Loch Ness business ensures that people are at the heart of all it does
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Creating a brand that captures all the Highlands has to offer takes some doing. But that is exactly what the Cobbs Group has managed to do, and it now has over 50 businesses in its portfolio.
The family-run business was born out of the banks of Loch Ness 25 years ago and has people at the heart of it. It is passionate about ensuring there is opportunity and growth for all. Just a few of the ventures within the Cobbs portfolio include: six hotels, fifteen coffee shops, twelve retail units, Great Glen Distillery, Red Box Tea Blending and Coffee Company, full restaurant service at hotels, and a bakery that specialises in traditional handmake cakes, including gluten-free and vegan.
So, what is the secret to being a master of all trades and still keeping people at the heart of all that you do?
We caught up with Cobbs managing director, Fraser Campbell, and director of business development, Willie Cameron, who are two of the masterminds behind the Cobbs operation, along with Angus McMaster, Arran McMaster, Adam McMaster, Mollie Campbell and Daniel Campbell.
Sitting in the middle of their bustling restaurant at the Clansman Hotel – which offers breathtaking views over Loch Ness, even on the drizzliest of days - Fraser said: “I think it’s just perseverance – if we do fail, we just keep going. We reinvent.
“We have been chucked out of places before when we’ve been doing really well and the landlords don’t like that. But that actually increases our success.”
Cobbs Bakery is now a national brand, and they have supplied cakes to the Ryder Cup, Commonwealth Games, the Scottish Open, and Manchester United football club.
“Considering it comes from tin pot sheds in the old school canteen in Drumnadrochit, it’s a phenomenal story,” said Willie.
“We started with nothing. Actually, less than nothing.
“We’ve come so far, not just for ourselves, but for the promotion of tourism generally in the Highlands.
“In the very early days before Cobbs, with Fraser’s late wife Jackie, we won the first Scottish License Trade award for tourism initiative of the year for our services to film, TV and media.
“We saw that after hits like Braveheart and Rob Roy, there was going to be a big market for Scottish tourism, and so we made ourselves available to that.
“In 2021 we were invited back to the Scottish License Trade Awards to sit at their top table for their 25th anniversary. It’s not bad considering that there is the rest of Scotland!”
A big element of the Cobbs Group is collaboration and the team has set up many joint ventures over the years, which has contributed to not only their success but to the rest of the Highlands too.
Fraser commented: “A big part of our business model is collaboration and working with others. We work best in joint ventures and helping others to provide an excellent offering.
“We are in a joint venture with Nevis Range. They look after the attraction and we look after the other stuff: the catering, hotel and the retail. They can concentrate on the adventure side, and we make sure the rest of it works well.
“You can’t be experts at everything, and our strength is the partnerships.”
Willie added: “We’ve also built up a good working relationship with the media over the years.
“Last month at the Nessie Hunt we had people in contact from all over the world, with news in Canada, Japan and Germany just to name a few!
“That is really going to help us with business for next year!”
The Cobbs Group hires around 600 people during the high season across all its ventures, and 400 in the low season. Even with a vast amount of people to look after, those at the helm of the business make sure to take an interest in each and every member of staff and are passionate about helping others.
“We have three guys currently going through our trainee hospitality management scheme,” said Fraser.
“One of our staff, Dylan Wynne, was wrapping pallets for us at the bakery, and he was such a clever guy so we got him doing something else as he could do so much more!
“We now have him working in the hotel and he is nine months onto a training course with UHI and we managed to get windfarm money to help with the salary.
“He spends so much time in every department over three years. I was speaking to his tutor, and he reckons he will be able to do a PhD in tourism and hospitality with how bright he is.
“It’s fantastic – he was wrapping pallets a year ago!
“There was also another young lad from the village Sam Cairns, who was our window cleaner, and I asked him how he was getting around all the different places with his equipment!
“It turned out he was 16 years old and was carrying the ladders on his back, walking about with a bucket, soap, and a barrow from Drumnadrochit!
“When I got speaking to him he was interested in joining our hospitality training scheme.
“He starts the management course in November at UHI. He looks so much better now and he’s so enthusiastic!”
Willie added: “It’s part of our story looking after people. We have great staff retention too!
“We are looking for the generation that is going to take over after us. We are not going to be here forever!”
Despite having a vast number of businesses, there is no slowing down the Cobbs Group, and they are always on the hunt for the next opportunity and passion project.
In 2024, they will be introducing the Illicit Still Distillery Tour at the Clansman Hotel, where people can get an understanding of the different illicit stills that used to be in the Great Glen and get a dram at the end of their tour.
Additionally, they will also be launching their crisps and ice cream range soon, which will be sure to be another hit with foodies.
Willie said: “We also have our Monster meets Mountain tour coming out soon. It’s Scotland’s answer to Route 66, as it focuses on the 66 miles each way. We want to promote sustainable tourism and have people driving fewer miles! We want to promote the Great Glen and ensure that people are mindful when they are visiting our area too!”
The ethos of sustainability is a big part of the Cobbs business model, and they are ensuring the area remains a beauty destination for generations to come.
It joined forces with rewilding project, Highlands Rewilding to introduce an optional environmental tip for visitors to help fund the next generation of nature apprentices.
Visitors to the group’s six hotels and seven-holiday homes along the Great Glen Way, running from Fort William to Inverness, are invited to add a £2 discretionary payment to their stay, with the funds going directly to neighbouring Highlands Rewilding’s Bunloit Estate.
The money raised allows the Highlands Rewilding team to employ a steady stream of rural apprenticeships to support the estate’s 22 local staff members to develop rural skills as they take their nature recovery work to scale.
Fraser concluded: “We’ve always kept under the radar. I don’t think people realise everything we are collectively involved in – it’s all-encompassing.”
Contact details:
Loch Ness Coffee Company Ltd
The Drumnadrochit Hotel,
Drumnadrochit, Highland, IV63 6TU
Tel: 01456 459121
Email: jill@cobbs.info
