Cairngorms resort taken to new heights
NATURAL Retreats, which builds and runs luxury ecocottages and lodges in national parks, has won a major contract to manage the CairnGorm Mountain resort in Inverness-shire.
The venue offers hiking, cycling and skiing and boasts a £20million cable railway, the UK’s highest.
The company, which has 19 sites in the UK and US, beat services giant Serco and ski resort operator Nevis Range Developments to the 25-year contract. Natural Retreats will aim to increase the number of visitors to the CairnGorm resort by improving attractions and infrastructure.
‘The place is absolutely superb,’ said chief operating officer Ewan Kearney. ‘We want to make it the adventure capital of Europe.’
The tender process for CairGorm Mountain which is visited by 250,000 people a year, was run by Highlands and Islands Enterprise, the Government’s economic and community development agency.
The contract will be signed on Wednesday.
Natural Retreats was founded by former Coca-Cola marketing director Matthew Spence, who saved his family farm in the Yorkshire Dales from bankruptcy by building eco-lodges on the land and offering walking and fitness holidays.
The company later expanded to other areas of outstanding natural beauty in the UK and it went on to set up Natural Retreats in the US in partnership with Mark Rockefeller.
Kearney said: ‘Both the CairnGorm Mountain and the US are massive projects for us with huge potential for growth, so it’s a really exciting time.’