Every Monday we ask small businesses key questions.
Here we speak to Alex Munro, who is building five en-suite cabins on his father’s croft at Oldshoremore, in Sutherland.
Alex tells us more about his plans for Oldshoremore Croft Cabins.
How and why did you start in business?
I grew up on my father’s croft at Oldshoremore in north-west Sutherland, attended Kinlochbervie High School and joined the Army at 17, becoming a licenced aircraft engineer. Now in civilian life, I commute from Sutherland to Belfast to work on aircraft there.
My parents gifted me the croft in 2010 and I’ve worked it in my free time ever since, focusing on livestock.
Helping the north-west – the land of my birth – is very important to me. There are so many great things for visitors to enjoy and I want to create jobs and make a difference.
We decided to develop the croft as a tourism operation, generating income and benefiting the local economy and community.
My partner Debbie and I have started by building five en-suite cabins, available in summer, to be advertised as Oldshoremore Croft Cabins on Airbnb.
We have plans to extend this to include a hostel and overnight camping site within the next year, providing much-needed accommodation so that more tourists can experience the joys of remote Scotland while also benefiting the local economy.
How did you get to where you are today?
Through hard work and the active support of family and friends. As the business is still in the early stages, I have to maintain my full-time job while overseeing and working on the project.
Debbie and I put in long hours working while also raising our family. Stressful? Yes, but it’s also very rewarding knowing that the whole family and the wider area will benefit.
Who helped you?
Debbie and other family and friends have helped. Debbie helps oversee the business and animals while I’m away working, completes the administration and physically helps with the building. Debbie’s brother, Lairg joiner James Lockhart, and his wife and son have also helped get more cabins up.
My American angel investor is both a friend and an investor. I became friends with her daughter, Rachel, while studying at San Diego State University in California 20 years ago, and she has backed me ever since.
David McHiggins is another great help. We met in England aged 17 in our basic training days in the Army, and we’re both still licensed aircraft engineers today.
And having recently joined the FSB, I’m looking forward to utilising their great services.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever had?
Treat people the way you would like to be treated yourself.
What is your biggest mistake?
I’ve inherited my father’s optimism, and always seeing the good in people I can be too trusting. I’m sometimes too hasty to take on new commitments as a result, but I’ve learned to plan things out with support from mentors. I’ve also learnt to always ask for quotes before work starts!
What is your greatest achievement?
We are involving our children in the croft and passing on my knowledge, skill and enthusiasm.
The two middle girls, aged 12 and 13, train the cob horses. The eldest, 15, is training her sheepdog Pip with the help of a fellow crofter on Sandwood Estate, while the youngest two, aged nine and 10, are planning to offer alpaca, goat and donkey walks, and also sell guests firewood and beef burgers and pork sausages from croft animals.
How is your business managing rapidly rising costs, and what should the government do to help?
Expansion is being controlled and managed to avoid overstretching, but rising costs will inevitably have to be passed on to customers.
What do you still hope to achieve?
I’m excited about the full experience and great facilities that we’ll be able to offer with the new hostel and campervan site, enabling tourists to enjoy the remote areas of Scotland and the money they spend in local businesses will help support the local economy and community.
What do you do to relax?
Spend time with the croft animals. We’re using quality tups to improve the bloodlines in our North Country Cheviot flock, and I love teaching the kids about croft life. I can’t wait to see what they’ll do with it in future.
What are you currently reading, listening to or glued to on TV?
‘Reacher’ on Netflix. I watch Netflix and Prime rather than TV.
What do you waste your money on?
Going to the cinema and buying animals. I’ve also entered the Belfast, Edinburgh and Inverness marathons, and if I don’t train soon that will be a waste of money!
What’s the first thing you do when you get up in the morning?
Drink coffee, wake the kids, then out for a jog.
What do you drive and dream of driving?
I drive a Mitsubishi Shogun 7-seater. It’s great in all weathers for the kids, trips to the Dingwall mart and slaughterhouse, and for collecting material for the cabins and hay and straw from the East Coast. My next will again be something practical – a Range Rover.
