Top young entrepreneurs revealed at awards ceremony

9th September 2013

Shellfish and Langoustine supplier, Magnus Houston, was named Highland’s top young entrepreneur at the regional finals of the 2013 Prince’s Trust Youth Business Scotland Young Entrepreneur Awards today (10 September 2013).

The 32 year old founder of Coast & Glen Ltd in Inverness was announced as the regional winner at a ceremony at the Town House in Inverness. He was presented with a £1000 cash prize by Marie Mackintosh, Chief Executive of Highland Opportunity Ltd.

The runner up was 26 year old Lola Nicol, who is the founder of her own fine arts business in Sutherland, called Lola Nicol Fine Arts. Maria Peter, The Highland Council’s Business Gateway Manager, presented Lola with a £500 cheque and award certificate.

Magnus Houston turned his hand to the fishing trade after an accident put an end to his professional motorcycling career. A friend invited him to join him on his lobster boat and the experience proved to be life changing.

For two years, Magnus learned the fishing trade, establishing contacts with other fishermen and local restaurants and hotels, before deciding to start his own business. In November 2011, thanks to funding from The Prince’s Trust Youth Business Scotland (PTYBS), Magnus established Coast & Glen Ltd, selling prawns, crabs, lobsters and game to local hotels and restaurants and exporting the excess produce to his European customers.

The demand for his catch was so great that it soon became clear that Magnus needed to come up with another means of satisfying demand for orders. This led the young entrepreneur to change his business model, so that rather than fishing the waters himself, Magnus now buys the local fishermen’s catch, sells it locally according to demand. Clients can not only trace the fishing area their purchases are from, they can even specify which boat they would like to buy from. If there is excess shellfish, prawns and langoustines on any given day that is not required locally, Magnus sells this to his European customers. Seven days a week, live lobster leaves the base in Inverness for delivery to Boulogne and Magnus is about to start supplying modest quantities of lobster to Hong Kong.

Lola Nicol received PTYBS funding to start her own business in July 2012, having already identified there would be demand for her work. Working from her home in Brora, Lola produces original pieces of artwork primarily focusing on well-known faces from the world of music, film and popular culture. As well as producing original pieces of art she also provides limited edition prints on her website and supplies small prints and gift cards to various independent shops throughout Scotland.

In 2012 Lola exhibited at the Olympics as part of the ‘In the Rings with Ali’, a major retrospective exhibition celebrating Muhammad Ali with contributions from photographers and artists worldwide. In April 2013, Lola won the Award for ‘Best New Artist/Designer at The Scottish Variety Awards. More recently, she has been approached by HMV Princes Street in Edinburgh to exhibit her work. Lola is currently a resident artist with Edinburgh band The Merrylees, and has designed two single covers for them, as well as artwork for promotions, badges and clothing.

Speaking at the awards ceremony, Prince’s Trust Youth Business Scotland Regional Manager, Alithea Watson said: “Both these young entrepreneurs have exemplified determination, the will to succeed and the ability to turn a good idea into a viable business. They are great role models for other young people and deserving winners of these awards.”

Marie Mackintosh of Highland Opportunity Ltd added: “Our partnership with the Prince’s Trust Youth Business Scotland means that young entrepreneurs in the Highlands gain access to a wider range of integrated advice, finance and business support. We are delighted to celebrate and reward the achievements of Lola and Magnus through these awards, and we hope their success stories will inspire others to pursue their business ambitions.”