The 12,000 acre Ardfin Estate on the Isle of Jura – on the market following the death of its owner Tony Riley-Smith, has been sold to Greg Coffeyy, a 39 year–old Australian hedge fund manager whose city performance has got him nicknamed The Wizard of Oz.
The estate has been in the hands of the family of Tony Riley-Smith since 1938 and, with its seven uninhabited islands – some of whihc form the attractive lagoon off Craighouse, is understood to have been sold for around £3.5 million.
Most of the 210 residents of Jura live on land owned by the Ardfin Estate, which employs five people.
It makes its money largely as a sporting estate, with deer stalking and pheasant shoots, supplemented by some holiday lets on estate properties.
Any transfer of ownership of a major local resource is a nervous business for fragile island communities that depend on it for jobs and for a stout contribution to the economic development that assures sustainability.
Jura is something of a surprise in the range of people who live there and the spectrum of activities it hosts.
Central to it are the sporting estates, of which Ardfin is one; and the business in Craighouse, like the Isle of Jura Distillery, the Isle of Jura Hotel , the Jura Stores and the community owned bistro, craft shop, and heritage centre The Antlers.
Vehicle ferry access if via its close neighbour, the Isle of Islay and its mai ferry from Kennacraig on the Argyll mainland; and via a fast passenger service on one of the most stunning routes o the west cast of Scotland – out of Tayvallich on Loch Sween, out into the Sound of Jura and across to Craighouse, with the unforgettable shapes of the Paps of Jura dominating the land and seascape.