Isla Bank House

We caught up with Vena & Nick from Isla Bank House for an insight in to their business

Please name the main purpose of your business.

Isla Bank House B&B is a licensed Bed and Breakfast providing high quality accommodation, breakfast and optional evening meals to guests visiting Moray from all around the world. In addition we provide venue hire and catering for small events and celebrations such as wedding breakfasts, photo and film shoots, interviews and training courses.

What are the benefits to operating in Moray?

Moray is spectacular. It has something for everyone and we are privileged to call Moray our home. Guests come from every corner of the world to see, hear, smell, taste and touch what Moray has to offer. Beaches, mountains, tracks and trails. History, ancestry and iconic buildings. Seafood, whisky, gin and sublime beers and ciders. We have it all. We have a wealth of distilleries and a vast selection of world famous whiskies on our doorstep and some amazing local chauffeur companies to transport visitors around the area safely. I’ve travelled all around the world but there’s nowhere quite like Moray.

How do you connect to your local customers?

Our website www.islabankhouse.com is our ‘shop window’. We have active profiles on Google, Instagram, Facebook, InKeith and Visit Moray Speyside and we are a recommended accommodation provider for some of the best local wedding venues. We work closely with our local business partners, friends and neighbours and have frequent and repeat visitors from them. Wherever we can we pass business to other businesses whom we’ve tried, tested or had great feedback about.

Why are you part of Moray Chamber of Commerce?

We joined the Chamber because we wanted to build our local network, take advantage of the resources available and give something back. We both felt that it was important to be part of an organisation that promotes local business and its possibilities. We both spent many years working in rapidly changing environments where leading people and managing change were key to success. Vena is a qualified coach and mentor and has just been appointed to the Board of Visit Moray Speyside. Nick is an experienced entrepreneur and mentor with a successful track record working with small business strat-ups and sustainable community projects.

What are you most proud of?

We are proud to be thriving in an environment that is so challenging. Starting a business just before a pandemic closed it but quickly being able to refocus, flex, change, adapt, flex again, change again etc kept us going. We learned a great deal about ourselves and our business through those challenging times and it strengthened who we are and what we do. It improved what we offer guests and how we run the business. We are a great team especially when the chips are down.

Finally, name one misconception that people have about your business.

Guests often think Isla Bank House is a Hotel. The quality of the website, the written communications, our hospitality and welcome, the space, bedroom suites and our evening meals together with the size of the property lead people to think that we must be a hotel with a team of staff. In fact it is only Nick and I.

We do it all.

Find out more about Isla Bank House or to book, please visit their website here