There is plenty of excitement ahead for the Lennox family of Lennox of Lomond, who farm on the western shores of Loch Lomond, with plans to launch two new luxury lodges in the spring.

The hill sheep farm, which has seen 11 generations of the Lennox family run it, stretches over 4000 acres and is home to 1100 Blackface sheep. It is also a hot destination for visitors, with more than 3000 footfall recorded on-farm in 2022, split between their luxury ‘Bonnie Barns’ and variety of farm tours and experiences.

Kay, who together with her husband, Dougie, and parents, Bobby and Anne Lennox, runs the agritourism side of the business, has had an exceptionally busy year, welcoming back their first international tourists post-Covid; taking on a full-time member of staff; building two new lodges and stepping up succession talks at home, to prepare for changes ahead.

She told The SF that the hill farm could only sustain one family, but relies on the next generation for support – so in order for Kay and her family to stay on the farm, the agritourism arm of the business has been critical to providing another income.

This spring will see the launch of two new lodges which will take their offering up to five luxury lodges, all comprising state of the art kitchens, bathrooms and hot tubs.

 

Farm tours have been an important part of the agritourism business at Lennox of Lomondcredit - Craig Stephen

Farm tours have been an important part of the agritourism business at Lennox of Lomondcredit - Craig Stephen

 

“At the start of 2022, we began constructing two new barns and this January, we begin the interior fit, with the hope of launching in the spring,” said Kay. “It has been a very exciting year seeing them come together and financially, the extra income will be very welcome.

“This June, we made the decision to take on a full-time manager to run the agritourism side of the farm, which has been fantastic. This has allowed me time to dive deeper into the livestock side of things and has given me the space to take part in activities off-farm, knowing that business is in safe hands.

“Scottish agritourism is really gaining momentum and it was brilliant to have a stand at this year’s Highland Show, where so many members came to visit us. This December, we held the Scottish Agritourism conference, in Perth, which was another 2022 highlight, getting to be part of something so big and connecting people involved in the sector, from all over the country.”

With added support at home, Kay was also able to head to Vermont in the autumn, for the World Agritourism Conference, where she delivered a presentation, alongside Caroline Millar, on the Scottish Enterprise Monitor Farm Programme and how it developed her business and the community of businesses involved.

“One of the big positives of the past year has been welcoming back our international visitors from the likes of America, Australia and all over Europe, for the first time since Covid,” Kay continued.

“We have really been developing our travel trade with big bus tours coming in with visitors from Canada and America, who really love the traditional family farm story and come to hear about our history and relationship with the land and our animals.

“We make a real point with guests in taking the time to meet them and share the story of our farm and it has been so lovely to see an injection of life in the local area, people spending time around Loch Lomond and really enjoying the outdoors.

“Agritourism is in such a perfect position to showcase the best of Scottish agriculture and I feel that farmers are so well placed to explain our connection to the land and really change perceptions when it comes to public understanding of the role farming has to play in wider society.”

With momentum building on the agritourism front, succession talks have ramped up at home, with Kay and Dougie taking an in-depth look at the workings of the farm and how to make sure it can remain profitable in the long-term.

“This past year, we have been looking at how best to maximise the assets we have, knowing that labour availability and costs is an ongoing issue across the country. It is going to get more difficult in the future when it is just the two of us farming and as part of our succession talks, we have been exploring how technology could help us to minimise labour costs and needs, long-term.”

Kay said that they would love to be able to afford virtual electric fencing, so she could manually move sheep, explaining that it would allow them to gather in one day, as opposed to over the course of a week, relying on the help of five people and six dogs.

Commenting on the beef and sheep side of the business, she added: “The sheep are in great condition this year and we had a really good tupping season. The weather was dry and cold with no major storms to disrupt them. Most of the sheep are getting ready to go back on the hill after Christmas.”

Their sheep are a lucrative draw for agritourism business in the Spring, with over 800 visitors taking part in bespoke lambing experiences this year. Kay said there has already been a lot of interest for this Spring, and they hope that for 2023, if they can squeeze out another weekend of lambing, they can increase visitor numbers to 1000.

Looking ahead to 2023, future agricultural support is firmly on Kay’s mind and she explained that the ongoing uncertainty isn’t making planning any easier.

“Being a tenanted hill farm in the national park, there are a lot of restrictions to what we can do on the farm and we need to know soon what options are available that we can realistically look at. We can’t turn our hill to trees, as there would be no space for our grazing sheep, and we are very worried by the buying up of Scotland’s land for trees, to offset everyone else’s carbon.

“As a small business, we weren’t able to get Leader funding, and as tenant farmers, we couldn’t’ get a business loan, so everything is self-funded. Our business model is constant reinvesting, and the challenge is making sure we can continue to run and keep developing, while remaining profitable.

“We are about to get a huge hike in our electricity bill come January and the initial quote is looking at an increase of £400 per month to £3000 per month, which adds financial pressures.

"This is compounded by the fact that all our laundry services and other businesses we work with have gone up and we are struggling to put that added price on to customers, as they are feeling that pinch too. We unfortunately are the ones that have to take the hit, as we need bums on beds and can’t risk losing customers.

“The year ahead will be about making sure the business stays profitable and hopefully that will include an increase in visitors to the farm and some much-needed clarity on future support.”