Kurtis McMillan grew up between Zimbabwe, London and Liverpool before making a deliberate choice to return to the Highlands as a teenager, the place where he felt he belonged. What began with his grandparents putting him to work in the garden has become Ar Gàradh CIC, a new community interest company using commercial gardening contracts to fund garden care and outdoor workshops for vulnerable and isolated people across Inverness and the Highlands.
What this episode covers
- How Kurtis built Lenford Services as a commercial landscaping business and why he set up a separate CIC alongside it
- The model behind Ar Gàradh, commercial contracts with hotels and factoring companies fund free community garden care and outdoor workshops
- Working with Highland Hospice, Crocus and New Start to reach bereaved children and socially isolated adults
- Why Kurtis measures success in lives changed rather than profit made
- What building a community-rooted organisation in the Highlands actually feels like in the first few months
About Kurtis McMillan
Kurtis McMillan is the founder of Ar Gàradh CIC, a community interest company based in Inverness. He runs Lenford Services, his commercial landscaping business, day to day work now largely carried by Josh while Kurtis builds the CIC. Ar Gàradh’s commercial gardening contracts, with hotels and factoring companies among others, fund free garden care and outdoor workshops for vulnerable and isolated people across Inverness and the Highlands, delivered in partnership with Highland Hospice, Crocus and New Start.
About the Growth for Good Podcast
Growth for Good is a podcast about building businesses and communities in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. Each episode features a founder, leader or community builder doing the work on the ground. It is hosted by Drew Hendry, strategic advisor, podcast host, former MP, and director of teclan, and it looks at what community-rooted growth actually means in a place like the Highlands. New episodes are published regularly. You can subscribe on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and all major podcast platforms.
Subscribe to the Growth for Good podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and all major podcast platforms.