The Ullapool Smokehouse

For 40 years Iain Boyd worked offshore for the oil industry all over the world, but there was nothing he liked better than flying back into Inverness and heading home to Ullapool. Originally from Glasgow, Iain has lived in the Highland fishing town for the last 45 years and at the age of 65 he has supposedly retired there. But Iain never retired – he couldn’t just switch off – so he turned what had been a hobby of fishing and smoking his catch at the back of the house into a business. A lock-up became available in the town and he started in a small way, learning by trial and error, graduating from the home-smoked haddock that he ate himself to kiln-smoked salmon that he could sell. In the beginning, he was happy if he could sell 20 a day. Now he shares his limited premises with three others, averaging half a ton of salmon a week, as well as a limited supply of smoked trout and several smoked cheeses including a truckle he produces with cheddar supplied by the Inverloch Cheese Company. There’s a lot going on in one small space: Iain has set up a shop, housed in the old bakery next door, and a fast-growing mail-order business.