A walking tour business set up in Glasgow that specialises in unusual odysseys has hailed its expansion into 13 UK cities.
First established in 2017, Walking Tours gives visitors and locals the chance to explore cities, towns and hotspots with expert local tour guides and has navigated its way with support from Business Gateway across the UK.
It says that, “breaking the stereotype of traditional, boring tour guides, Walking Tours in the UK has guides from all walks of life, allowing people to discover the UK through a passionate local’s eyes”.
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Friends Jenny Benson and Liv Barber were studying when they spotted an opportunity to start a history walking tour in Glasgow and share their love of the city with others.
Despite having no background in tourism, the pair spent £50 to start a limited company, set up a Facebook page, and began marketing the tour, which quickly grew in popularity with more than 350 tours given in the first year.
“Blown away” by the popularity of their tours, the duo went on to hire their first guide in Glasgow in the first year. In 2019, following a couple of years of travelling, and armed with a better understanding of tourism, they went on to expand the tours to Inverness, Stirling, and St Andrews.
After a few years of successfully running the business and navigating the challenges of the pandemic, they looked to develop a longer-term strategy to ensure their business kept growing.
They approached Business Gateway in 2022, having engaged with the service’s webinars when Walking Tours in the UK first launched.
The business benefitted from one-to-one support from a dedicated business adviser, as well as expert advice on hiring and routes to funding.
Support from their Business Gateway adviser allowed the pair to access £6,750 from the Glasgow City Council, ERDF funded, Glasgow Business Growth Programme.
Walking Tours in The UK now operates in 13 cities including Liverpool and Birmingham and has more than 50 tour guides. It recently introduced a new Wee Walk and a Whisky tour in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Oban, a Wee Walk and a Cocktail in St Andrews, as well as a Wee Walk and a Gin tour in Stirling.
Jenny Benson, co-founder, Walking Tours in the UK, said: “We had no idea when we launched our first tour all those years ago that it would snowball as much as it did.
“Business Gateway has been a fantastic source of support and has helped us establish a solid plan for business growth over the next few years. We wouldn’t have been able to access the high-quality support and funding without them.”
Karen Fotheringham, Business Gateway adviser, said: “Jenny and Liv identified a real niche in the market working with local specialist guides full of very localised passion and knowledge.”
Plans to turn former village pub into church
Plans have been submitted to convert a once-popular village pub in Aberdeenshire into a church.
Aberdeenshire Council planners have received an application to turn the building which housed The Garret Bar and Lounge in Mintlaw into a place of worship.
Scotch whisky casks performing better than gold
The value of Scotch whisky casks as an investment has been underlined by a new report which declares it continues to outperform other asset classes such as gold.
The market for whisky casks observed average projected growth of 14.95 per cent in 2022, an increase of 1.7% on the year before, according to the 2022 Whisky Cask Market Report.
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