Meet the Culture Starters - Galloway Lodge

We caught up with Ruaridh Hesketh, General Manager of family-owned business Galloway Lodge. They specialise in handcrafted preserves, chutneys and pickles.

When and why did you start your business?

The business was started by my dad in 1971.  He wanted to move back to Galloway and started out selling knitwear, before moving into making marmalade.  After he passed away in 2001, my mum took the business on full time and grew it quite a lot with a huge amount of hard work.

How was it starting out?  

It was tough.  During the winter months my father would drive taxis in London to make ends meet and my mother combined running our shop with raising the children. 

What has your business journey been like? 

I have always been involved in the business but joined full time in 2011. It has been a challenge as at that time we were stilling feeling the effects of the financial meltdown from 2008. Since then, we have also had to deal with Covid and everything else going on. It has made us very resilient though and we are progressing really well as a company.  We have many long-term staff who allow me to focus on all the parts of the business, knowing that when I’m not there they are looking after it for me. I love what I do as it gives me lots of flexibility, and since I have a short attention span lots of different things to do every day. 

What does the future hold for you? 

The constant struggle on work life balance is probably the major issue I face as we grow.  I have a young family and want to spend time with them.  We have however just built a new production kitchen and are continuing to develop new products and ranges, so lots of exciting things coming up!

We have a fantastic range of Galloway Lodge products available online and instore. Shop now.