The Trust is set up in memory of Johnny Noble, Chairman and co-founder of Loch Fyne Oysters who died in 2002.
Johnny was a well-spring of innovative ideas and encouraged others with realistic enthusiasm. In 1978 Johnny set up Loch Fyne Oysters with Andy Lane which has grown into an enterprise employing over 100 people locally. He was fond of saying that stout oaks grew from small acorns.
The S J Noble Trust was set up on the initiative of Jonny’s younger sister, Christina. The idea of this fund is to assist promising acorns. They may be start up ventures, they may be existing organisations needing funds or expertise to develop. The overriding aim is to promote rural regeneration.
The Trust’s initial aim was to help seed aspirant entrepreneurs wanting to set up or expand their own businesses
Over the 20 plus years since the trust made its first award we have distributed over £1m to around 500 businesses – several of them more than once. Initially we gave money in the form of grants but now our funding almost always takes the form of an interest free loan with easy repayment terms. That is to ensure we shall have the resources to continue to fund those applicants in the future we judge to have a real chance of succeeding.
We have been fortunate to gain the support of the Kilfinan Trust, a locally based trust. The combination of Kilfinan and our own trust has significantly increased our financial firepower. As a result we think that, despite the not unreasonable 15% or so who have dropped by the wayside, there are some 800 jobs in the region that we have helped create or sustain. Our hope is to build on these foundations.
Read our 20th Anniversary Report
Why Argyll?
The demise of traditional agriculture, forestry, fishing etc in the Highlands has contributed to unemployment and to fragile, often demoralised, rural communities. We restrict our area of benefit to Argyll, where there is an ongoing need to generate small scale business and enterprise.
Bred over many centuries there has all too often been a negative attitude, an expectation of lack of success. The imagination, vision and tenacity of Johnny and his partner, Andy Lane, ensured that Loch Fyne Oysters bucked this trend. The company was registered in 1978 with capital of £100.
The company ownership has changed several times since its peak, employing at times well over 100 people at Cairndow.
The purpose of the Trust is to promote rural regeneration – which includes the alleviation of poverty in the Argyll and Islands area – by providing financial or other assistance to new or existing businesses where this can be demonstrated to provide employment and training opportunities.
Businesses that provide a new or innovative service are especially welcome.