Loch Fyne Oysters
Encyclopedia
Loch Fyne Restaurants
Loch Fyne Restaurants is a chain of 38 seafood restaurants in the United Kingdom owned and operated by Greene King plc.-History:The company takes its name from Loch Fyne, a sea loch on the west coast of Scotland...
which is now owned by Greene King; it still owns the Loch Fyne brand and supplies its products to the restaurant chain. The company continues to run the Loch Fyne Oyster Bar on the banks of the loch near Cairndow
Cairndow
Cairndow is a coastal hamlet in southwest Scotland.Cairndow lies between the A83 road and the head of Loch Fyne. Administratively it forms part of the Argyll and Bute council area.thumb|A view across [[Loch Fyne]] near Cairndow...
History
The company takes its name from Loch FyneLoch Fyne
Loch Fyne is a sea loch on the west coast of Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It extends inland from the Sound of Bute, making it the longest of the sea lochs...
, a sea loch on the west coast of Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. The business started life as an oyster
Oyster
The word oyster is used as a common name for a number of distinct groups of bivalve molluscs which live in marine or brackish habitats. The valves are highly calcified....
farm in that loch. It was originally a joint venture by Johnny Noble
Johnny Noble
-Further reading:...
, the owner of the nearby Ardkinglas Estate, and Andy Lane, a fish farmer and biologist. Initially the business sold their oysters to restaurants all over the UK. In the early 1980s the company diversified into the supply of other seafood, and opened a smokehouse
Smokehouse
A smokehouse is a building where meat or fish is cured with smoke. The finished product might be stored in the building, sometimes for a year or more.-History:...
to smoke salmon
Salmon
Salmon is the common name for several species of fish in the family Salmonidae. Several other fish in the same family are called trout; the difference is often said to be that salmon migrate and trout are resident, but this distinction does not strictly hold true...
and other fish.
In 1988 the Loch Fyne Oyster Bar was opened on the banks of the loch near Cairndow. The first Loch Fyne Oyster Bar away from the loch opened in Nottingham
Nottingham
Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group...
in 1990, followed by a second near Peterborough
Peterborough
Peterborough is a cathedral city and unitary authority area in the East of England, with an estimated population of in June 2007. For ceremonial purposes it is in the county of Cambridgeshire. Situated north of London, the city stands on the River Nene which flows into the North Sea...
. Towards the end of the 1990s, the founders of the business began to look for partners to develop a larger restaurant chain and were joined by two entrepreneurs, Ian Glyn and Mark Derry. In 1998 the Loch Fyne Restaurant chain was founded, as a separately owned business using the Loch Fyne name under licence from Loch Fyne Oysters.
In 2002, Johnny Noble died and Loch Fyne Oysters was placed on the market. In 2003 it became an employee owned company, with its shares owned by 100 of its employees. Loch Fyne Oysters continues to run the Cairndow Oyster Bar, along with the oyster and mussel farms and smokehouses. It sells its product to the Loch Fyne Restaurant chain, to other restaurants, and over the internet.
As of 2007, the Loch Fyne Restaurant chain operated 38 restaurants across the UK. In August 2007, the restaurant chain (but not Loch Fyne Oysters) was bought by the Greene King Brewery
Greene King Brewery
Greene King is a British brewery established in 1799 in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk. It has grown to become one of the largest British owned breweries in the UK through a series of takeovers which have been the subject of some criticism. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent...
for the sum of £68 million.