Nominee Summary
Tarrant Refrigeration is a long-established family business, formed in 1982, which for 26 years held Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s Royal Warrant for dairy product refrigeration. From its origins as a one-man dairy refrigeration business, it has grown into a diverse rural enterprise with specialist divisions covering game industry refrigeration, Approved Game Handling Establishments (AGHE’s), bird, game and deer larders, brewery refrigeration, mortuaries, air conditioning, heat pumps and an e-commerce platform serving the game sector.
What makes your nominee stand out?
That experience and willingness to take on difficult rural projects led Tarrant Refrigeration to Jura, where the opportunity was clear but the barriers were substantial. The island’s remoteness, difficult access and complex logistics meant other suppliers were unwilling to undertake the work when presented with local crofter Andrew and Cathy's vision and determination to create Wild Jura Venison, the island's first and only AGHE. Tarrant Refrigeration took a different view. We travelled to site, assessed the constraints and committed to delivering a specialist facility capable of enabling wild venison to enter the human food chain safely and professionally. The result was the first AGHE on one of Scotland’s most remote inhabited islands. Our aim was to help establish a new market for one of Jura’s most valuable natural resources, ensuring that sustainable wild venison could be processed locally, supplied locally and used to generate lasting benefit for the island and neighbouring communities. The build was a significant undertaking, three months to complete and required construction materials and supplies to be transported to Jura, with journeys to and from the mainland sometimes taking up to two days by ferry. Delivering a project of this nature in such a remote setting required resilience, technical expertise and a practical understanding of rural infrastructure. We recognised, however, that the facility would create permanent local capacity and allow Jura’s natural resources to remain within the island economy.
Supporting the local community
Before the AGHE was established, much of the economic value associated with locally harvested venison was lost because there was no suitable processing facility on the island. The new purpose-built site created a route for sustainable wild venison to be processed locally, strengthening local supply chains, supporting sustainable land management, encouraging the use of a healthy local food source and contributed to biodiversity and climate objectives through responsible deer management. Today, the Jura AGHE is an established part of island life and a practical example of rural enterprise creating wider community benefit. We facilitate the supply of wild Jura venison across Jura and Islay, including to five primary schools and one secondary school, giving pupils access to healthy, locally sourced food. Additionally the AGHE supplies three local retail shops, two hotels and restaurants, residents through deliveries, CalMac ferry services, distillery events and community festivals.
Maintaining high ethical/environmental standards
These partnerships demonstrate the breadth of the project’s contribution to the rural economy. The AGHE supports education, tourism, hospitality, local employment, community resilience and the retention of economic value within Jura and Islay. By overcoming the challenges of establishing specialist food-processing infrastructure on a remote island, Tarrant Refrigeration has helped create a sustainable rural business that turns a local natural resource into long-term benefit for schools, businesses, residents and visitors.
