By Susan Young
Thirty years ago, Stephen Leckie returned to Scotland to take the reins of his family business, Crieff Hydro, from his father and Managing Director, John Leckie. Since then, he’s steered the company into the future while preserving its proud legacy as Scotland’s oldest registered trading business.
Today, the sixth generation of Leckies – Richard, Charlie, Louisa, and Sarah – are stepping up and making their mark to ensure the family succession continues, stronger than ever. Certainly they have big shoes to fill – because parents Stephen and Fiona rose to the challenge with the Crieff Hydro Family of Hotels and have built it into one of the best respected hotel companies in the country.
Today, it has a portfolio of eight establishments under its belt. Now, although they are still massively involved, the next generation is already having a significant impact on the business, but this time around it has been a smoother integration with sons Richard and Charlie benefitting from their parents’ wise counsel.
Explains Richard, “Dad came back because of an emergency, and he didn’t get to work with our granddad John. But, we’ve been very lucky because we have been able to work alongside our parents and have learned so much from them. I think Dad enjoys working with us too. There’s nobody you can trust more than family.”
He adds, “I think it helps that we’re a very, very close family. And we have always been led by Dad’s policy of honesty. If you can’t be honest with your family, who can you be honest with? So we’ve always had the open conversations about who’s doing what and who would like to do what.”
They certainly have got off to a flying start. Their first major task, a £5 million refurbishment of Crieff Hydro, the business’s largest ever investment, was completed on time and on budget. The refurbishment included the creation of the Ballroom Bar, the refurbishment of The Brasserie, The Winter Garden, The Loggia, and the establishment of The Hermitage – a speakeasy-style bar – and last but not least, EAST, an Asian-inspired restaurant.
I caught up with the two brothers to discuss the project and their evolving roles in the business. It was immediately clear both are deeply passionate about Crieff Hydro,their family business and hospitality in general. Although not twins, they often speak in sync, and their enthusiasm is infectious. They also have taken their own routes into the family business.
Richard returned to the business seven years ago after earning a degree in Business Management in Edinburgh. While studying, he held various summer jobs at Crieff Hydro, including as a water-ski instructor and team leader at Action Glen. After graduating, he spent time in Oban working for Freedom Hotels at the Skipinnish Ceilidh House, managing a team of 20 to host Scottish ceilidh dances for tourists.
He later launched his own cleaning company and, alongside Charlie, co-founded Loch Earn Watersports and opened a bar in Edinburgh, The Boozy Beaver, which the two ran before eventually selling.
hese entrepreneurial ventures certainly gave them real-world experience. “Running our own businesses taught us a lot – for instance payroll, insurance and customer service,” says Charlie. “It gave us a grounding in how operations really work.”
Richard adds, “I was still running my cleaning business when Dad called and said the Activity Centre Manager had left and would I come back and run Action Glen? I tried to juggle both, but eventually committed full-time. I thought, if we’re doing this, let’s go all in.”
Charlie’s journey back into the business took a different route. He studied International Business Management with Law at HeriotWatt University, spent a ski season abroad, and returned just as the pandemic hit.
After recovering from a skiing injury, he started working between the marketing department and was instrumental in the creation of the hotel’s own 1881 gin distillery at Peebles. In late 2023, he became an Associate Director.
Part and parcel of bringing a new generation on board is that they bring new ideas to the table. And it was the desire to help improve the businesses finances that started as a refurbishment of the Ballroom, and turned into a mammoth £5m task. But this wasn’t a vanity project – it was a lifeline. Post-pandemic, the hotel was losing £1 million a year.
Says Richard. “This project wasn’t just about aesthetics – it was about profit protection and business survival.”
Although not on the hotel’s board, the brothers created a detailed proposal and presented it ahead of a board meeting. And it was approved. Charlie explains, “The ballroom wasn’t working. We ran the numbers and identified that we needed 56 more seats to drive food and beverage revenue. That’s where the new Ballroom Bar came in. We weren’t trying to persuade anyone—we were presenting a case for recovery.”
Richard adds, “We had the support of Managing Director John Jennett. He’s done a lot of these types of developments before and was a huge help throughout. But he wasn’t looking over our shoulders – he trusted us.”
Charlie continues, “There also a strong leadership team at the hotel and we have learned a lot from them, and we’re still learning. But John and Dad let us get on with the project—and we delivered it on time.”
The changes to the hotel were made to reverse the fortunes of the business by reflecting the shift in guest expectations that has come about. “Our customers have changed, and we’ve had to adapt,” says Charlie. “People want more variety – they want to use the spa, have lunches, brunches, and cocktails. This investment supports that.”
“We need to cater to everyone,” adds Richard. “Couples, families, groups – it’s a big hotel with 215 bedrooms, and we’ve got the space to offer more.” The duo has also placed greater focus on standardising quality across the group’s seven other properties.
“This is the mothership,” says Charlie. “We live here. But the improvements we’re making at Crieff will roll out to the rest of the estate, too from what pillows we use to menu design.”
They even brought in a menu psychologist – James Hacon, someone they connected with during the pandemic, to help optimise menus and elevate the dining experience across all hotels. “Dad had actually met him in a shop. I was working in the marketing department at the hotel, at the time, and we didn’t realise he lived locally. James came in for a chat, which ended up lasting hours, and then we got him to go through all our menus. It was fascinating and very useful.” says Charlie.
He adds “ We get all our meat from Frank Yorke, whom we’ve got a very close relationship with. They are a fantastic business to work with, and they have been really supportive, especially when we were trying to develop something new, like East. We wanted to use Scottish produce, but still have East Asian cuisine, and Frank was very helpful with that. His is also a family business.”
He continues, “Certainly over the past 18 months, with the focus on redeveloping our food and beverage offering, Richard and I have got a lot closer to all aspects of the operation of the business.”
While they’re modernising Crieff Hydro, they’re also preserving its traditions. In fact, they pointed out quite a few of them to me as we went around the hotel. From teaspoons to old bills, they all have pride of place on the walls in the newly created spaces. They explain, ‘We always talked about having a small museum and we had all the artefacts stored away in the attic. We gave Suzy Kingswood, our designer free rein and she selected the best and it is lovely to see them around the hotel.”
Richard recalls how formal The Meikle restaurant used to be. “The Meikle used to be a restaurant where you’d have to wear a shirt and tie before you could get in to dine there. We had a box of ties you could borrow for the night. And if you were late for dinner, you were fined a penny. We still have the penny box. But we can’t expect our customers to do that now.”
Some rituals have been moved rather than removed. Scottish country dancing, once a nightly affair in the Ballroom, now takes place in the Drawing Room, a grand space that still houses the original 1919 organ donated by Dr. Thomas Henry Meikle’s wife. Says Richard, “You know, we all, as a family, learned to dance in The Ballroom, but we had to move on and keep up with the demands of the customer.”
“Now the new bar is a beautiful, relaxed space for guests and the local community alike,” says Charlie. “I think we’ve modernised, and yet still manage to keep its identity.”
Still, maintaining a 156-year-old building has its challenges and the two have certainly been on a steep learning curve and quickly realised how important investing in the fabric of the building was too.
“Preservation is part of our responsibility. We need to preserve the history and heritage of the building. “Something like window replacement isn’t glamorous – it doesn’t generate revenue, but it’s essential to protect the building’s future. There was no point refurbishing the interior if people were getting draughts from the windows. It is just common sense. But it is also important for cutting down on energy use and creates a more sustainable environment. Although it was expensive to do, we will now make energy savings.”
As the sixth generation there is still a lot on the family’s shoulders but it really is a team effort. The brothers not only work together—they live together on the estate, near their parents, Stephen and Fiona. “We genuinely get on really well,” says Charlie. “We complement each other and we’re both passionate about work and about the same hobbies, skiing, watersports and classic cars.” “Tinkering with our cars helps us switch gears,” adds Richard.
“Whether it’s polishing them, changing seats, or just heading off to the west coast with the caravan or the Rib – we love that kind of adventure.”
Despite their busy lives, they’ve made team culture a priority at the hotel. “We’ve started run clubs, wellness walks, and staff barbecues,” says Charlie. “It’s about building a strong team, not just a strong business.”
But he admits, “At the dinner table, there’s no small talk, we talk business”, Richard laughs.
“We were brought up in hospitality. It’s who we are, we enjoy talking about it.” Charlie concludes, “There are so many great hotels in Scotland, but our guests choose to come to us. And that means everything.”
And with that the two departed to give some guests a tour of their classic cars.