Every Monday, we ask small businesses key questions. Here we speak to Darren Redfern, of Dornoch Caravan & Camping Park.
How and why did you start in business?
Born and raised in rural Northern Ireland, I moved to Scotland in my late teens to study at Stirling University. I went onto work in several office-based jobs in the Stirling area.
In 2006 I met Lynn, who coaxed me north to Dornoch and a new life in the Highlands, and we’ve now been happily married for 13 years.
For 10 years I worked in care homes as a carer on night shifts. The caravan park was always part of Lynn’s life, her parents having run it successfully for 20 years, though it fell on hard times when her father died. Her years of experience convinced her we could make a go of it, though I was unsure – and wrong.
Four-and-a-half years have passed since we took over Dornoch Caravan & Camping Park and we’ve never looked back.
How did you get to where you are today?
I was thrown in at the deep end. After 10 years of nightshift work, I found myself doing 14-hour-plus days on a campsite, and my body clock went haywire.
We learned on the job, with a good team behind us, and focused on getting the basics right, greeting everyone with a smile and keeping the park neat and tidy.
We also invested heavily in upgrading and modernising everything we could over the next three years – new electric hook-up and motorhome service points, a new playpark, and the refurbishment of one of the toilet blocks and reception.
Having both worked in low-paid jobs and been treated badly by managers, we make a conscious effort to look after our staff, and this has been repaid tenfold. Our staff are happy to go the extra mile when a customer asks for a favour and we get excellent reviews as a result.
We were shortlisted for a service excellence Award at this year’s Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) Scotland Awards.
And last year we were voted best campsite on the North Coast 500 by Scotland’s Route 66. We also won the customer service award in the Family Business Awards and received the “travellers choice” award from Tripadvisor, meaning we are in the top 10% of everything reviewed on that site.
Who helped you?
Many people. First and most importantly comes Lynn’s mother, Sandra. She has a wealth of knowledge and experience, and is the go-to person as soon as anything goes wrong.
Robin Jackson from Business Gateway and Marcus McIver from MacKay & Co went above and beyond in the early days, keeping us right, getting us start-up loans and helping us navigate obstacles. The support from FSB is great too – we’ve used its legal services more than once and it represented us well during Covid.
We also have an army of plumbers, joiners, electricians, bookkeepers and accountants on hand to help us.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever had?
A bottle of whisky to say thank you goes a long way.
What is your biggest mistake?
Opening for the season on a Saturday – everyone arrived at once and we were overwhelmed. We now reopen on a much more manageable Wednesday.
What is your greatest achievement?
Opening the park in 2019. We had no money and little experience, but we enjoyed a successful year and haven’t looked back since.
How is your business managing rapidly rising costs and what should government do to help?
We have passed on some costs to our customers and the rest we have had to absorb, with difficulty.
Governments could help more with electricity costs and business rates, as well as by reducing VAT on hospitality to 5% once more.
What do you still hope to achieve?
We have some big plans to improve the park but they’re top secret for now.
What do you do to relax?
Sit out in my hot tub.
What are you currently reading, listening to or glued to on TV?
I’m a big Ferrari and Formula 1 fan, so all my reading and TV revolves around that.
What do you waste your money on?
I’ve just been to Inverness to buy new garden furniture and there’s no money left.
What’s the first thing you do when you get up in the morning?
Coffee – and often more than one cup.
What do you drive and dream of driving?
I drive a Nissan Leaf but a scarlet Ferrari is the dream.
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