Members Spotlight: Reids of Caithness

Get to know Reid’s of Caithness – The baking family bringing a taste of Caithness to an international market!

From delicious all-butter shortbread boarding first-class rail services and jetting off on Atlantic flights, to rainbow rows of their signature tartan tins displayed inside premium malls and delicatessens from Asia and to Australia; Reid’s of Caithness is delivering a taste of Caithness to a truly international market.

The family-run business was established by Donald and Joyce Reid in 1966, using recipes passed down through the generations. 57 years later, the business has grown in scale to employ over 50 people and produces hundreds of thousands of biscuits, cakes and oatcakes every year from their 20,000 sq. ft. state-of-the-art bakery, office and warehouse facility in Thurso.

Today, the bakery is managed by the second generation of the family, with Gary and his wife Tracy leading the way for this award-winning business, most recently recognised Scottish Wholesale Baker of the Year 2023. An accolade which demonstrates not only an exemplary product, but also praise for their business operation, level of customer service, ambition, and professionalism.

Reid’s are passionate about innovation, and although the bakery has significantly developed its production capacity and product line since its founding days, the focus on high-quality ingredients and producing well-made product remains at the heart of the business.

The business also remains committed to its investment in its people. In the last 10 years, Reid’s have put over 35 team members through apprenticeships in production & processing, bakery skills, food & drink operations, distribution, and food manufacturing excellence and take an active role in developing their skills, an attribute reflected in every aspect of their business.

What opportunities are ahead?  

“We’re continuing to invest in the business, our ambition is for larger oven capacity and faster wrapping stations and we’re looking at automating our biscuit-forming line.

“But it’s not about replacing people with machines, we’ll always need skilled staff, and eventually some of them may be engineers to work alongside robots, or ‘co-bots’ as they’re sometimes called.”

What are the biggest challenges facing your business?

“We use quality local ingredients and employ around 50 people locally. We are committed to their personal training and development and believe that we have a responsibility to make sure our team is well skilled.

However, because we can’t compare with the wages offered here by the nuclear industry or the distillers, we often struggle to attract people and hang onto our workforce. As a bakery, our people are crucial to our operations.

Current consumer behavior and attitudes are also making it increasingly hard to sustain a profit from our type of food production, and like all in the food manufacturing sector, inflation, volatile ingredients pricing and cost-of-living crisis are also having a huge impact on our business – but we believe the quality of our award-winning products shine through.”

What are your proudest moments?

“Winning Wholesale Baker of the Year for the third year was fantastic, and a great boost and credit to our whole team.

Of course, we are proud of all of our awards and achievements, but our ability to react during Covid and support the supply chain with our breads both locally and nationally, into major supermarkets is something we are especially proud of.

Our business is SALSA accredited, meaning we could be audited at any point. It’s extremely important to our business and means our customers and retailers know our products adhere to the strictest health and safety food regulations. If you are a consumer and see a Reid’s product on the shelves, you know it has that guarantee.”

Where is the furthest place away from Thurso that you can buy a Reid’s Biscuit?

“We are exporting our award-winning shortbread and biscuits to over 30 countries, including Costa Rica, South Africa, Iceland, Australia, Japan, South Korea and Saudi Arabia.

We love hearing from our customers and have a huge amount of support from our locals here in Caithness. We often get people sending us pictures of our products when they are travelling – we’ve even had images from as far away as New Zealand”

www.reidsofcaithness.com

The West of Orkney Windfarm will be hosting a supply chain event in Thurso on September 14 where local businesses can meet members of the project team and learn more about how to bid successfully for future work packages.

The event, which has been organised in partnership with the Caithness Chamber of Commerce, will be hosted in the Pentland Hotel.

“We would like to encourage companies from across the north of Scotland to come along to this event and engage with the West of Orkney team,” says Rob Heaton, Supply Chain and Local Content Lead.

“Although construction of the wind farm will not ramp up fully for a number of years, we believe early engagement is critical in helping local firms understand how work will be advertised and procured, and in enabling them to bid successfully for future contracts,” Rob says.

In addition to the Caithness event, the West of Orkney Windfarm will also be participating in a number of other supply chain events in Aberdeen, Inverness and Orkney this Autumn.

The West of Orkney Windfarm has already committed to a £105 million investment initiative during this initial phase of the project to develop the supply chain that will be enhanced to at least £140 million by match funding from third parties.

“We will be making announcements in the coming weeks on specific initiatives which will create opportunities for the supply chain in Scotland, and I would encourage companies to come along to one of the supply chain events to meet the team and understand more about our project,” Rob concludes.

Event bookings will be live mid August, for further information contact Fiona@caithnesschamber.com

Further details on supply chain events can be found here: www.westoforkney.com/supply-chain

Scrabster Harbour Trust is managed by a Board consisting of six non-executive and one executive member.  Two non-executive vacancies are to arise at this year’s AGM and applications are invited to fill these vacancies.  Appointments will be for a term of three years.

The full Board requires to have wide and relevant experience, and candidates will therefore be expected to have skills and experience in business or industrial management, harbour operations, or administration and local community interests.  The ability to work well within a committee, to grasp and deal with complex issues and to express your own views clearly will be necessary.  Residence within a reasonable distance of the harbour and familiarity with local issues will be desirable.

Board Members are remunerated and are required to attend meetings and otherwise to devote two days per month on average to the work of the Board.  Duties are similar to those of a company director and will include responsibility for the proper exercise of the statutory functions of the Board.

For an application form with further details, please contact:

Mr E J Thoms

Clerk to Scrabster Harbour Trust

c/o Young Robertson & Co

29 Traill Street

THURSO, KW14 8EG

Tel: 01847 893247

E-mail: viw@youngrob.co.uk

 

Closing date for applications –   noon on 4^th August 2023

In keeping with its commitment to a minimal impact on the environment and the natural world, timber products specialist GMG Energy has announced that is planting another 10,000 trees in a swathe of forest it owns in the far north-east of Scotland.

The latest enhancement of its strategic reserve of timber is part of an ongoing resource replenishment programme which is based on the industry standard of one-for-one, but the company has substantially exceeded that target in most recent years.

The new planting will take place on 400 acres of softwood-planted land at Quintfall Forest, towards the east coast south of John O’Groats, which GMG Energy purchased early last year to protect future supply and increase its resilience to market shocks.

It will be overseen by forestry consultant Donald McClelland, from Caithness, who will assemble a team to undertake the planting and will then manage the growth and wellbeing of the crop until maturity after 35 years.

Malcolm Morrison, Director of GMG Energy, said: “We are committed to replacing every log of timber that we use in our sawmill, biomass and timber products facility in the Strath of Halladale in Sutherland and this latest tranche of planting maintains that momentum.

“We are also dramatically reducing our reliance on diesel fuels with the recent installation of a solar array of more than 100 photovoltaic panels on the roof of the main production facility at the plant.

“Quintfall is just over 20 miles from our base of operation at Bighouse Farm, so it will not add to the road miles burden and planting there will chime with our wish to invest locally and provide a reliable resource for other local companies.”

The company, which has a turnover in the region of £2 million, has also installed a high-tech preservation tank which will provide treated and stress-tested timber products for local concerns which previously had to source supply from much further afield.

The Highland Council, in conjunction with Eastern Airways, is delighted to announce that August 2023 will see a special rate of just £49.99 per ticket being applied across every seat booked on the Wick-Aberdeen air service.

Bookings for the promotional period opened on 1 July 2023 and will close on 30 August 2023. During that period, any standard ticket booked for travel in August will be available at the flat rate of £49.99 one-way.

The promotion will help inform a wider study supported by Dounreay, a division of Magnox Ltd, to help understand the drivers of demand on the service and to provide an evidence base for future planning and development of the Wick-Aberdeen route.

Councillor Raymond Bremner, Leader of The Highland Council and Chair of the Wick John O’Groats Airport Consultative Committee, said: “The Council has been delighted to support the delivery of lifeline air services from the North Highlands for over a year now, providing almost 9,000 passengers a fast, affordable and reliable way to travel between Wick and Aberdeen. The service has continued to grow as we enter our second year, and at current progress we are on track to carry about 11,000 passengers in 2023/24.

“This special promotional period will give a great opportunity for those who have thought about flying but not yet taken the plunge to give it a go at a guaranteed low price point. With flights twice daily throughout the week, as well as a Sunday service, there are plenty of opportunities to take advantage of this fantastic deal.

“It is vital to us that this service continues to grow and evolve in line with the needs of the communities it serves, and the wider piece of work that this promotion is supporting will help to generate really valuable data, enabling us to deliver an even better service to the North Highlands.”

Roger Hage, Commercial Director at Eastern Airways, said: “Any regional air service is aimed at generating increased accessibility, whether to help promote business development and regional prosperity or help support the burgeoning leisure benefits Caithness has to offer.

“While passenger numbers have grown year on year by 35%, this collaborative period of supported fares through August will help bring more from outside the region to see what Caithness, Wick & Thurso offers while also providing an added incentive for those living and working in Caithness to visit Aberdeen or connect onward”

David Calder, Head of Sustainability and Socio Economics at Dounreay, said: “Air services from Wick have demonstrated positive numbers since their return last year and aside from the obvious benefit of a window of lower price flights for all travellers in challenging economic times, getting a better understanding of the impact of price on personal choices around working and travel habits post pandemic will help build the case for the nature of air connectivity to and from the area beyond the term of the current PSO.”

The Dornoch Area Community Interest Company (DACIC) purchased the redundant Police Station in Dornoch in 2020 and following a complete refurbishment opened as a business and community hub in May 2021. Since then, 18 businesses have rented office space in the Dornoch Hub.

They currently have one office, and one office & workshop (or shop and store) vacant. They also have various rooms & space for hire. Details can be found here and for further information or to arrange a viewing please contact the Hub Manager Paula White by phone on 07471 200 496 or email manager@dornochhub.co.uk.

Trudy Morris, Chief Executive, Caithness Chamber of Commerce. Award recognition for the achievements of our enterprising business community.

With our venue confirmed and entertainment in place, plans for the Chamber’s Annual Dinner are in full swing. A highlight event in our calendar brings with it our much-coveted Young Entrepreneur and Young Business of the Year Awards, which once again are now open for entries.

Here at the Chamber, entrepreneurship has been at the forefront of our minds in recent weeks. For the last ten years, I have supported the Young Enterprise programme which challenges and empowers secondary school pupils through real-life learning, to set up and manage their own company. This year we were delighted to support Thurso High School Young Enterprise Team “Social-Eyes” whose creativity and innovation secured them a spot in the UK Finals. It was admirable to see their ambition and fearless approach to business. The determination of this young team secured stockists for their game right along the North Coast 500. Though their journey through the Young Enterprise programme culminated in the UK Finals, they will be continuing with their business. They will also always hold with them the accolade and honour of representing the best of Scotland at a national level and the confidence to know entrepreneurship is possible for everyone. To have the vision, skills and resolve to turn your ideas into a product or business is something very special indeed.

Caithness Chamber’s Young Entrepreneur of the Year and Young Business of the Year Awards are designed to celebrate exactly this and give recognition to the achievements of our thriving enterprising business community.

It has been a great pleasure of mine to follow the journeys of many of our former award winners and witness their businesses flourish and evolve over the years to follow.

Our 2022 winners Puldagon Farm Shop are going from strength to strength with the development of their stunning destination venue, restaurant, and farm shop, whilst North Point Distillery have awards in bountiful supply and were recently recognised as both the Best Craft Producer of 2023 and the Most Sustainable Distillery of 2023 in the Icons of Rum Awards.

The Young Business Award is open to enterprises which have been operating in Caithness or North Sutherland for no more than five years, and The Young Entrepreneur Award is open to those aged between 18 and 30 who live in Caithness or North Sutherland.

The prestige and accolade which come with winning are invaluable and the prizes awarded to the winners are meaningful. Entries for the awards are open until 5 pm on August 11. Application forms and entry criteria can be found on the news page of our website, caithnesschamber.com.

Of course, within the current climate, it’s tougher than ever to establish and run a business, but sometimes the toughest challenges can bring the greatest rewards. Caithness Chamber of Commerce is here to support businesses at every stage of their journey. We offer support and expert advice, access to funding, network building, and promotion and we will be your biggest cheerleader.

Find out more and apply for the Caithness Chamber Young Business and Young Enterprise Awards online here.

Laura O’Kane, Operations and Communications Manager, Caithness Chamber of Commerce.

Caithness Bakeries have the recipe for success!  

From shortbread to yum-yums and the perfect softie roll – Caithness has a long-standing love affair with bakeries, and with two national award winners here in our county, who could blame us?

With the excitement and anticipation of our own annual Chamber entrepreneurship awards on our minds, I took the opportunity to speak with two of our Chamber business members who have recently achieved well-earned success at the Scottish Baker of the Year Awards.

In the middle of an extra busy dispatch of Christmas export orders, I was lucky to catch up on a conversation with third-time awarded Scottish Wholesale Baker of the Year Winners, Gary and Tracy Reid of Reids Bakery, internationally renowned for their delicious all-butter shortbread and crumbly oat biscuits and loved locally for their cakes, pastries, cream buns and bread.

Against big competition, winning Wholesale Baker of the Year, alongside their numerous bakery product awards is a huge accolade and credit to their business. Significantly, this award demonstrates not only an exemplary product, but is also praise for their business operation, level of customer service, ambition, and professionalism. Indeed, the judging process is in-depth, requiring a great deal of commitment. It considers many aspects of a business, involving interviews and product tastings by leading and highly regarded industry experts, so winning is no small feat.

Gary and Tracey explained the positive impact the awards had had on their team, and keen to show the accolades are a celebration of the whole business, colleagues are invited along to the event to take part in and collect the awards. The team at Reid’s are rightly very proud of their achievements.

With their premium bakery products successfully exported across the world, Reid’s are certainly putting Caithness on the map, but locally, the business has received great support following the awards too. In fact, their Gold Award-winning Jammy Hearts, sold over 500 packets one week alone in just one of their local independent retailers.

Across the county, experiencing the cheery sunshine yellow décor, relaxed atmosphere and signature “too adorable to eat”, prize-winning Highland Coo fondants – it’s not hard to see why Annie’s Bakery, was awarded “Best Bakery Café in Scotland” in the Customer Choice category.

Since opening her family-run café with views over Gills, Annie’s Bakery has become a destination venue for both locals and visitors to Caithness, even enticing NC500 tourists to deviate on their way to John O’Groats. Baker Annie Body described the excitement the Customer Choice award had brought to her whole team, particularly the younger members of staff (most of whom are still in school), all were keen to encourage votes from customers and in return, her customers were delighted to get behind the café and eager to help secure a win. Bringing the trophy home, was the icing on the cake, but the relationships and interactions with customers and seeing their personal investment in her business was the real prize.

Although very grateful for the support of the retailers which she supplied at the beginning of her business, making the brave decision to pivot away from wholesale has allowed Annie to adapt her recipes towards more boutique “special treat” items. Despite numerous requests, Annie keeps her cakes and bakes exclusively for sale in her own café so the experience is unique.

Of course, somewhat removed from the glittering ceremonies and press-worthy photos is the dedication, grit and determination to bring a successful product or service to market. The long hours, teamwork and sleepless nights which go into turning a business dream into reality are indeed remarkable in themselves. Awards are not the only marker of success, but certainly, they are signifiers of excellence and indeed reason to celebrate.

Our flourishing food and drinks industry in the North Highlands is certainly something we can all be very proud of. Huge congratulations to both Reid’s and Annie’s on their well-deserved successes, we look forward to seeing what’s in store for the future!

After more than three years of preparatory work, a voluntary committee has been successful in its application to the Scottish Government to have the Caithness and Sutherland section of the Far North Line (FNL) designated as the 9th Community Rail Partnership (CRP) route in Scotland. The announcement was made by the Scottish Transport Minister, Kevin Stewart MSP, at an event to celebrate community rail across Scotland held in the Scottish Parliament on Wednesday the 24^th of May.

This designation should bring real benefits to the local communities along the line and also create opportunities to promote the line, its communities, and the attractions that it connects. CRP status provides an opportunity for greater community involvement in planning, development and operation of the line. The main aims will be to increase passenger footfall in local communities, promote social inclusion, increase the use of sustainable travel, and bring about improvements to the stations and services of the line, hopefully growing passenger numbers.

The FNL CRP will help communities to develop and deliver community projects, events, and activities that will encourage visitors to slow down and enjoy our amazing villages and settlements, creating economic opportunities as well as moving people away from the tourism hot spots and the speed of the NC500. This will be done by recruiting and coordinating a group of active volunteers in each community which in turn will offer opportunities for our local businesses which are essential to the sustainability of our fragile communities and crucial in our aims to reverse depopulation and create younger, more dynamic communities in the future.

The added benefit, and another crucial aim, is that through promoting sustainable travel by developing low carbon transport initiatives (including promoting cycling and walking opportunities that start and finish in our local communities) as well as encouraging people to use the train, we will help our climate challenge aims and reduce emissions, helping to move towards the goal of Net Zero.

Scottish Minister of Transport, Kevin Stewart MSP said “Community Rail Partnerships are the embodiment of very passionate and dedicated people who volunteer on our railways. The work they do improves stations and lines across the country, bringing together communities, and giving greater local buy in to Scotland’s Railway. That is why I am delighted to approve and welcome the new Far North Line Community Rail Partnership.”

David Watson, Kyle of Sutherland Development Trust Manager and FNL CRP Chair, explains: “The Far North Line is a world class but underperforming asset. The journey itself is an amazing experience with an incredible variety of natural and cultural assets along its length.  Although it is restricted by its engineering it presents an amazing opportunity to help sustain the communities that it serves. The CRP will form a link between the railway and local communities, bringing together a range of stakeholders, including local businesses and services, along the rail corridor to develop and promote the line, the local communities, and its attractions.”

It is also hoped that the Partnership can boost tourism and make the rail service more responsive to local needs.  There is renewed interest in sustainable transport not just between train and bus but through use of other transport resources such as e-bikes, and community transport schemes. Michael Willmot, Director of Helmsdale Station CIC and CRP secretary says: “recognising there has been growing concern about the number of cars and motorhomes that have been attracted by the success of the North Coast 500 promotion, this CRP should help to develop alternatives to private vehicles for exploring the North Highlands Region as well as providing improved public transport for local communities. There are amazing opportunities for visitors to slow down and immerse themselves in the unique culture of Caithness and Sutherland.” 

In delivering its ambitions, the Far North Line CRP will work in partnership with ScotRail, the local rail user group – the Friends of the Far North Line, and representatives of communities and tourism organisations along the route. David Simpson, ScotRail Service Delivery Director, said: “I wholeheartedly welcome the establishment of the Far North Line Community Rail Partnership. “We look forward to the journey ahead and the positive impact that the CRP will undoubtedly bring in enhancing the route’s potential as a vital lifeline and catalyst for economic growth throughout Caithness and Sutherland.”

The current members of the management group include a number of experienced community development professionals with a track record of raising external funding and delivering successful community projects. The group also has representation from Venture North (the Destination Management Group for Caithness & Sutherland) and the North Highland Climate Hub, to ensure that we are truly promoting sustainable tourism development with environmentally responsible projects to help the future of the communities of Caithness and Sutherland for years to come.

If you are interested in receiving further information or in joining the CRP Management Group, please contact Michael Willmot at helmsdalestation@gmail.com

Highland based Norscot Joinery, renowned manufacturer of windows, doors and timber frame house kits, has been acquired by 1^st FSD Group. Although the business may have changed hands, there will be no organisational changes, with day to day operations continuing to be provided by the existing management team.

Founded by the Body family in 1984, Norscot operates out of its manufacturing base in Bower, Caithness and a sales office on the Carse Industrial Estate in Inverness. Its customer focus is in the Highlands but it has supplied products throughout the UK and as far afield as Eire, France and Spain.

1st FSD Group CEO Tom Wang said, “We are very pleased to have acquired such a successful company. Norscot will continue to contribute to the local economy and serve the community. We see plenty of opportunities for growth in the future, and are confident that the current management team will be able to implement our future plan.”

In response, Norscot former chairman and co-founder Peter Body said, “The 1^st FSD Group team bring a wealth of experience in both property and home improvement related sectors, which I’m sure will benefit the company and our customers. I wish them every success.”

Norscot manufactures the widest range of windows available from a single source. Materials include uPVC, timber and aluminium clad timber. In styles which include casement, top-swing and tilt-n-turn. With entrance and patio doors to suit. Customers include local authorities, housing associations, the trade and homeowners.

Timber frame house kit manufacture is aimed primarily at the self-build market with ‘hand-holding’ by the company’s in-house design team to ensure customers achieve their dream home. Norscot has recently introduced it’s ‘WellBe’ concept of future-proofed, forever, ‘smart’ homes which are easy to maintain, accessible and adaptable, with low running costs.

Further information is available on the company’s website at norscot.co.uk.