In a sliding-doors world, Gary Campbell CA might have been one of the UK’s great tech entrepreneurs. Instead, the latest twist of his multi-faceted career takes him back to his roots, as CEO of the Crofting Commission where, typically, his eyes are fixed on the future
It is often said everyone has a great story to tell. The sort of story that makes the listener or reader do a double-take. Gary Campbell CA doesn’t have just one such story – he has enough to fill a book.
Had the cards fallen differently, we might have been talking about Campbell as one of the UK’s leading tech entrepreneurs. Back in 2000, a year before Apple launched iTunes, he co-founded the first online platform to let people pay for individual song downloads. That technology was also adapted to create a site where people could upload their CVs, and where an algorithm would match them with suitable roles and employers. This was three years before LinkedIn.
He also co-founded Scotland’s first internet radio station, was the managing director of a company that revolutionised how hospital bins were designed and even ran the Official Loch Ness Monster Sightings Register.
Somewhere within all of this, Campbell tried to become a CA, quit after a year, went back nine years later, qualified, and then spent 13 years as a visiting lecturer at ICAS. All of which we will come to later.
This year, however, Campbell has become the new CEO of the Crofting Commission, heading a regulatory body whose members look after more than 750,000 hectares across the Highlands and Islands, which is roughly equal to 10% of Scotland landmass. His ambition is for the commission to play an increasingly important role in helping those living on Scotland’s 21,500 crofts to use that land both for themselves and for the betterment of the national economy and environment.
“One of the first things I wanted to understand is what is the value of crofting to Scotland. Not just monetarily, but also its impact in terms of community and the environment. Nobody has ever done that. So we are working on a future vision for crofting that will take us through to 2036 and the 150th anniversary of the Crofters Holdings Act of 1886. It will prepare us for the future,” he says.
“Potentially the big win for Scotland is the common grazing land [run by crofters], which is 500,000 hectares. It’s not what you would describe as good agricultural land. But there is huge potential for wind farms and hydro energy. There are also newer initiatives like reforestation, peatland restoration and carbon-credit trading which didn’t exist 20–30 years ago.
“It’s up to us as a regulator to ensure that there are fair and equitable developments, so that crofters and landlords get their fair share. And if that land is helping towards the common good, in terms of energy production and carbon reduction, then we would ideally like to see some sort of Highland dividend and ensure it is properly regulated. Equally, the people of Scotland invest £40m [through Scottish government expenditure on croft businesses], it’s 10% of Scotland’s landmass, and what are they getting back for that?”
Community care
For those who don’t know, what exactly is a croft? “The old adage is that a croft is a small patch of land, surrounded by legislation,” says Campbell.
More literally, a key part of the aforementioned Crofters Holdings Act is that a croft can stay within a family, who cannot be evicted by a landlord so long as they are working the land. This was done to preserve communities and to stop one person, or a small group of people, from buying it all up.
However, if the crofts are mostly used for grazing, could or should they be rewilded instead? “A lot of well-meaning people will talk about rewilding,” he says, “but crofters have worked this land for decades in a way that is totally sustainable.
“For example, if you don’t manage the land, deer move in – and deer harbour ticks that can spread Lyme disease. But if you bring in sheep to graze, then the number of ticks decreases because sheep eat ticks. Also, ticks can’t get through a sheep’s fleece, so they die.”