Anticipation is building as a new “£10 million hotel” in one of the world’s most famous birdwatching locations nears completion. Fair Isle Bird Observatory is recruiting for the rare opportunity to join its permanent staff team.
Anyone harbouring a dream to live and work in a thriving island community in one of the world’s most famous birdwatching locations shouldn’t miss the exciting opportunity to apply for a new role in Fair Isle.
Fair Isle Bird Observatory (FIBO) is looking for new permanent staff for the first time since the building was destroyed by fire in 2019. Almost six years – and £10 million – later, an excellent new building is preparing to reopen.
FIBO chairman Douglas Barr is understandably excited to be advertising for two permanent roles – Hospitality Manager and Head of Ornithology – in Fair Isle. “These jobs don’t come up often,” he says.
To emphasise the point, Douglas points out that it’s more than 20 years since the two posts were last advertised on Shetland’s most southerly isle.
It’s been a tough time since the fire, but Douglas admits there is now “light at the end of the tunnel”, and Fair Isle Bird Observatory is set to reopen in 2025. But first, two new permanent staff are needed, and Douglas hopes bringing new people to the island, possibly a couple or family, will strengthen the community.
It’s no exaggeration to say the jobs in Fair Isle offer an exceptional chance to work in a unique facility.
“These are very rare opportunities to come and work in an amazing lifestyle environment. It's not like becoming a hospitality manager in the centre of Glasgow. Fair Isle is a beautiful island, with a community – a school, a nurse and a shop – but you also get a complete lifestyle change.
“You will become part and parcel of a community of about 50 people. There aren’t many other places like it in Scotland or the UK. There’s really nothing like Fair Isle and the Fair Isle Bird Observatory.”
Fair Isle is a beautiful island, with a community – a school, a nurse and a shop – but you also get a complete lifestyle change.
Fair Isle lies approximately halfway between the Shetland Mainland and Orkney and is undeniably spectacular. As well as around 55 residents (including a teacher, nurse, fire crews, crofters and hospitality workers), the island is also home to internationally important seabird colonies, diverse marine and archaeological heritage, and a thriving centre for arts and crafts, including the world-famous Fair Isle knitting.
The bird observatory, when it reopens, aims to play a key role in the island’s community again.
“It’s crucial,” says Douglas, “because when we were set up, it wasn’t just about being a bird observatory. We play a real role in the island and are a vital part of the community. The observatory is the largest employer and the biggest provider of tourism here. That’s why we received funding of several million pounds to invest in sustaining the community.”
The new Head of Ornithology will oversee the observatory’s important monitoring and conservation work. The Hospitality Manager role indicates FIBO’s ambition to appeal to a broader visitor base, and for the observatory to be more than a birdwatching hub.
“Fair Isle is a fantastic place to visit, and people have realised over time that it’s a wonderful island to have a holiday in.
“We will always have that core of bird watchers, but we want more people to visit the island. We are keen to encourage more Shetland folk to come to Fair Isle too, for a long weekend or a Monday to Friday.”
We are keen to encourage more Shetland folk to come to Fair Isle too, for a long weekend or a Monday to Friday.”
That also applies to people visiting Shetland for a holiday – there is a desire to encourage more to visit Fair Isle with their trip ‘book-ended’ by a stay in Shetland Mainland.
“To get to Fair Isle you go through Shetland. I think people sometimes get detached from that, it’s part and parcel of the same community and economy.”
The new building will include around 30 rooms – mostly twin rooms but including a family room and accessible rooms – with a capacity of 45.
This is a departure from the old hostel-style observatory, which included dormitories with bunk beds. The new rooms will be ensuite and have been designed to be flexible to cater for different kinds of guests. Community use of the hotel and its function/social areas is also anticipated.
Douglas says: “It’s a lot of rooms – the whole building is designed to maximise flexibility. We have a visitor centre in the building, there will be displays about everything in Fair Isle, the history, textiles, landscape, and archaeology. It’s available for event hire too, whether it’s lectures, talks or demonstrations – we have a purpose-built facility.”
Some may be surprised to learn that before the devastating fire, more than half of those who stayed at Fair Isle Bird Observatory (55%) were general tourists, not specifically bird watchers.
“We have had a tour group from Germany who loved photographing the puffins. There’s such a lot to attract people here. You can see puffins from your bedroom window and tourists are mesmerised by that.
“We have a ranger service on the island too. There are guided walks around Fair Isle that take in everything – the archaeology, geology, crofting, textiles, and history.
“People can come to Fair Isle for the birds, but there’s much more to the island than that.”
That is a trend Douglas would like to see continue, and there are longer-term plans to consider different events outside the core visitor season of May to October.
“We have a £10 million building to keep running, which means we need a successful tourism service to develop how we use that building more. There is scope to do more things like a Fair Isle Textiles Week – bringing people to the home of Fair Isle knitting.”
The island also has another famous export – DI Jimmy Perez, the lead character in the ‘Shetland’ crime series created by novelist Ann Cleeves, who famously spent a summer working in the bird observatory as an assistant cook in 1980.
That role led to Ann’s lifelong love affair with the island and Shetland inspiring her to create the crime-solving Perez – now known worldwide after the books were adapted into a BBC drama series (season 10, with DI Ruth Calder now the lead detective, is in the pipeline) based on the books.
The connection gives Fair Isle another unique opportunity to attract visitors – ironic in a crime-free community where residents leave their doors unlocked.
Douglas envisions the bird observatory being used for events like this.
“As a building it’s fantastic, and our guests will come from throughout the world. To have something like that in a place like Fair Isle, playing a role in the Fair Isle economy and the wider Shetland economy. We are lucky.”
To do anything other than maximise the use of that fantastic facility would be a crime.
• To learn more about Fair Isle visit our area guide or to apply for the roles, click here.