Wick hotel celebrates 65 years as an independent family business
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An award winning hotel in Caithness, and site of the shortest street in the world, is celebrating 65 years as an independent family business this month.
Mackays Hotel in Wick has been a leading accommodation provider and a cornerstone of community life in Caithness for over six decades since being purchased by the first family member in 1955, Murray Lamont’s maternal grandmother, Catherine Macrae.
The hotel has its main entrance on Union Street and skirts River Street but has achieved world fame for its Ebenezer Place frontage – recognised by the Guinness Book of Records as the world's shortest street at 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in). The street has only one address: the entrance to No. 1 Bistro, which is part of Mackays.
The award winning hotel is now owned and operated by the third generation of Lamonts – Murray and his wife Ellie, together with Jennifer aged 34 – supporting 25 local jobs and welcoming around 54,000 global visitors to the north Highlands each year.
Murray and Ellie took over the management of Mackays Hotel in 1983 and went on to purchase the property from the rest of the family in the 1990s. Since then, the hotel has gone from strength to strength winning a number of industry awards and accolades, including Caithness Business of the Year in the Highland Business Awards 2016; overall winner of the Developing the Young Workforce category at the Highland Business Awards 2017; an AA Rosette for No.1 Bistro at Mackays Hotel in 2014; and a Gold Tourism Award as part of the Green Tourism Business Scheme.
Murray Lamont’s first job was working with his father as cellar boy at Mackays when he was just eight-years-old. Even when he was away studying business management in Dundee, Murray travelled home every weekend to work in the hotel. He then did a post graduate degree in hospitality in Edinburgh and then managed a hotel in Fife, before returning to Wick in 1982 to work at Mackays.
The family-run hotel has also gone the extra mile to support those in need around Caithness. During the recent lockdown, the Lamont family worked with Royal British Legion Scotland (RBLS) on a project to provide Caithness veterans and pensioners with regular hot meals and companionship whilst self-isolating at home, as well as a meals on wheels home delivery service for people in and around Wick. Accommodation was also let out to key workers shielding from their families.
Murray said: “We’re incredibly proud to have reached this significant milestone for our family-run hotel and as an integral part of local community life here in Caithness. We pride ourselves on our warm Highland welcome to guests from across the world every single year and look forward to continuing that tradition for many years to come.”
Meanwhile, his wife Ellie admitted that at the start of her career, running a hotel had not even entered her head.
"It was probably the furthest thing from my mind but I feel very lucky to have been part of the growth of our hotel and equally to be part of the Wick community," she said.
"Being in the hotel has afforded me opportunities to give back to the tourism sector, the town and help with the great work done by Caithness and Sutherland Women’s Aid."
Mackays Hotel has been supported by the North Highland Initiative (NHI) over the last decade. Commenting on Mackays 65th anniversary, David Whiteford, chair of NHI, said: “I’ve had the pleasure of knowing the Lamonts for a number of years so it’s great to see the family and their hotel continue to succeed under their leadership in these challenging times for the hospitality sector.
“Murray and Ellie are both a huge part of the Caithness community, supporting many charities in the region including RBLS and RNLI, as well as contributing to a variety of local initiatives like Venture North, and of course NHI. I'm sure all of Caithness and their many guests from all over the world will join me in wishing them every success for the future.”
More information on the hotel can be found at www.mackayshotel.co.uk and it can also be followed on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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