Victoria Sutherland enthuses about the green aspects of her business with a naturalness which is infectious. A deep respect for the landscape and wildlife has underpinned the development of this successful self-catering business in the heart of Glencoe.

Glencoe Self-catering consists of three detached cottages, each sleeping six to eight people. The cottages are set in 50 acres of land which have remained largely unchanged since 1936.

The cottages are set overlooking the river with spectacular views and are designed to give families, climbers and hill walkers warm, comfortable, centrally-heated accommodation in beautiful surroundings. Nature is literally at the door of each cottage and frequent visits are made by a wide variety of birds, butterflies and roe deer. In the nearby loch otters are often seen as well as golden eye ducks and native brown trout.

 The successful introduction of green features into the business was recognised when Glencoe Self-catering Cottages was awarded one of the first Green Tourism Business Scheme (GTBS) Gold Awards. Last year the business also won the prestigious Scottish Power Environmental Award. Marketing the business as ‘green’ has helped the business financially and overseas visitors in particular are attracted by the awareness of environmental issues.

At least half the business is thought to be repeat business which shows that visitors enjoy the properties and their setting as well as the strong commitment to the environment.

The cottages are slate-roofed and worked in local tradition. Inside they are modern and comfortable with sliding doors to a patio overlooking the river. The building works were carried out by a local company from Fort William. The foundations of the cottages and the access road to the property are made of slate waste from the nearby disused Ballachulish quarry.

A high degree of insulation is achieved by using a recycled newspaper product blown into the cavities. A 400mm layer of the same product was also put in the loft space to keep the cottages snug and energy efficient. All the buildings are heated with under-floor heating throughout run by a Biomass System which also provides the domestic hot water. This is an automatically fed wood chip boiler which provides an effective small scale heating system which is cost effective and environmentally friendly, being CO2 neutral. The central boiler, housed in the Service Building, was made by a Perthshire company using old telegraph poles.

The constant heat provides warmth all the year round and also heats a drying room which is useful on wet days! Water comes from a local spring, treated with UV light, and the hot water is heated as needed by the biomass boiler.

Thermostats are included in all of the rooms and light bulbs and fittings are all energy efficient. Each cottage contains information for visitors about the importance of green issues and the green philosophy of the business. Recycling is encouraged and separate containers are provided for glass, cans, plastic, etc.

Waste water is not recycled but goes to sceptic tanks. A decision was made not to recycle grey water since the local supply of water is abundant and it was considered that there would be some environmental impacts in installing the system itself.

Victoria ensures that all green measures which are introduced are worthwhile and sensible. She will not implement a green measure simply to make a marketing point and aims to strike a balance between being responsible yet not ‘going over the top’.

Ecover cleaning products are provided in each cottage and visitors are requested not to use their own products unless they are green. Again good lessons to take home!

Victoria is committed to keeping the environment in the immediate area pristine and regularly collects rubbish deposited at the edge of the local single-track road. Her enthusiasm for litter prevention has spread to local children and hopefully future generations will show more respect for their environment by learning from a few committed individuals!

 The website is attractive with beautiful images of the properties and their surroundings. A ‘gallery’ of photos inspires confidence in the properties themselves and the views of cottages from all angles reassures the visitor that the experience will be memorable There are easy links to floor plans of the cottages, availability checks, booking forms etc. All of the webpages use a green coloured background page to reinforce the business’s commitment to green principles.

Victoria has used the magic of her surroundings to benefit the marketing of the properties. She now offers weekend breaks as well as the more traditional week blocks and has found this particularly popular in the winter period extending the season for the business.

For further information please contact:

Victoria Sutherland
Glencoe Cottages
Torren, Glencoe
Argyll, PH49 4HX
Tel: 01855 811207
Email: sutherland@torrenglencoe.com

Or visit the Glencoe Cottages website at www.glencoe-cottages.com

Photos courtesy of Glencoe Cottages

Case study added on 23 April 2004

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