As a youngster, Nigel Graham’s pocket money inevitably found its way to a record shop on Market Brae Steps in Inverness.
The obsession for collecting vinyl later turned into a business located just a few yards from his early album hunting ground.
Union Vinyl is the city’s only independent dedicated vinyl record store and a treasure trove for the serious collector or casual browser.
A collector by the age of 10
Nigel set up the business buying and selling vinyl records in 2014, initially in Union Street (hence the name) before moving to the current spot seven years ago.
His musical taste was influenced by his older brother whose 70s punk records fascinated the then six-year-old.
By the age of 10 he was a collector, David Bowie’s 1980 album Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) being the first purchase.
For a while afterwards, he travelled all over the country with his mother, the late Sheila Graham, a former Inverness Town House council officer, to find Bowie recordings.
Working as a gravedigger and then a landscaper, Nigel continued to build up his collection.
When money was tight, he had to sell off some of his prized records, but it also gave him an idea.
Need to sell sparked business idea
“I wouldn’t sell anything before, but needs must sometimes. I then realised there was a business in it.
“If I didn’t need to sell stuff then I don’t think I would have opened the record shop.”
Union Vinyl started as a pop up, with Sheila helping serve customers in the early days, and eventually became Nigel’s full-time job.
Nigel and full-time employee Robert Ross sell mainly second-hand albums from between £5 to £150.
A second business, Vinyl 2 Vintage based in Nairn, which Nigel runs with partner and wife-to-be Helen Boor, opened in 2021, specialising in pre-owned vinyl and vintage clothing.
Like many small enterprises, online shopping and the cost-of-living crisis has affected trade.
So what keeps Union Vinyl going?
Unsold records help charity
“Everything is given a second life or new purpose, so there is very little waste”, he said.
Even records he can’t sell in the shop find a new use by being passed to charity.
In 2021, the then MP Drew Hendry lodged a motion in the House of Commons praising Union Vinyl for donating unsold records to Oxfam which raised £3,400.
A recent donation raised a further £1,000 for the charity.
The attraction of vinyl, Nigel believes, is multi-layered.
“It does sound better, it’s not sterile. A lot of people buying vinyl albums now are those who got rid of them to buy CDs and are now trying to buy back the vinyl records.
“We have regular customers. It’s a drug for some people.
“We have some who ask us to take the price off the sleeves so their wives don’t know what they’ve spent.
“Others have got a new turntable and come in and say ‘I’ve got a gift voucher to buy a new record. I haven’t done this since I was 12.’”
“I find people want classic rock. But if I have a collection of punk and Indy records it flies out the door with people of a certain age.”
Vinyl revival nights
As well as in the shops, Nigel’s collection of around 1,000 albums – “all bangers” – are also used in his DJ sets at vinyl revival nights.
He said: “We don’t walk up there with a laptop and memory stick. We go carrying boxes of vinyl and turntables.”
The shop also supports local artists and stocks their vinyl albums without taking any money from their sales.
For Nigel, the childhood passion for music and collecting is still present decades on.
“I don’t do it for the money, but for the love of it. It’s a hobby that became a job, but it’s still a hobby.
“There are lots of records still to find. There’s always a collectable to be had.”
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