‘I’m giving my fish smoking business away to benefit Colonsay’

A man who built a fish smoking business in the Inner Hebrides wants to give it away in a bid to help regenerate the local population.

Richard Irvine, 65, founded and runs the Colonsay Smokery but is looking to hand over the business to a family which is looking to stay on the island long-term.

The smokehouse, which has been operational for two-and-a-half years, will exchange hands for no fee – although Mr Irvine may retain a share to keep the business running if the new owners changed their minds.

He hopes the offer may help to address the island’s ageing population and help boost the number of pupils in the local school.

At the moment Mr Irvine splits his time between Colonsay and his home in Midlothian, after falling in love with the island in the 1980s.

He brought his wife to the island for their honeymoon and the couple have returned every year since.

The former brand consultant took early retirement and made plans to build a house on the island, but soon became involved in setting up a fish smoking business.

Now Colonsay Smokery supplies smoked salmon to the shop, local restaurants as well as locations off the island.

Colonsay lies to the west of Jura and Islay and to the south of Mull and has a population of approximately 120 people.

The small island also has an island store, a bookshop and a gallery.

Richard said he felt this was his chance to give back to the island that he loves.

He told BBC Scotland News: “I’ve taught myself a new skill and I seem to be doing quite well at it but the plan has always been to get the business up-and-running.

“Once I’ve got the money that I put in back, I want to give it away to try and entice a young couple to relocate to the island.

“The population is dwindling on the island. We need younger people to staff the ambulance service, the fire service and actually to just become the next generation to run the community.

“If I was 30 years younger it might be the kind of thing I’d like to do. It’s a wonderful lifestyle, it’s a beautiful place to live.”

Like many Scottish islands, the island is struggling with depopulation with retirees making up a large proportion of the residents.

Richard said the ideal candidate would be someone with “entrepreneurial spirit” and an interest in food.

He said it would be ideal for a couple, where one person can work remotely, or a family to help boost the currently school roll, which currently only consists of four pupils.

Affordable housing was recently built on the island but Richard said a lack of opportunity was another roadblock to luring younger people to the island.

He hopes the new owner of Colonsay Smokery will be able to expand the business and expand its online presence.

The process of smoking salmon takes five days and includes fileting and curing the fish in salt, before it is dried, smoked and left to mature. It is then sliced and packed before being sold.

Richard will mentor prospective owners for three months, and may retain a “golden share” – this means he would retain decision-making powers and could prevent a new owner from selling the business.

“I’m not sure whether I’ll do it,” he said.

“It’ll all be a matter of trust, but what I don’t want is to hand this over and in six months for them to sell up. I want to keep this for the island.”

Other than that Mr Irvine wants to completely hand over the reins.

He hopes this will allow him to spend more time enjoying the island, while he looks for his next project.