During the pandemic, the island of Rum was where Stuart McKie and Jennifer Thompson found they could escape the stress of their jobs and city living.
So when the opportunity arose to change their lives as well as their home, they didn’t hold back.
This month the couple were chosen from more than 30 candidates to become owners of Rum’s only shop.
The contrast in their past and present lives is significant and they already feel the benefits of their decision.
From intensive care to island peace
Stuart, 39, from Glasgow, has been a nurse all his working life, latterly in intensive care where he dealt with the daily pressures of the city’s Royal infirmary during the pandemic.
“That was not an easy time for anyone. It definitely accelerated the decision to look for a new life and want to do something like this”, he said.
“I have been coming to Rum on my own since 2015, mostly camping and hillwalking and it became my home from home, my getaway.
“After lockdown, it was the first place I went to heal and recover, and came another twice that summer.
“I remember sitting on the beach and feel the peace washing over me and the calm coming back. It’s an amazing place.”
He and Jennifer met in 2021, and last year they went to Rum together for the first time.
“Since then, Rum felt less like a getaway and more like a home”, said Stuart.
“After the pandemic, for many reasons, we both knew we wanted a new life and were already looking north.
“When the chance came up to move to the island and buy the shop, we put everything into it and have never looked back.
“I don’t think either of us could have done this on our own. But once we got together and the shop came up at the right time we just went for it.”
‘My motivation came back here’
Jennifer, 37, originally from Newcastle but has lived in central Scotland for years, works in medical diagnostics with expertise in PCR testing.
“I was working from home and felt isolated. When Stuart took me to Rum last summer I fell in love with the place.
“It felt like the mainland was another world. I didn’t feel the pressure and stress of work.
“I realised all the things I was doing didn’t make me happy. I was doing what society told me I should do. I was chugging along and not enjoying it.
“But here my motivation came back.”
The Isle of Rum General Store and Post Office is currently connected to the community hall, in which the café is also situated.
The businesses were advertised by the Isle of Rum Community Trust in April. They drew 34 expressions of interest from across the UK but also Europe and South America.
The shop was run for many years by Jinty Crocket and the café by Kim Taylor, who both stood down but remain on Rum.
Stuart and Jennifer now run the shop from 7am-9pm during the summer and have started selling teas and coffees.
They set up Wild in the Wilderness Ltd and have plans for takeaways and home deliveries. They also plan a website where visitors can pre-order shopping rather than bringing it from the mainland.
They plan to take over the Post Office and, longer-term, will move into larger premises in a planned new community hub.
Rum attracts 10,000 visitors a year
Rum’s 32-strong resident population gives the business a limited number of regular customers.
But the island attracts 10,000 visits a year from walkers, climbers, cyclists, yachtspeople and campers.
Stuart added: “One of the best things for me about the shop being open all the time is that it provides a gathering space for locals and tourists to stop and talk to each other.
“It’s great to be able to bring people together.”
The couple will initially rent a property offered as part of the shop deal. It is one of four built by the trust in 2020 in the main settlement of Kinloch.
At the time they attracted around 4,000 inquiries from around the world and 430 firm applications.
The couple plan to eventually build a house on Rum.
Steve Robertson, the trust’s development officer, said: “Our village store is of huge importance to our community and so finding a new shopkeeper willing to take up that challenge was an urgent task following the decision of previous owner to give up the business.”
He said application numbers were satisfactory, but not the huge numbers expected with accommodation also on offer.
“That said, we are more than delighted with Stuart and Jennifer and will try to support them in any way possible to help ensure success in finding their feet with their business and on Rum.”
Conversation