Why I love running my business in the Highlands and Islands...
QUARCH TECHNOLOGY LTD Mike Dearman founded Quarch in 2006. The company designs and part-manufactures automated testing tools for the data storage industry. Quarch exports to North America, Europe, India, Israel, China, Taiwan, Malaysia, Japan and South Korea – and its customers include some of the world’s largest technology firms. Quarch is based in Aviemore, in the Cairngorms National Park, and has a team of 11 employees. Why is Quarch based in Aviemore? I grew up in Morayshire and spent a lot of time in the Highlands as a child. I graduated from Heriot Watt University with a degree in computing and electronics in 2001 – the year of the global telecoms crash. This made finding a job in the Central Belt very difficult. I ended up taking a job on the south coast of England, and spent five years there. I enjoyed the work, but I was keen to get back to Scotland. I started Quarch in 2006, and moved back to my old bedroom in Morayshire to live rent-free. A couple of years later, as the company started to take off, we had to decide where to base ourselves. We settled on Aviemore because it was a little closer to the Central Belt than Moray, and it has a great outdoor culture.
What do you like best about running your business in Aviemore? The commute. It’s a five-minute cycle, five-minute drive or ten-minute walk. And at the end of the day I can finish work, and then head out ski touring, cycling, running or paddle-boarding.
What challenges has your location presented, and how have you overcome them? We import a lot of materials and export almost all of our products – and shipping can be a real pain in the Highlands. However, we’ve become much better at it over the years as we’ve built relationships with couriers. It’s difficult to recruit software and hardware engineers in the Highlands, so that’s been an ongoing problem for us - and one that’s made us consider moving the business. However, we’ve tried to overcome this challenge by targeting graduates, who are more willing to relocate, and by offering a very competitive package. Usually, if we can get people to experience both Aviemore and the business in person, it’s not so hard to convince them to move here. We have one employee who relocated from Brazil!
How has HIE supported your business to thrive in Aviemore? HIE has recently been supporting us with recruitment. They’ve helped us make a recruitment video, and they’ve provided training and advice – all of this has been really helpful. In the past, myself and my business partner Andy have benefited from HIE’s links with MIT. I went to an MIT Sales Strategy Workshop in Glasgow, and Andy took part in the Entrepreneurship Development Programme in Boston. 34
Back in 2007, I went to an Introduction to Exporting workshop, and since then several of our team have been on similar courses. Our operations manager Julia is currently completing an Emerging Leaders course, which is supported by HIE.
What makes Aviemore a unique business location? What can you do in Aviemore, that you couldn’t do anywhere else? There aren’t many places in the UK where you can look out your office window and see a ski resort! We can swim in mountain lochs, paddle down rivers, run or mountain bike through ancient woodland, and cross country and downhill ski, all within a 10 mile radius of the office. Furthermore, the beautiful west coast of Scotland and the islands are only a few hours’ drive away - what more could you want?
Walk us through your dream workday. My dream day is to wake up and see snow-capped mountains bathed in sunshine. I’d then take the dog for a walk in the woodland behind our house, walk the kids to school and nursery, and then continue on to the office. I’d go out for lunch at one of the many great local independent cafes in Aviemore. And after work, I’d meet friends and go cycling through Rothiemurchas Forest. Or maybe I’d go ski touring, or go for a run up Cairngorm Mountain - there are too many options to choose from!