A facilities management company has traded the big city for island life.  GSH Group Plc, whose headquarters are in Stoke-on-Trent has set up a base in a new office in Harris and is already providing jobs for eight people from the island. 

The company operates internationally and has taken on the lease of a new office building at Sunnyhill, Tarbert, where staff will provide support services to business clients on an international basis, such as call-handling and marketing activities.

GSH was founded in 1895 by George Scarr-Hall, the grandfather of the current group president, local businessman Ian Scarr-Hall. GSH began as a small company, providing skilled engineers for the pottery industry and has now developed into a facilities management company, and continues to expand.   

The company already has a wide range of clients ranging from a well known technology solutions provider to one of the UK's leading retailers of clothes, food and home products. 

Neil Mackinnon, head of making global connections for WIE said:  "GSH's satellite support unit in Tarbert has the potential to deliver services in the rapidly expanding facilities management market all over Europe. We will continue to work with GSH to take advantage of their visionary development here in the islands."

Ian Scarr-Hall, president GSH group said: "It is gratifying to be involved in a venture which incorporates both private and public participation. The availability of skilled and conscientious personnel provides an attractive venue for any business looking to grow globally."

Donnie Macaulay, chief executive of Western Isles Enterprise said: "This is great news for Harris. GSH is a company with a good reputation and we fully expect to see the business expand further in the future, bringing much needed jobs to Tarbert.

"Growing businesses and making global connections are priorities for WIE and the arrival of this type of business to Harris is proof that location need not be a barrier to success on a global playing field but can actually be beneficial with reduced overheads and improved quality of life."