Donation seals shop deal for community
Buyout sees Furnace store future secured
The Furnace shop has been bought by the community thanks to a £10,000 donation from a salmon farming company.
Following the retirement of its previous tenants Mike and Syb Masters, the future of the shop was in question, but with a final push from Cooke Aquaculture Scotland, the village shop will now stay open.
The majority of the money was raised through a £164,065 grant through the Scottish Land Fund and made up through contributions from local businesses and the Furnace Community Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation.
The shop will now be taken over by new tenants Cindy and David MacInnes who said: ‘We are excited to be starting this venture in Furnace as it is something new. This will be our fifth business in 16 years and staying in Furnace is special as that is my home village.
‘We will be helped by our nephew Liam Divers and his girlfriend Kairene Shaw.’
The news has been celebrated in the community since the shop is considered vital to the community.
Resident of 50 years Edith MacKellar said: ‘The shop and Post Office are vital to someone like me who doesn’t drive, doesn’t use the internet and whose nearest bank is 18 miles away.
‘The shop is the hub of the village and is a central meeting place for local residents and the people who run the shop are essential to our way of life. They will quickly notice if someone hasn’t been in recently and will alert a neighbour which allows them to check everything’s okay.’
A Cooke Aquaculture Scotland spokesperson said: ‘For those who have never lived in a rural community, it’s difficult to put into words just how essential a local shop is to its residents.
‘As our hatchery operates in Furnace we, like other businesses in the area, regularly rely on the shop’s services so it’s an essential part of our operations there.
‘We wish the new tenants David and Cindy every success for the future and thank Furnace Community SCIO and the Scottish Land Fund for ensuring the long-term future of the shop.’