Nibble Scotland is delighted to welcome Jackie Brierton, Chief Executive of GrowBiz Scotland.

GrowBiz Scotland is a charity established in 2007 to support rural businesses across Scotland.

The Coronavirus crisis has had a disproportionate effect on the businesses and self-employed outwith Scotland's urban areas and without support that is specifically designed for their needs we risk losing a huge proportion of Scotland's economic activity and that means jobs, livelihoods, opportunities and life in some of our most beautiful regions.  

Jackie outlines some of the new opportunities as we emerge from the COVID Lockdown with grants to help entrepreneurs to start new businesses with a support network under the umbrella REDS.

REDS - Rural Enterprise Development Scotland

REDS is a program of support that is designed specifically to support micro-businesses, social enterprises and the sell employed in rural Scotland. From nurseries to food producers, and accommodation providers to artists, GrowBiz have supported thousands of people to start and build their own businesses in Scotland's rural areas.

The Scottish and UK governments have provided much-needed temporary support, but many small enterprises and self-employed in rural areas are struggling to survive. 

More than 60% of businesses in rural Scotland have closed their doors, and without our urgent support, many have no prospect of re-opening. 

The REDS fund will provide flexible grants to social enterprises and small businesses in Scotland’s rural towns, villages, island communities and remotest regions - to get them and their communities back up and running. 

And priority will be given to young people who want to develop their business ideas to create jobs for themselves and their peers.

REDS comprises an online directory which will be an interactive catalogue of all rural businesses in Scotland. From the directory, members can apply for grant funding up to the value of £5,000 to help them recover post-COVID and all members can access free and ongoing enterprise support. 

The directory is currently being built, we are just a few weeks away from launch. But our primary focus is on building the REDS fund, we are crowdfunding to raise £3 million which would enable us to support 1,200 enterprises to re-open post-COVID. 

We have the whole REDS concept neatly communicated on our crowdfunding page so please take a look at that here: www.reds.scot

Welcome to Scotland’s Food Podcast, Nibble Scotland. My name is June Carroll and this is my journey to find out about the people behind Scotland’s outstanding food scene and celebrate the many food champions around the country.


Many farms have been in families for generations often adapting to changing market conditions. So when Tuggy and Jonny Delap returned to run the family farm In the 90’s, they had the aim of finding a new purpose for the family estate to create jobs, tourism and industry. On Tuggy’s suggestion, they begin the process of converting a former dairy building into a brewery. 


Join Nibble Scotland to chat with Tuggy's son Mungo Delap as he talks about their journey into craft brewing and the great tourism story which draws beer fans from across the world to Argyll each year for Fyne Fest and their tasting room, the Tap.


Like many businesses who continued working through the Covid lockdown, Mungo also gives an insight into some of the initiatives which have helped bring them through but also how their loyal customer base have supported the business. 


For more information about Loch Fyne Farm Brewery please check out their website www.fyneales.com and if you get an opportunity to visit please do - especially if you can coincide your visit with FyneFest!

Please follow us on social media @NibbleScotland for a first look at future guests and a behind the scenes look of everything mentioned in each episode 

Wherever you are listening to the podcast ensure you have subscribed and if you can please add a review to help others find out more about Scotland’s world class larder. 

Welcome to Scotland’s Food Podcast, Nibble Scotland. My name is June Carroll and this is my journey to find out about the people behind Scotland’s outstanding food scene and celebrate the many food champions around the country.

As we continue with lockdown in Scotland I’m honoured that Kirstie Campbell from Seabuckthorn Scotland joined me for a coffee from her base in East Lothian. Chatting candidly about her life’s adventures as a UN front line aid worker to how she found her way back to Scotland to establish a social enterprise dedicated to the research of sea buck thorn. This podcast reminds us why we are so blessed in Scotland to have people like Kirstie who are so passionate about their products. 

 
Kirstie spent 15 years working as a professional humanitarian worker, including ten years on mission in the Middle East. She first came across Seabuckthorn in 2010 as part of a United Nations logistics mission to assist with the floods in Pakistan. When she returned home to Scotland in 2013, she discovered that our native berries- a unique source of nutrition- were being largely overlooked- and in some cases destroyed..while our population is suffering from increasing challenges in heart health, blood pressure, diabetes, obesity and mental health. She decided to apply her passion for food security, local solutions and herbal healing - plus her so far under-utilised Chemistry degree- to work in founding Seabuckthorn Scotland CIC to tackle these issues. The CIC was registered in Winter 2018 and started in trading in July 2019.

For more information about Kirstie and where to find her products please check out her website - www.seabuckthornscotland.com

Please remember to follow us on social media @NibbleScotland for a first look at future guests and a behind the scenes look of everything mentioned in each episode 

Wherever you are listening to the podcast ensure you have subscribed and if you can please add a review to help others find out more about Scotland’s world class larder.