Army veteran secures funding deal for unique Forces Manor hotel retreat in Cairngorms

Hotel complex provides a staycation retreat for those involved in the military past and present.

Brian Machray (Reward Finance Group), Tony Brown (Forces Manor) and Lucie Martin (Reward Finance Group).

A unique hotel in the Scottish Highlands that is dedicated to members of the armed forces, veterans and their families has secured a six-figure funding package to complete its transformation.

Forces Manor, which is situated in the Cairngorms National Park and owned by former soldier Tony Brown, has utilised the financing facility provided by alternative lender Reward Finance Group to fund extensive refurbishment works.

The previous owners of Forces Manor, then known as the Ossian Hotel, allowed Brown to use their registered postal address so he could both provide it to the army and have somewhere to go on leave. At the end of his military career, he returned to raise funds and saved the hotel from financial difficulty in 2014 by operating it as a bed and breakfast, until it was forced to close due to the pandemic.

Brown has since looked to reopen the hotel business as Forces Manor, providing a staycation retreat for those involved in the military past and present. Designed to cater for up to 56 guests, it specialises in weekend and longer holiday breaks, weddings, military adventure training and business conference facilities.

The latest improvements made to the complex with the help from Reward include the building of two extensions, improvements to the car park facilities and the renovation of the main hotel area. The Dunfermline-based lender provides small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and property investors with loans and financing deals of up to £5 million.

Brown, director and founder of Forces Manor, said: “Although we opened Forces Manor just seven months ago, we quickly recognised that there was massive potential to modernise and expand the facilities for our guests. I owe so much to the armed forces and so my vision for the hotel was always to create a luxury retreat that gives something back to those in the military, whether they be veterans or currently serving. This major refurbishment work is the final piece of the jigsaw.”

Lucie Martin, business development director for Reward Finance Group in Scotland, added: “It’s not every day you get to work with a business owner that has been on such a remarkable life journey as Tony has.”