Latest news with #RichardIrvine
Western Telegraph
21-05-2025
- Health
- Western Telegraph
Doubts over Welsh Government's 2041 bTB-free target
Wales saw a 27% increase in the number of cattle culled due to TB in 2024, with more than 13,000 cattle slaughtered; this represents a record high in any 12-month period. But chief veterinary officer Richard Irvine said this reflected 'strategic use'' of high-sensitivity gamma interferon blood testing in conjunction with standard testing – used to identify infected animals in breakdown herds. While this increases slaughter numbers, the goal is to cut infection rates and prevent recurring breakdowns, he explained. 'Our goal remains clear: better detection now means less disease in the future,' said Dr Irvine. According to the Welsh Government, Wales is making positive progress with its TB eradication programme, through partnership working and changes to government policies. These include on-farm slaughter changes and movement restrictions for inconclusive reactors (IRs). The government said feedback on the change to on-farm slaughter had been positive with a quarter of the animals that would have been affected avoiding on-farm slaughter in the past year. New movement restrictions are to come into force too for IR cattle, probably this autumn. These animals will be restricted to their herd with only licensed movements permitted direct to slaughter, or into an approved finishing unit. This is because there is evidence that resolved standard IR cattle are at higher risk than other cattle as a larger proportion of them go on to become TB reactors at a later point, according to the government. 'Currently this risks such resolved standard IR cattle with undetected infection being moved and spreading TB to other herds – a key concern raised by industry,' said rural affairs minister Huw Irranca-Davies. A strong partnership approach between vets and farmers is also understood to be strengthening TB control in Pembrokeshire. A similar initiative will now be launched in North Wales in the lower TB incidence area. NFU Cymru said further significant change was still needed, although it acknowledged that improvements to partnership working and targeted revisions to government bovine TB policy were encouraging. Its bovine TB focus group chairman Roger Lewis said the scale and pace of progress required 'cannot be overstated''. 'For those people who are dealing with bovine TB on a daily basis, progress towards eradication feels slow and often non-existent,' said dairy farmer Mr Lewis. 'That is why NFU Cymru continues to call for a comprehensive eradication strategy that deals with this disease wherever it exists.''
Fox News
10-05-2025
- Business
- Fox News
Man offering free smoked salmon business to right couple with 'entrepreneurial spirit'
A man who runs a food business on a Scottish island has a tantalizing offer for the right couple. He's planning to give the entity away for free to someone looking to move to the area long term — all part of a desire to help protect his community's future, he said. Richard Irvine, 65, founded his smokery about three years ago, said news agency SWNS, after first "falling in love" with the Hebridean island in the 1980s when he and his wife honeymooned there. His business, Colonsay Smokery, supplies smoked salmon to the shop as well as to local restaurants and venues off the island. The tightknit community has just 120 residents or so — and Irvine wants to hand the business over to a young couple who plan to stay and help contribute to building up the area. He said he wants to help boost the local and school populations however he can. "Attracting younger people to live here is a constant driver for island efforts," he said, SWNS reported, as the current population is growing older. "Many of my peers on the island have devoted their skills and time in a voluntary capacity to help develop the island economy … [They've aimed] to increase the amount of affordable accommodation, which is great," he said. "Call it a desire to help an island I love." "But housing is only one side of the island's problems. Economic development – jobs – is the other. That's where I thought I could add value." He said he wants to "pass this business and the opportunity it presents on to someone who has the desire to run and grow a business, but perhaps is missing the initial capital to get it set up. Call it putting back, call it boomer guilt — call it just a desire to help an island I love," he added. "My vision is to find a young couple, possibly with a young family, who'd like to make it their home [and] need a way of earning a living." Irvine founded the smokery after retiring from a career as a brand consultant, he said. "I moved here after retiring early from a career that encompassed building, working as a chef, commercial writing and running a successful design and brand consultancy," he said. "I did so as we've [vacationed] here for almost 40 years since I took my wife here on our honeymoon." The couple originally planned to buy a plot and build a home on Colonsay, but realized they needed a place to stay during the process. Within months, they found and purchased a house with sea views. While his wife stayed on the mainland with their son, Irvine took on the task of renovating their new island home. It was complete by the "end of the pandemic," he said. He also "needed a project to keep me busy," he said. "I conceived the idea of creating a business that would benefit the island that I love and that I could hand over to someone to encourage them to relocate here." The ideal candidates would have an "entrepreneurial spirit," he said. The process of smoking salmon takes five days. It includes fileting and curing the fish in salt, before it is dried, smoked and left to mature, the BBC noted. It is then sliced and packed before being sold. Irvine said he will mentor prospective owners for three months, he said. "I'll mentor and teach them for three months as a handover if they need it … The only thing I will do is retain a form of 'golden share' to ensure they keep the business going, and hopefully growing, for five years." For more Lifestyle articles, visit He said that ideally, he's hoping to find a family who would appreciate the close-knit nature of Colonsay's tiny primary school, and the opportunity to swap a small city flat for a larger, more affordable home just minutes from work, as SWNS reported. "If you think you might be that couple – write to me telling me why," he said.
Indian Express
09-05-2025
- Indian Express
What applicants for a job on the Scottish isle of Colonsay must remember
Is there anything more thrilling and romantic than living on an island? The multitudes from around the world currently applying for a position on the Scottish isle of Colonsay would likely agree that nothing beats it. They are, after all, clamouring to take over the Colonsay Smokery, ownership of which is being offered for free by Richard Irvine, the current proprietor who wishes to move back to the mainland. Irvine, who set up his fish smoking business two-and-a-half years ago, reports that recent coverage of his offer has brought in such an avalanche of applications that it will be midsummer before he is able to make a choice. Not that it's hard to see the appeal of the Hebridean island: About 10 miles long and two miles wide, Colonsay has an undeniable charm of the rocky, wind-blown variety. Home to several colonies of seabirds, seals, otters and 125 human beings, with a tiny primary school, one hotel, a general store and a post office, the island's sandy beaches, craggy cliffs and thick, green woods retain an unspoiled beauty that is getting harder to find elsewhere. In a world teetering on the brink of chaos, it is not surprising that those who feel overwhelmed might view this island — where, in 2012, its first-ever burglar was stranded for two days because the ferry to the mainland didn't come — as a much-needed refuge. But remoteness and isolation are only temporary salves, and it takes very little for a refuge to turn into a holding cell. Those spoiled by modern conveniences like fully equipped hospitals, libraries, cinemas, museums and malls might find that island life has its fair share of downsides, primary among them being the sight of the same 125 people every single day. Because paradise might be an island, but hell is other people.
New York Times
06-05-2025
- Business
- New York Times
On Remote Scottish Island, a Smoking Opportunity Awaits
If you are the right candidate, Richard Irvine will give you his business and train you to run it. He will hand over his keys, customers and secrets to smoking fish — all free. The catch: You have to commit to living on a remote Scottish island called Colonsay. Population 125. There is already global competition for the position. Mr. Irvine, 65, established the Colonsay Smokery in 2022 and has been building the business with the intention of giving it away, he said in a phone interview on Tuesday. Interest in giveaway has been high, he said, and he has more candidates than he expected. He hopes to choose a recipient by midsummer. 'I'm getting loads and loads of inquiries from people I'd call dreamers and schemers,' Mr. Irvine said. 'One just came from St. Lucia now, while we're talking,' he added about a candidate from the Caribbean island nation.
The Independent
06-05-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Island business owner wants to give his firm away for free
Richard Irvine, the owner of Colonsay Smokery on the remote Scottish island of Colonsay, is giving his business away for free. His goal is to attract a younger family to the island to boost its dwindling population and the local school's enrollment, which currently stands at four pupils. Mr Irvine, 65, hopes the new owners will have an "entrepreneurial spirit" and contribute to the island's community. He plans to mentor the chosen family for three months and may retain some decision-making power to ensure the business remains on the island. Colonsay, with a population of 120, faces challenges due to its ageing demographic and remote location.
