MEET THE CURRENT
BID BOARD

I’ve worked in the textiles industry for over 20 years and moved to Bute 6 years ago to take up the Managing Directors position at Bute Fabrics. Being personally passionate about textiles designed and woven in Scotland, the business is built on the artisan skills and dedication of our team. Employing 52 staff, the local community and environment is hugely important in keeping young staff on the Island and attracting new skills to re-locate here. A large driver for our support of the BID. I spent 4 years on the board of Visit Bute where it became apparent that although Bute has a lot to offer, there is a huge amount needing doing to re-invigorate this lovely island. The BID provides the best route to improving the island offer for the local community, new prospective business owners and visitors alike. When I floated the idea of the BID to our staff and explained the Levy process, they agreed it sounded very fair and a no brainer in developing the town and the island.  The BID is an exciting opportunity for the business and affiliated communities to pull together and create a positive lasting legacy.

I moved to Bute when I was seven from a small village in the West Midlands in England. I still remember the ferry crossing that day and my excitement as a child to see the most beautiful Island which was to be my home, shining in the spring sun. My brother and I had a wonderful childhood on Bute with freedoms we had never had before, adventures everyday and only going home when we were hungry. BLISS. I joined Visit Bute as a Director shortly after opening my business The Dressing Room Bute in my first shop premises 10 years ago. I have always been passionate about promoting this beautiful Island so that other families can enjoy what I did as a child. Within this time on the Visit Bute Board I line managed our Tourism Officer and Local Development Officer which I greatly enjoyed. Our Local Development Officer at that time started to look at other Scottish towns who were beginning to develop as 'BID areas'. This is when I first heard about BIDs and believed that Bute would greatly benefit from this. An initiative that is funded by businesses who then decide on the improvements and investments for their own area. After a lot of hard work, I believe Bute is now in the best position to drive real change that will improve our beautiful Island for businesses, locals, and of course visitors. I am delighted to be Vice Chair of the Bute Bid Board and excited to be a part of this chapter for Bute.

I am a Bute born and bred individual who has lived on this island for 59 years. I am a director in a blacksmiths fabrication business which was established forty years ago and now employs 14 people.  Our work has now developed to the stage that we provide our services throughout the UK.  Bute Blacksmiths now has a steel stockholding fabrication business in Glasgow.  I have over the years been involved in local clubs, organisations such as Bute Shinty Club as both player and treasurer, office bearer and Chairperson of Bute Pony and Riding Club and  President of Bute Agricultural Society. I have also served the Bute community for 32 years as a retained firefighter starting with Strathclyde Fire Brigade and finishing with Scottish Fire and Rescue Service as crew manager.
I believe this island is unique and has so much to offer, however, I do feel it requires support and encouragement from the Bute BID team.  That is one of the many reasons why I feel that becoming a director of the BID team and working along with fellow directors improvements to Rothesay and Bute can be achieved.

We bought a holiday home in 2013.  We felt very comfortable on Bute and saw that it had great community spirit with many volunteers trying to make Bute better. As it got harder to leave the island to head back to my home, Lynn and I decided to throw our lot in and move to Bute full time.  I had various businesses on the mainland including a retail carpet warehouse, a contract flooring company and a car MOT station. When we moved permanently in 2017, we settled on Prospect House with its 6 self-catering apartments. It was then that my mum shared with me some facts that I was totally unaware of, namely that I used to come over every summer to see all my aunts and uncles who my mum fondly called the 'Rothesay People'. It turns out my Great Grandfather and earlier were all from Bute.  Being on the island opened up other opportunities for me as I always loved the sea and Bute was crying out for a company that could offer our locals and tourists alike something a bit different that helped showcase our island. Bute Boat Tours was then created in 2020, but traded this year for the first time. BID is a wonderful opportunity for Bute and I feel that if I could offer what business experience I’ve gained over the years then I wanted to be able to give something back to the island that I now call home. 

I’ve been coming to Bute for nearly 20 years and fell in love with the island. I bought my wee flat here in 2014 then spent the next six years travelling back and forth from Bute to work in London during the week until Covid put a stop to that. My fiancé Chris (Covid delayed the big Bute wedding plan!) is a film producer and works all over the world but luckily he too fell for Bute and now that we have a 2 year old boy, Argyle, and a baby girl Lonach. We’re excited to have settled here so he can have all the adventures that come with being brought up here on this wonderful wee island. I have shops here and a holiday let business so I hear a lot of feedback and insights from tourists. As well as driving tourism, I really want to get involved with developing opportunities on Bute to provide employment.  I decided to get involved in the Bute BID because the more I learned about it the more I realised it’s a great opportunity to attract funding to the island as a collective in order to support all the existing projects and people who already dedicate so much time and effort to making Bute great. I couldn’t live here and enjoy all the benefits of everyone else’s hard work without getting personally involved.

​

My connection with Bute started when my parents moved here in the early 80s. Having grown up and been educated in Germany I moved here permanently in March 91.​  When I moved to Bute, I first became self-employed (shop owner).  In 2001 I started working for IBM as Project Manager and Project Office Manager.  Additionally, my wife and I own 2 holiday rentals on Bute.  Because of these properties and also having previously been a shop owner, I can see and understand the problems we all face here on Bute.  ​As a (sceptic) BID levy payer I attended several BID meetings and when I was approached to join the board, I felt this would be an opportunity to actively and positively contribute to change Bute for the better instead of just pointing out the negatives.  We are all aiming towards the same goal: Make Rothesay and the entire island look more attractive! This will hopefully bring more people to the island (tourists as well as new residents) who will stimulate our local economy. Let’s show them who we are and what we have to offer!  Let’s make BID our tool to help us achieve our common goal!​  Every levy payer will benefit indirectly if not directly as part of the community. More people visiting Bute means more money to the Island which in turn enables the ones who benefit from it to spend more money here.  I remember when I had my shop, I saw the same 1 £ Note several times.  It was easy to distinguish because of what had been written on it.

I was elected to service as one of three local councillors to Ward 8 Isle of Bute in May 2022. We moved to the island over 20 years ago with our 2 children seeking a better environment to raise our family. As Chairperson of Bute Island Alliance I initiated the initial consultation on the possibility of Bute being the first island to have a business improvement district. I was delighted when it became a reality as it is very important that our local entrepreneurs and other organisations, play an active and positive role in how the island develops. I believe Bute BID has a key role in supporting economic growth through maintaining and building the diversity of independent and family run businesses and significant role increasing footfall to Bute.

I am currently the Head of Development and Economic Growth with Argyll and Bute Council serving on the Board as a Non-Executive Director in an advisory capacity.  I have over 33 years’ experience in planning, economic development, housing and area regeneration activity and I am also currently on the Board of the Scottish Towns Partnership. I am a frequent visitor to Bute both in the course of my work and also as a visitor enjoying the many qualities of the Island. For me the BID allows the opportunity for local business people to help prioritise what they want to see happen in the community where they live and work.  My aim here is to offer help and advice on how this can be achieved working with a range of different partners based on the island and elsewhere.