Everyone has been craving normality and, with face masks no longer mandatory in most places, it feels closer than ever before.
But, this normality comes with a price, and for some that means small businesses closing their doors – even after they’ve survived the pandemic.
The latest casualty is The Ethical Shellfish Company (TESC), a small business that does exactly what it says on the tin.
Founded in 2010 by Guy Grieve and his former wife Julie Knight, the company was launched with ethics at its heart, making a promise to never sell seafood which came at the cost of the marine environment.
I admire companies that put in some real hard graft and nobody did so more than Guy, a scallop freediver who personally collected the produce.
TESC even pivoted during the pandemic to help keep business flowing.
The business initially supplied Michelin starred restaurants owned by the likes of Nick Nairn and other household names, but when restaurants were forced to close their doors, it had to improvise.
So began selling produce to home cooks instead, allowing the business to stay afloat.
Sadly, though, the pandemic wasn’t the only issue that affected the business – Brexit took its toll too, creating a perfect storm.
Several of its operations relied on European crew, who left the UK due to Covid, but were unable to return.
The staff shortages caused TESC’s main supplier to quit the fishing industry altogether and leave Scotland.
Why not recruit locally, you might ask? That’s not as easy as it sounds when so many of the homes on Mull are holidaymakers’ second homes or holiday let apartments – meaning there’s not a huge pool of local talent to tap into.
In fact, the business’ former headquarters was even transformed into a holiday home by its landlord.
The staycation market is a lucrative one and it is easy to understand why so many people have decided to get involved in the holiday-let industry. It brings in an average revenue of £19,000 a year for a three-bedroom property in the Highlands and Islands.
But unfortunately this can have a knock-on effect on businesses in local communities.
The closure of TESC was announced via a blog, written by Guy himself, which was sent to customers, stating “the events of the past few years have in the end defeated us.”
It’s heartbreaking to see a once-thriving business talking in this way, especially considering how hard they fought to keep going.
In a world where we are reminded to buy small and shop locally, the events of the last few years are slowly making this harder.
More and more people are now having to think about what they are putting in their shopping baskets, and for some, buying from a small business is not always something they can afford to do, especially with supply chain issues driving prices higher every day.
So yes, we may be approaching the next phase of the new normal, but we’re not yet in the clear.
Even businesses that pulled out all the stops to survive are not necessarily safe – there are still choppy waters to navigate.
Wool Innovation Could Weave a New Future
With so much negativity, depressing financial forecasts, and general sense of doom and gloom currently surrounding us, it’s always good to hear about businesses managing to do something positive in these times.
That’s why I was pleased to hear about two Scottish clothing manufacturers coming together to explore new processes for treating coarse wool in a bid to determine whether it can be used in clothing.
Prickly Thistle Scotland and Johnstons of Elgin have joined forces as part of a research project being conducted by the Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Centre and the University of Edinburgh to look into the natural material and find out how it can potentially be used more widely in the textiles industry.
This may seem like an odd thing to be excited about, but if successful, it could significantly increase the value of the natural product, and with over six million sheep in Scotland, could open up an entirely new Scottish supply chain which would be a welcome development.
At the moment, Scottish wool fleece is more likely to be used in carpeting or upholstery rather than clothing, but as more consumers turn away from fast fashion and seek more sustainable alternatives, a natural option could prove hugely popular.
It can cost farmers more to shear a sheep than the fleece is actually worth, meaning we’re not using the resource to its full potential.
The boffins behind the project will be treating the fibres with enzymes to try and achieve a thinner material which would be more suitable for clothing.
I think this is a really innovative approach and hope the project is successful in identifying new ways of putting the material to good use.
It Made Me Laugh
While hoax calls to the emergency services are no laughing matter – I recall a story of a man who dialled 999 to report a sofa getting stuck in his doorway for example – I did let out a chuckle when I heard about the number of calls from people reporting UFOs.
A Freedom of Information has shown that Police Scotland received multiple calls in recent years from concerned members of the public reporting suspected sightings.
One caller was describing multicoloured pulsing lights in the sky for 20 minutes, which later turned out to be flaring from the nearby INEOS plant in Grangemouth.
My favourite anecdote entails a call handler breaking the news to a panicked individual that the sighting they were calling about was, in fact, the stars.
It Made Me Weep
The cost-of-living crisis continues to dominate the headlines as the reality of sharply rising prices begins to really hit home for people across the country.
Scottish Power boss, Keith Anderson, is calling for the energy cap to be replaced with a social tariff to help those in the direst need, claiming that further rises in October will cause problems “beyond what I can deal with.”
The Food and Drink Federation Scotland has also spoken out about the effect rising costs are having on the industry.
Concerned about being forced to pass on costs to consumers already facing financial difficulties, the group is calling for greater support so they can focus on feeding shoppers.
It’s clear that something needs to be done before the situation gets any more serious.
