Norwegian hoteliers, Trond Dalby & Will Haegeland

Norwegians Trond Dalby and Will Haegeland moved to Scotland in June 2004 and now own and run the County Hotel in Selkirk in the Scottish Borders.

We chose to start our business in Scotland for two reasons. Firstly, we had travelled a bit here before and we really liked it. There’s a special link between Scotland and Norway, it feels closer to home than other parts of the UK.

The nature and countryside is very beautiful, it’s very relaxed. We love the fact that you can hear the birds singing and there’s no traffic noise constantly buzzing in the background.

Secondly, there was a good business reason to choose Scotland. Property prices are good here, so you get a better return on your investment.

Business plan

It took a while to find the right property. We were living in London at the time, coming up to Scotland every weekend to tour around.

Visit Scotland and Scottish Enterprise were really helpful. They gave us lots of information and statistics about tourism, market trends and demographics – information that formed the basis of our business plan.

Potential

We chose Selkirk because we didn’t want anything too seasonal; we wanted to do good business all year round. Plus, the people were friendly straight away and we could see the County Hotel had lots of potential.

The hotel has been here since 1746, so it’s part of the community. We felt it was important not to come in and change things over night. The local people are our customers, so we want them to be happy with any changes we make.

Community

As foreigners coming to a small place like Selkirk, everyone has been very welcoming and friendly. It’s been easy to get to know people.

Now, when we have visitors to stay from Norway, everyone in town knows when they’re here. We go to the local shop and they say, "Oh, we had your friends in earlier..." It’s nice to be part of the community like that.

Holiday season

We work long hours and we don’t get out as much as we would like, but business is good and as we’re coming into the holiday season there are golfers, walkers, fishing trips – people coming from all over the UK and the continent.

We’re looking forward to gradually refurbishing and upgrading, seeing our plans becoming a reality. Moving to Scotland has been a very positive experience.

Will Haegeland and Trond Dalby
www.countyhotelselkirk.co.uk