Expansion into the London market and growing online orders have helped Highland entrepreneur Magnus Houston and his Coast and Glen seafood business smash through the £1million turnover mark.
Banking giant HSBC said yesterday its support was also key to the business growing turnover by £410,000 to £1.1million during the past year.
A £27,000 overdraft from HSBC has allowed Mr Houston, who founded Inverness-based Coast and Glen less than five years ago, to establish a foothold in the lucrative London restaurant market during the past two years, with customers now including celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay.
Expansion of Coast and Glen’s online subscription service, Fishbox, has also been supported by HSBC and these sales have grown by 55% during the past year.
Mr Houston had help from Business Gateway and Prince’s Trust Youth Business Scotland to launch the firm in November 2011.
Born and raised on a farm in Ardross, near Alness, the former PTYBS Highland entrepreneur of the year was forced into a radical career change after an accident ended his days as a professional motorcycle racer.
He bought a small fishing boat and started to fish for crab and lobster in the Cromarty Firth. For two years he learned the trade – building contacts with other fishermen and restaurants – before turning to Business Gateway Inverness for advice on how to start Coast and Glen.
The finance from HSBC was allocated from the bank’s national £10billion small-medium sized enterprise fund.
Of the total, £450million was earmarked to support Scottish firms and rebalance the economy outside of London.
Susan Rowand, head of business banking at HSBC in Scotland, said: “Coast and Glen wanted to expand quickly but couldn’t rely solely on revenue streams determined by credit agreements to do this.
“It demonstrated true entrepreneurialism in identifying and capitalising on individual consumer demand for fresh fish and seafood.
“We were more than happy to support this development of their business including their evolving financial needs.”
