East Lochhead Country House and Cottages is a family run business located near Lochwinnoch in the south-west of Scotland. The B&B sleeps 6 and the cottages have the capacity to sleep twenty-two. East Lochhead Country House and Cottages is run and owned by Ross and Janet Anderson (with help from their daughters!).

It’s hard to imagine a more forward thinking Scottish Tourism Business than this one. The business has the environment at the heart of what they do and this commitment shows. Green aspects of their business span from environmental management to food and local produce. The Andersons have made actual contributions to habitat enhancement, biodiversity and conservation and regularly cooperate with local organisations and businesses. Their aim is to manage the business and their farm in the most sustainable manner possible.

The Andersons have received a lot of recognition for their efforts to date including: Gold  membership with the Green Tourism Business Scheme (GTBS), a Thistle award for Tourism and Environment Category, runner-up for Taste of Scotland award, Visit Scotland’s B&B of the Year and a finalist in this year’s VIBES (Vision in Business for the Environment).

Developing a green business was something that came quite naturally to the Andersons. They are all nature and countryside lovers and feel a genuine responsibility for conservation and enhancement. They wanted to do things a little bit differently and essentially to do it right.

 One of the most important things that small rural-based businesses can do is support each other. East Lochhead Country House and Cottages provides a good example of how this is done and why it is a good idea.

They source local produce, goods and services fromtheir local community as much as possible. When they refurbished the cottages all the tradesmen were local, the new windows and doors were made in the nearby village, stone and slate were recycled from an old barn and the fencing posts came from a local sawmill. Many of the guests that stay at the B&B and cottages are referred by local people.

If products for the business cannot be sourced locally Ross and Janet will find and use  sustainable suppliers. For example, all timber was from FSC accredited suppliers indicating that timber had been sourced from a sustainably-managed forest.

Janet and Ross have also built up links with the local RSPB Lochwinnoch Reserve. They ‘lend’ their highland cows to the Reserve to clear out the dead plants and prepare the ground for spring ensuring a rich and diverse meadow to attract bees, insects and birds. They offer discounts to RSPB members encouraging bird watchers to stay with themwhile visiting Lochwinnoch.