A SUMMER FIRE threatened to wipe out a Moray family business – but the father and son team behind Barrel Creations at Lower Cabrach had other ideas.
Their entire stock of former whisky barrels was destroyed in a blaze back in June – including work in progress. It was a major blow for a business that had started out 30 years ago – but founder Colin McBain insisted at the time the disaster would not destroy his business.
As well as stock the business books and accounts were destroyed in the blaze that was tackled by firefighters from Dufftown, Buckie and Aberdeen – but all they could do in the end was save the nearby Grouse Inn pub and other adjoining buildings, but not the main workshop.
Four months later, however, it is very much business as usual for Mr McBain and his son Donald, who had scoured the north east for replacement machinery and set up a makeshift workshop from which the pair could resume trading.
Donald was thankful that while the workshop was gutted some building remained unscathed: “The damage was really bad but if it had wiped out all of our buildings then we would have been totally stuck. Fulfilling orders from a temporary building is not ideal – but it works.”
Now the father and son team are looking to relaunch the business as a tourist attraction, with Colin saying: “We are looking to make a new bigger building with a better showroom and have that as more of an attraction for tourists.”