06-05-2025
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.
