Alastair Dobson comes from a farming background and studied agriculture at West of Scotland Agricultural College. He began his career selling Scotch Beef and Lamb before returning to the family business in the mid-1980s to establish Arran Dairies, where he now serves as Managing Director. He also leads Taste of Arran Ltd.

Arran Dairies Ltd is a manufacturing dairy with a wholesaling division supplying catering products to hospitality businesses on the Isle of Arran. It produces premium dairy ice cream, distributed across the UK through Taste of Arran, Alastair’s collaborative business that promotes, sells, and distributes food and drink from 10 SME producers on Arran to markets in the UK and abroad.

Alastair was the founding Chairman of VisitArran and a founding member of the Arran Economic Group, focused on fostering community development and preserving Arran’s cultural and natural heritage. His board roles have included the Ayrshire Economic Partnership, Scottish Manufacturing Advisory Board, Scotland Food and Drink Leadership Forum, and others. Alastair has a passion for sustainability and this is evident across his business. He has implemented a heat recovery system that generates thousands of litres of clean energy produced hot water every day.

In his downtime, Alastair enjoys sharing meals with family and friends, playing golf, or lamenting Scotland’s football and rugby results, often with a beer or coffee in hand.