The Scourie Community Development Company is a charitable voluntary organisation (SC415281) and is run by a board of seven volunteer directors.
The development company also offers membership to those aged 16 and over and living in the local community.
Click here to read more about our Membership
click the profiles to find out more
The Pavilion
Scourie
Sutherland
IV27 4TE
Scourie Community Development Company Ltd.
Company Number: SC415281
Charity Number: SCO43558
Neil Macdonald – Chair
Neil is born and bred in the Scourie area. He attended school in Golspie and has spent his career to date as a mechanic, taking up his current position as Fleet and Facilities Manager for the Reay Forest Estate in Lairg.
He has a strong sense of community and has also served on the Grazings committee , The Hall Committee the community council prior to his appointment as Chair of Scourie Community Development Company. He also currently serves on the board of Scourie Church of Scotland.
Together with his wife Aileen, Neil has made it a priority to instil a strong community spirit in his three sons and feels it is vitally important that people get involved to drive what goes on in their local area.
“I would like to see the area with a lot more people and a bit more of a buzz about it!! And feel that we can only achieve this by having good jobs and stimulating local business either existing or new start to retain and encourage young folk to make their life here”
Peter Tuck – Treasurer
Peter moved to Scourie after an illustrious 30-year career in agricultural research at Rothamsted Research in Harpenden, Hertfordshire.
Having started as a Field Trials Officer, he ended his career in charge of more than 100 field experiments, including the world-renowned “Broadbalk” Experiment – one of the oldest continuous agronomic experiments in the world.
A keen DIYer, gardener and walker with a love of the open air and scenic Scottish West coast, Peter can now be found growing vegetables for a local hotel from his croft.
Peter has been treasurer for Scourie Community Development Company since its inception in 2012.
“I have been a member of the Development company since it began back in 2012. I have seen improvements to the village assets, and to the community as a whole. I am keen to help with future projects that will further enhance the community, and the people who live in it”
Rebecca MacInnes – Company Secretary
Raised in Kinlochbervie and Scourie, Rebecca spent her later school years at Golspie High School.
She joined the fish farm Loch Duart Ltd in 1999 as an office administrator and has progressed to Human Resources manager – a post she still holds. She looks after all HR-related tasks for this 150-employee business at the Badcall Salmon House headquarters.
Rebecca puts her administrative skills to good use as Company Secretary for the Scourie Community Development Company. She has a particular interest in seeing the Scourie community develop and is a key decision-maker in the local charity awards that her employer Loch Duart.
Rebecca is also an active member of the Hall Committee and Community Council and enjoys dedicating her spare time to community events and projects.
“I have been a Director with Scourie Community Development Company when we founded in 2012. I have enjoyed being involved in all the projects which benefit the whole Community and I am looking forward to our next big project, Scourie Rocks. I believe this is a huge asset to the community bringing more people to the area and creating more jobs which will encourage young people to stay in the area.”
Angus Marland – Director
Angus Marland and his wife Elisabeth moved to Scourie in 2016 where they run Scourie Lodge B&B as a retirement business.
His career prior to this was based in Edinburgh and covered a range of environmental projects, including the creation of the first national exhibition on energy conservation and renewable energy – the first independent energy advice centre in Scotland. He also worked in association with the Scottish Agricultural College on the first whole-farm organic farming research project to be funded by the European Commission along with Safeway and Scottish Enterprise.
Not content with that, he subsequently set up and ran a natural waste water treatment business that designed and built constructed wetlands for waste water treatment, environmental improvement and sustainable urban drainage throughout the UK.
Appointed as Director to Scourie Community Development Company in 2018, Angus enjoys landscape photography, hill walking, gardening and keeping an old highland lodge in good repair.
“The Development Company has done so much for the village and surrounding area, and as a new-comer I am keen to work on projects that enhance our health, wellbeing and environment, that attract families to live and work in the village, and which provide visitors with a comprehensive experience of Scourie’s wonderful geology, culture and environment.”
George Thomson – Director
As a recently retired offshore underwater engineer, George has a special kinship with the Scourie area due to his parents (and forebears) being from Scourie and Badcall. He still has many extended family members in the area.
He now resides in Aberdeen with his wife Caroline who continues to work for the NHS and their two flat-coated retrievers.
With his two offspring having fled the nest, he is keen to see balanced development in Scourie and District to help retain and inspire young people to come and remain in North West Sutherland.
His interests include reading, walking, golfing (poorly) and some occasional skiing. He particularly enjoys the outdoors and spending time on his croft in Scourie.
“I am really keen to see balanced, appropriate, local, sustainable and positive developments that provide additional high quality amenities, facilities and life experiences to help to attract and retain more (young) people to the area.”
Innes MacDonald – Director
I was born and brought up in Scourie and went to Golspie High School before studying Accounts in Galashiels.
I worked as an Accountant at the Oil rig fabrication yard, Ardersier before moving to Aberdeen with my wife Mairi where we enjoyed working for several multi national companies in a variety of industries.
We returned to Scourie in 1997 to take over the local Shop which had been owned by my father since 1965. After enjoying five years back in Scourie we moved closer to Inverness to manage our business which grew to four Stores and over 50 employees.
We opened another business in Scourie in 2020 and now spend most week-ends here.
I was a founder member of the Scourie football team and have always loved sports. I’ve played rugby since school (and still do on occasion) and was President of Inverness Craig Dunain RFC for many years. I also spent many summers fishing when I was a young lad and still try to find the time for the odd cast now and again.
I am and always have been extremely passionate about Scourie. I want to help ensure Scourie remains close to the heart of those that already love the area but also make it more of an attraction and viable place for others to visit or stay.
“I would like to see sustainable population and employment growth while being sympathetic to the history and social fabric that has made Scourie a fantastic place to live and visit.
The last two years has shown us the need for more all year facilities and amenities for people living in the area but also the need to enhance our offering to the ever increasing number of visitors.”
Helen Houston – Development Manager
Kristine MacKenzie, born into the crofting fraternity, is an active crofter managing a native woodland and a mixed breed herd of 24 suckler cows.
A life-long student of the University of Life, my previous work experience includes owning and managing a rural skills learning centre offering LANTRA-accredited training courses to those working in the land-based sector, serving as a Crofting Commission Assessor to the Applecross Penninsula, and building from scratch over a 4 year period, a self-catering business with 3 letting units. More recently, and for the last 12 years, I have worked as a community development officer supporting and managing the delivery of a wide range of projects within the forestry, housing, health and wellbeing and environment sectors.
Not too much time for hobbies but often seen feeding and trying best to nurse back to health the wild critters that live in the glen, interested in anything land-based, better suited to wellies than heels!