‘Rising star’ of hotel trade honoured

Acorn Award for young Highland hotelier who manages Lovat Arms

P&J Published: 11/07/2008

AN INVERNESS-SHIRE hotelier has been recognised as one of the UK’s top 30 emerging young talents in the hospitality industry.
Caroline Gregory, 28, managing partner at the 29-bedroom Lovat Arms, in the Loch Ness-side village of Fort Augustus, was selected by trade publication Caterer and Hotelkeeper and sponsor Unilever Foodsolutions as a rising star of tomorrow, and rewarded with an Acorn Award 2008.

Caroline grew up in the hospitality industry and her parents have owned and run hotels for 30 years, including the Kinlochbervie Hotel in Sutherland and The Torridon in Wester Ross.

She said: “It’s been a lot of hard work as the hotel required a complete refurbishment when we bought it three years ago.

“We have built the business from scratch, putting procedures in place with a strong environmental ethic.”

Following a law and business management degree at Glasgow University and a gap year travelling, Caroline’s get-up-and-go personality saw her move to London to work for the Institute of Directors as an events manager, and later with a family-run business specialising in catering and event management.

She returned in 2005 to the Lovat Arms, a Victorian hotel with an abundance of character