Amazing opportunity for a foodie family to move to the island!

Harris beaches rival even those of the Caribbean

While living on Lewis, we’ve come across many fantastic projects that celebrate the island’s local produce and one of the most exciting of these is set up by the North Harris Trust, offering a small food business the chance to escape the rat race and relocate to the island.

The trust has built an eco-friendly business unit on the Isle of Harris, with breathtaking sea views,  just south of where we live,  to create jobs and attract younger people to the area, and is available for a food start up to take on at a peppercorn rent of just £2,200 a year.

Famous for being the birthplace of the beautiful Harris Tweed, the Isle of Harris is also a shooter’s, stalker’s and fisherman’s paradise. The waters around are abundant with lobster, salmon, crab, trout and Arctic char, and the island is considered to be one of Europe’s last untouched wildernesses. The infamous Stornoway Black Pudding and award-winning Stag Bakery Biscuits are made here, as are delicious goat’s cheeses and the tenderest lamb you can buy. The island is also teeming with wild game, so venison, smoked goose breast and roasted woodcock make up your daily meals – it’s a true food-lovers paradise. And just a short distance from shore is the island of Taransay, where the BBC series Castaway was filmed in 2000.

The island can have an almost mystical quality

The self-sufficient work unit that is up for grabs is powered using solar electricity and qualifies for business rates relief, so a small business can take on the 66 metre squared space with few overheads.  The island is also home to colonies of cormorants, gannets, the migratory Arctic terns and golden eagles, while dolphins and whales dance offshore, and the town has recently built a new school, so this relocation opportunity is perfect for young families.
David Wake who himself moved to the island in 2005 and who has been instrumental in getting this project off the ground, says: “Living in Harris gives you space. You can walk the white beaches and not see a soul; you can quickly escape into the wild land with the hills and the lochs –all while having the essential services on hand. Taking the ferry over the Minch to Tarbert brings you to a simpler, safer, more relaxed way of life.”

If you’re passionate about food and are interested in this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity click here or call David at the North Harris Trust on 01859 502222. Hopefully see you up here soon!