The Lovat’s Caroline Gregory: ‘Young people are honestly brilliant’

We are shining a spotlight on those who are passionate about working in hospitality as part of our campaign to showcase the positive aspects of a career in the sector, This is Hospitality.

Caroline Gregory is the director of the Lovat Loch Ness, which was historically a station hotel. She bought the property with her parents in 2005 and in 2008 received The Caterer’s Acorn Award, which recognises 30 under-30 exceptional hospitality talent. The 29-bedroom hotel today employs 27 staff and operates a three-AA-rosette restaurant led by Gregory’s husband, chef Sean Kelly, who joined the business in 2011.

Here she talks about how working in hospitality has opened her eyes to sustainability and what she is doing to inspire the next generation of the industry.

How long have you been running the Lovat?

My parents have been in the hospitality industry for over 30 years. They also used to run the Torridon in Wester Ross, which is our sister property (it’s literally run by my sister). I took over the Lovat when I was 25 and bought the property with my parents in 2005. It was very unloved when we took it over, so we spent £1m doing it up.

How did your husband Sean become involved in the business?

In 2011, I was looking for a new head chef. Sean managed to make us an incredible meal from nothing, so he got the job, and then we had a little bit of a hospitality romance. He was only going to stay for a year, but then he asked me to marry him in 2015. I was also only going to be at the Lovat for four years, but it’s now been 21 years! My parents have since retired and now we have the hotel to ourselves.

You must have learnt a huge amount about the hospitality industry from your parents. What are some treasured insights?

I was really fortunate because I became aware of sustainable practices before they became buzzwords. My parents hated waste and my dad always used to say ‘what’s in the bin is your profit’. We put in central heating and a biomass boiler, which made us one of the first hotels in the Highlands to do so back in 2007. We’ve also built a kitchen garden, so we grow and forage as much as we can. We’re relying on local suppliers, so we will start using turkey eggs from March on our breakfast menu.

How are you inspiring the next generation of young hospitality talent at the Lovat?

Four of our part-time staff are young people aged under 18. They are honestly brilliant. We’ve got a shining star who has just turned 17, who loves the industry. We’ve also been taking on a lot of travelling staff from countries like New Zealand, Australia and Canada who are on two- or three-year visas. One of them used to work for a sustainable company in Australia, so although they’re not from a traditional hospitality background, they share our sustainability values already, which makes life a lot easier. After all, I can’t teach people how to smile, but I can teach people how to pop a plate on the table.

You are also involved in Hospitality Connect, the initiative set up by former Hotelier of the Year Adrian Ellis, to introduce more school students to careers in the industry. Tell us a bit more about that.

I’m working with Hospitality Connect to bring it to the Highlands. I’m already collaborating with our local school for our pilot scheme, and we have around 12 hotels on board. We’ve been doing in-service days with school teachers, so 24 of them came and we did a chocolate-making class. We’re also working with DYW (Developing the Young Workforce) Scotland, a career and skills network connecting hospitality with schools. It’s all about promoting hospitality for our industry.