An acclaimed restaurateur has been honoured with a lifetime achievement accolade at a prestigious award ceremony.
Shirley Spear, co-owner of the Three Chimneys on Skye, collected the prize at the Scottish Rural Awards during a ceremony in Edinburgh.
As well as establishing the Michelin-starred restaurant in Dunvegan, Mrs Spear is also chairwoman of the Scottish Food Commission and has long been a dedicated campaigner for tourism in the country.
She bought the Three Chimneys with her husband Eddie and spent 21 years as head chef, and continues to play an active role alongside current chef Scott Davies.
She said: “To be given this level of recognition for lifelong achievement by my colleagues is humbling, but also it is the best kind of reward to receive.
“It is exactly 31 years since Eddie and I took over The Three Chimneys in remote north-west Skye.
“I have flown the flag for rural business for all those years, particularly for the Highlands and Islands, of course, but also, for everyone working in the many hundreds of small enterprises which exist all over Scotland.”
Mrs Spear was appointed by the Scottish Government in February 2015 to lead the new Scottish Food Commission, tasked with turning the country into a “Good Food Nation”.
And she gained fresh recognition with an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours last week.
She added: “I truly believe that, by working together, we form the backbone of Scottish industry, delivering a very specific economic benefit to the nation as a whole.
“We employ people of all ages and abilities. We support local communities and create micro-economies by our very existence.
“We are guardians of our beautiful landscape, our culture and traditions. We are champions of all that is best about Scotland, our fresh artisan produce of all kinds, and our warmth and hospitality in all weathers.
“I pledge to continue to lobby for better funding for rural infrastructure, for more democracy in national decision-making and – it goes without saying – the delivery of wider, greatly improved, digital connectivity with the rest of the business world, at the earliest possible time.”
The awards are organised by Scottish Field magazine and sponsored by Scotland’s Rural College.
Mrs Spear is the second winner of the lifetime achievement award.
Richard Bath, editor of Scottish Field, said: “It’s difficult to overstate Shirley’s contribution to Scottish food or the country’s restaurant trade.
“As well as making a huge success of The Three Chimneys in such a remote location, she also kick-started the process of changing the negative perception of Scottish food forever.
“As well as demonstrating to the world that Scotland has some of the best produce available anywhere, the often simple but effective way in which she used those ingredients – especially in her rediscovery of traditional dishes – helped set the new benchmark for the thousands of chefs who have come in her wake.”
