Willie Cameron and Fraser Campbell have been building Cobbs Group together since 1990. What started with a handshake over an empty hotel on the shores of Loch Ness has grown into one of the Highlands’ most enduring hospitality businesses, a company named after a speed record holder who never held the record, and a story that has as much to do with people as it does with business. Drew Hendry joined them to hear how it was built.
What this episode covers
- The handshake in 1990 that started Cobbs, and why there was no contract
- The story of John Cobb, the quiet Englishman the business is named after, and why Willie and Fraser chose a man over a monster
- The slow, unglamorous build: two hotels, a farmhouse bakery, a frozen van breaking down on a Glasgow roundabout
- How they invested in young people and hospitality training long before anyone called it a retention strategy
- Hampers through Covid, a charity coffee shop in Invergordon, shinty sponsorship, and rewilding the land
- What growth for good means to two men who have spent thirty years proving you can build a business and a community at the same time
About Willie Cameron and Fraser Campbell
Willie Cameron and Fraser Campbell are the founders of Cobbs Group, a Highland hospitality and food business based in Drumnadrochit on the shores of Loch Ness. What began with one empty hotel and a handshake in 1990 has grown to include hotels, cafes, and a bakery whose products are sold across Britain. Cobbs is named after John Cobb, the world land speed record holder who came to Loch Ness in 1952. Willie and Fraser have spent more than thirty years building a business rooted in the Highlands, investing in young people, and giving back to the communities that gave them everything.
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.
Read the full feature article: Cobbs and the quiet art of building something that lasts.
Subscribe to the Growth for Good podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and all major podcast platforms.