The Trust is set up in memory of Johnny Noble, Chairman and
co-founder of Loch Fyne Oysters who died in 2002. Johnny was a
well-spring of innovative ideas and encouraged others with realistic
enthusiasm. He was fond of saying that stout oaks grew from small
acorns. The idea of this fund is to assist promising
acorns. They may be start up ventures, they may be existing
organisations needing funds or expertise to develop. The overriding aim
is to promote rural regeneration.
The demise of traditional agriculture, forestry, fishing etc in the
Highlands has contributed to unemployment and to fragile, often
demoralised, rural communities. We restrict our area of benefit
to Argyll, where there is an ongoing need to generate small scale
business and enterprise. Bred over many centuries there has all
too often been a negative attitude, an expectation of lack of
success. The imagination, vision and tenacity of Johnny and his
partner, Andy Lane, ensured that Loch Fyne Oyster bucked this trend.
The company was registered in 1978 with capital of £100. It now has a
turnover of £6.5m, employs well over a hundred people at Cairndow and
provides business for its many suppliers. Its sister company Loch Fyne
Restaurants (founded 1997) now has some 50 branches in England.
The purpose of the Trust is to promote rural regeneration – which
includes the alleviation of poverty in the Argyll and Islands area
- by providing financial or other assistance to new or existing
businesses where this can be demonstrated to provide employment and
training opportunities. Businesses that provide a new or innovative
service are especially welcome.
