Harvey McLean-Ross's career began in the hotel industry, where he worked his way up to be general manager at hotels in Glasgow, Stirling, Dundee and Birmingham. Then, following a divorce, he made a career change and moved into accountancy.
He ended up working 15 years as an accountant in Middlesex but spent the last few years looking around for a hospitality business to run with his wife, June, who had previously worked as a hotel receptionist.
The couple's search ended when they saw the four-star, 10-bedroom Temple View hotel on the Isle of North Uist in the Outer Hebrides, which they bought for just over £295,000.
"It clearly had potential, as it had been underutilised over the last few years due to the ill health of the previous owners," Harvey says.
Although the sale started off smoothly, some complications arose at the eleventh hour when additional information about the business came to light, and it was only by holding their ground with the vendor's lawyers that the couple won through.
The complications pushed the completion date back a week, and when the couple did move in, on 8 September, it was a baptism of fire. "We walked in at 5.50pm and we were serving dinner at 6.30," he says.
As well as investing in the look and feel of the property, the couple have been busy organising new brochures and signage. "With all these things there's a lot going out and not much coming in, but I'm not losing sleep over it," says Harvey. "It was all in the budget plans, and we're exceeding our projections even for this time of year.
"Although we're working 18 hours a day at the moment, we're really enjoying it. We're getting there. We reckon we have to give it at least three years."