in 1978 with capital of £100, now has a turnover of £13m, employs well over a hundred people at Cairndow and provides business for its many suppliers. Its sister company, Loch Fyne Restaurants, which was founded in 1997, now has some 50 branches in England.
The Trust also has a special interest in environmental businesses or those which use and promote local produce. We were one such and were thus hoping we could be one of their ‘small acorns’. Having submitted our business plan to the Trust, a few weeks later we were invited for an interview with one of its Trustees, Alasdair Barge.
Alasdair is himself an Argyll-based busi- nessman, being the founder of Gigha Halibut, an artisan halibut farm based in Otter Ferry, so he is all too aware of the pitfalls and challenges. As we spoke about our company and hopes and dreams for the future he listened patiently, took notes and asked pertinent questions that could only have been asked by someone with real experience of what it takes to make something happen in this difficult region. He must have decided we were worth a risk, because a few weeks later we were awarded a grant of £5,000, the balance of what we needed to purchase our first fishing boat and licence.
A couple of years later we were looking for some funds for business development. Once again, we were refused funding from the bank as, despite being a good customer who had never gone over its overdraft limit, they were unwilling to take the risk. We returned again to the Noble Trust, and though we were not eligible for a grant this time, they instead offered us an interest-free loan of £12,000. Once again, they helped us close a funding gap, and we have now happily repaid them in full.
The Noble Trust understand f rom the personal experience of their founder and subsequently their Board of Trustees, the challenges faced by business start-ups in Argyll and the Highlands. As they come from the private sector they are realistic about the amount of information they ask for and don’t keep you hanging around forever while they make a decision. It is a true example of benevolent capitalism at work.
It takes courage to start a new venture, and the belief and support of the trust meant a lot to us at the beginning when we were inexperienced and unsure. From that small start we now have 12 divers supplying us, four full-time staff, and a number of part-time and contracted workers. All these people are supported by our venture and we owe a great deal to the Trust for that vital early injection of funds and resulting confidence that we were on the right path. We hope that we may yet become that stout oak.