The “iconic” Skye restaurant The Three Chimneys has changed hands after 34 years.
Owners Shirley and Eddie Spear have sold the restaurant with rooms to international hotelier Gordon Campbell Gray.
Mr Campbell Gray aims to carry on business at The Three Chimneys as it has always been run, with additional investment over time.
The Three Chimneys at Colbost will now be part of his new Scottish hotel and restaurant collection, The Wee Hotel Company.
The Three Chimneys is located at Colbost on the Isle of Skye (The Three Chimneys/PA)
All jobs at the restaurant are secure and all current staff will remain in position, including head chef Scott Davies.
Reservations in the restaurant and bookings for The Three Chimneys’ six adjacent bedroom suites in The House Over-By, will be honoured under the new ownership and the current, local management team will remain in Skye.
READ MORE: Highland Scots face biggest mortgage arrears
Mrs Spear said: “Eddie and I have dedicated most of our working and family life to The Three Chimneys here in the Isle of Skye and we are extremely proud of how the restaurant has developed over the past three decades.
“This could not have been possible without the support of many wonderful people who have all worked exceptionally hard to help us build our reputation over the years.
“Together, we’ve taken The Three Chimneys’ biggest business constraint – the restaurant’s remote location – and turned it into a unique selling point.
“We always knew we had to create a memorable experience which exceeded customer expectations in order to grow the business here.”
She added: “We have now reached a point in our lives where we want to travel more and work a little less.
“Our focus has been on finding the right person who shares our vision for how The Three Chimneys can develop further for the long-term future and we are extremely pleased to have found that person in Gordon.
“We know The Three Chimneys, The House Over-By and our exceptional team will be in great hands.”
The restaurant has retained 3 AA Rosettes continuously for the past 20 years.
Mr Campbell Gray said: “I cannot tell you how privileged I feel to have been given the opportunity to buy somewhere as iconic as The Three Chimneys.
“I have admired Shirley and Eddie for so many years and when we were chatting on one occasion and Shirley hinted that perhaps they might consider selling, it was a magical moment.”
He added: “I am thrilled to be able to invest time and effort here and to work within a hospitality sector which is, and should be, the envy of the world.
“The Three Chimneys is a simply wonderful place to begin that journey.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article