BY KIRSTY WATT
The Skye community have started rallying to help a beloved Broadford coffee shop which is set to lose its home as their leased property hits the market.
Broadford’s Coffee Bothy, formerly Creelers, opened in March 2022 when Andrew Jones and Rich Murray took on a five-year lease of the building to open their ‘dream coffee shop’.
Now, it forms an important place in the community, but Andrew and Rich’s lease ends in November and the building, owned by Eric Davet trading as Main Green Ltd, has been put on the market leaving the Coffee Bothy desperately needing a new home.
Andrew told the Free Press: “We always knew it was a five-year lease, but we had always hoped for an extension. Now, we have a few options [for a new location] but nothing concrete. If nothing happens, the Coffee Bothy will cease to exist and we currently have a staff team of five who will need to be made redundant.
“We told everyone and the response has been overwhelmingly lovely. We keep getting stopped in the street by people asking how things are going. We’ve been approached by three organisations / businesses with possible premise options and we are exploring them, but as yet nothing is certain.
“The problem is a couple of the buildings need pretty major investment which we don’t have. We’re exploring the idea of a crowdfunder although we feel a bit guilty about that. Plenty of people said ‘do a crowdfunder to buy the building’ which we are in.
“The problem is the building is vastly over-priced, it’s a Doran build so it’s not going to be really mortgageable, and we feel guilty about asking nice people to give us a lot of money for what is essentially a bad building. So, we are just relying on word of mouth at the moment, looking at a few options and trusting the goodwill of the community to find us somewhere else!”
Responding to Andrew and Rich’s Facebook post about their need to relocate, Paul Whittaker said: “Very sad news about the landlord’s decision [to sell] but great you’re searching for new premises. We need the Coffee Bothy in our lives!”
Colin Payne said: “We really hope you find something – you help make the island special.”
Lisa Sharp added: “Coffee is divine, the food is whatever step is above divine, and the people are what make the stop worthwhile.”
Andrew said: “We get called Broadford’s front lounge and a community café – so much happens here which is really important for the community. We’ve been with people through babies, divorces, weddings, cancer treatment, death – people come here and talk, with us, but also with each other.
“It’s a very welcoming space. We get so many of the locals coming and although we rely on the tourist trade, from the day we opened we always wanted to be part of the community and that’s why we stay open in the winter.”
Andrew and Rich opened the Coffee Bothy with no previous experience of catering or business. Now, as they sell bespoke artisan roasted coffee and decadent homemade vegan cakes (including gluten free options), they hold the title of the most welcoming coffee shop 2025 – Scottish Highlands, from the SME News Scottish Enterprise Awards.
“[When we decided] we wanted to move here, we started looking at business opportunities and we thought we love coffee shops, let’s give this a go! We knew what we wanted in the perfect coffee shop and that’s what we’ve built our reputation on – amazing coffee, amazing cakes, but more importantly, really really good customer service. And I just love seeing people enjoying what we have created and coming back.
“Ideally, we’re looking for somewhere with a kitchen – it doesn’t have to be the perfect kitchen, but something to start with – in a space the same size or slightly bigger [than where we are] in Broadford, Plockton or maybe as far as Dornie.
“But for now, we’re still here in Broadford and we need people to come and keep supporting us right up to the last minute.”
