From Skye to the High Street

James Robertson started making candles at 18, in his uncle’s converted bothy on the Isle of Skye. What began with a book on candle making, some savings and a gap he spotted at his first job has grown into the Isle of Skye Candle Company, which now employs more than 100 people.

Robertson had moved from Glasgow to Skye when he turned 18. His mother is from the island and he already had a strong connection to it. His first job was with the Isle of Skye Soap Company, where he noticed that the business was buying its candles from England. “I remember being confused by this,” he says. He asked the owner, Fiona, whether she would buy Scottish-made candles in the same scents. She said yes. “That was really the moment the Isle of Skye Candle Company was born.”

Making the candles was the harder part. There was no YouTube, Google or ChatGPT to show him how it was done, so Robertson bought a book on candle making and started experimenting. He saved up for a boiler and wax and began working from his uncle’s converted bothy. “If I’m totally honest, the first few years I had no idea what I was doing.” He kept going. The candles improved, Fiona started selling them through the soap company, and Robertson began supplying more local businesses. Craft fairs in Glasgow followed, then the company landed its first mainland stockist on Byres Road. “It felt like we were finally becoming a real business.” There was little outside money behind it. His brother Raghnall, who was at university at the time, put some of his savings into equipment. After graduating, he became more involved in the company and has since played a major role in building the brand.

For Robertson, the business has always been about more than selling candles. He wanted to build a life on Skye and create work there. “When I started making candles it wasn’t just about making candles. I was eager to build a life on Skye and eventually create opportunities on the island.” That purpose has also helped when things have gone wrong. Robertson points to perseverance as the quality that has carried him through the setbacks. “There are many setbacks where it would have been easier to throw in the towel,” he says. The important thing is being able to “pick yourself up and take stock of the progress that has been made”.

Today, the team itself is a major source of motivation. The company has grown from one young founder experimenting with wax in a bothy to employing more than 100 people. “You want to keep building something they can be proud of.” Robertson says the company was never built around a grand plan. Instead, he and his brother tried to make the most of the opportunities that came along. “We never set out with a grand plan, we just tried to make the most of each opportunity as it came and gave it everything we had.” His advice to other founders is similarly straightforward: find something you believe in, work hard and accept that progress is usually incremental. “Success rarely happens overnight.”