J001010 - Lycetts Newsletter Jan 2024 LR - Flipbook - Page 22
Q& A
A L E X A N DE R
MCGR IG OR
A昀琀er a period of time spent working in the south, Alexander is
delighted to be moving back to Scotland. Born, raised and educated
north of the border, this is very much a homecoming.
Alex grew up on a farm on the west coast of Argyll, near Oban, with five
sisters. He has recently become a new entrant to farming, taking on some
land on his family farm which has just come back in hand and adding a flock
of 50 Cheviot ewes alongside the existing main sheep enterprise. He would
like to get some native highland cattle in due course as his grandfather
used to be a well-known breeder. Alex is very involved with the farm,
helping with diversification projects like peatland restoration and planting
woodland for carbon capture.
Alex’s love of the countryside runs deep. During his gap year he worked as
a stalker and a ghillie, while also helping to run a salmon hatchery, and as a
student at Newcastle University reading Rural Studies, he continued to
spend much of his free time working on the hills and rivers of several
nearby estates. His interest in forestry took him briefly to Tanzania where
he volunteered on an afforestation project and, after university, he worked
for a short time in forestry for Scottish Woodlands.
A CAREER IN INSURANCE
Alex has grown up with a passion for
the highland glens where he has
昀椀ne-tuned his small-bore shooting skills
to representative standard.
In 2021 Alex joined insurance broker Weatherbys Hamilton’s Edinburgh
office before moving with them to their Swindon office as an Account
Executive. He has achieved his Cert CII qualification and is now working
towards his Dip CII. He joined the Lycetts Edinburgh office as Account
Executive in January 2024 and is looking forward to being closer to the
family farm. He is also excited to be working with clients on forestry
matters in addition to working in a larger Farm and Estates team while
being part of a larger and more established rural insurance team
at Lycetts.
L I F E O U T S I D E LY C E T T S
Alex has two passions in his life. The first is fishing and he particularly
enjoys salmon and trout fishing in the hill lochs near his home and in a
shared syndicate beat on the River Awe although he says he ‘doesn’t
catch much’.
His second passion is deer stalking and management for which he is solely
responsible on the family farm. There is nothing better in life, he says, than
walking over the hills watching the deer although he is sometimes
accompanied by his Brittany pointer and black lab who prefer to put up
woodcock.
Another of Alex’s interests is wild game cooking; he loves to cook what he
has shot. He also enjoys Scottish reeling and is a ‘really bad’ bagpipe player,
although he only plays when asked, often at a late night party. But he did
play for a sister’s wedding and with four sisters yet to marry he expects he
might be called upon again.
22
