The Tomatin Trading Company

16/06/2022

https://www.scottishconstructionnow.com/articles/whisky-distiller-loses-trade-mark-infringement-appeal-against-developers-of-proposed-nearby-retail-park

16/06/2022

The developer behind a £12m visitor attraction near Inverness has won a long-running battle with a distillery over use of a village name.

16/06/2022

A developer behind plans for a £12 million visitor attraction near Inverness has hailed a victory in its long running battle with a distillery over who

16/06/2022

A developer is ready to build a major hotel and retail complex by the A9 south of Inverness after winning a lengthy legal battle over a village name.

16/06/2022

So much supportive coverage coming through today from the media - our sincere thanks go to them!

Highland distillery Tomatin has lost an appeal over a company's plan to build a hotel development named after the Scottish village.

15/06/2022

We are delighted this story is now live - our thanks to STV for their support!

The Tomatin distillery argued the new firm's name might 'confuse' visitors if the development went ahead under its current title.

15/06/2022

DAVID HAS BEATEN GOLIATH!

We’re delighted to be able to post this at long last and to reconnect with our followers on facebook. We have won the appeal! Yesterday the Appeal Court dismissed Tomatin Distillery’s appeal against Lady Woolfe’s original verdict, meaning we have won and can call our development the Tomatin Trading Company after all! We are more than happily relieved that justice and common sense has finally prevailed.

The Appeal Judges concluded that there was no warrant for Tomatin Distillery – described as producing a niche brand in a niche market - to have a monopoly on the use of the word Tomatin for non-whisky products.

We look forward to putting this case firmly behind us, and can now finish off our financial structuring with real confidence, getting down to the very important business of actually starting – and delivering - this important new development for the Tomatin – and wider Highlands – areas.

This whole legal action, brought by Tomatin Distillery, was absolutely unnecessary from day one, especially as The Tomatin Trading Company had tried to find reasonable compromise which was summarily dismissed by Stephen Bremner, Managing Director of Tomatin Distillery who had said, in the presence of both parties’ solicitors, “William, you can quite simply make this go away by changing the name.” This left William and his small team with no option but to take on a multinational drinks combine.

It has been an extremely long and hard three years that this has hung over William Frame and his family, causing unnecessary stress, anxiety, cost and uncertainty. The case has been fought without the reserves of a large company, but in this case we think that we can finally say that integrity has ultimately won, and that David has defeated Goliath! William wishes to thank all those who have supported him in this difficult journey, which has had many dark moments. Special mention goes to his legal team at MacRoberts LLP - Julie Hamilton, Euan Duncan & Lynsay Cargill, together with Advocates Usman Tariq and Kenny Mcbrearty.

01/03/2021

We're in the news again with this great piece of coverage in yesterday's Sunday Herald -our thanks to them! Our news on the development, and our proposed suppliers, has been very well received as the media looks to pick up strongly on the jobs and investment angle in the coming months!

04/02/2021

https://www.scottishconstructionnow.com/article/key-contractors-appointed-to-tomatin-hotel-and-retail-development

Yet more coverage for us today! We are keen to move on with this fantastic development!

The Tomatin Trading Company has announced the appointment of a number of key contractors for its planned hotel, shops and restaurant venture in the Highlands. The company is planning to build a 97-bedroom hotel and a 200-seat restaurant, along with food and drink and retail outlets at a derelic...

04/02/2021

Delighted to share with you our latest media coverage on the development. This appeared in the Aberdeen P&J yesterday- our thanks go to them for this coverage.

24/07/2020

Jobs Jobs Jobs..we have to create new ones after the COVID19 crisis! Every day at the moment we are hearing of more and more redundancies and closures – some of the biggest names in the High Street, and in the world of hospitality, to name but a few.

Our Tomatin Trading Company development will create jobs that the Highlands desperately needs! Jobs for teenage children to help them fund University.. jobs for busy Mums to help pay for life’s little extras.. jobs for people who have always wanted to work in the hospitality industry. Not just jobs but careers for chefs, retail managers, front of house.

It’s helping locals stay in the Highlands , so they don’t feel they have to leave to seek work elsewhere – it’s safeguarding a future for these people!

It’s also about superb local suppliers too and showcasing Scotland’s incredible natural larder – we want to hear from you if you are an artisan food producer. We want to stock our farm shop with fantastic jams, chutneys, sauces, local honey, the finest beef , venison & seafood, not to mention excellent quality, locally grown, fruit & veg!

Let’s get this development off the ground before we waste any more time.

We appeal again to Tomatin Distillery MD Stephen Bremner and his Japanese bosses to dispense with this wholly unreasonable name dispute with us. Just what are they thinking about! No one owns the name of a village, or town, or city! They are doing a huge disservice to the people of the Highlands I’ve been talking about here in this post, people who could be progressing their careers here. We don’t want any more of them leaving never to return, especially the young.

Let’s hope we see some movement in position from the Tomatin Distillery soon!

18/07/2020

Some more good news! We have been contacted today by the business desk of one of the big national newspapers in London, with a view to them doing an article on our unfortunate dispute with Tomatin Distillery. They feel that our proposed development is a fantastic post Lockdown business story, which is being potentially thwarted and jeopardised by the dispute with the Distillery. The financiers behind our project, who are keen to see the matter resolved, have pointed out that bringing London into the equation is a fantastic opportunity, as there are literally hundreds of businesses in the Capital that will contain the name London, as indeed there are businesses with the names Edinburgh, Glasgow, Stirling, Crieff, or indeed anywhere else in the country. No one can unequivocally own a place name, as we have repeatedly said!