3b completed construction of a new factory, visitor centre, shop and café next to the Old Inverlochy Castle.

The Lochaber-based business has shops in Fort William, Spean Bridge, Oban and Pitlochry and expanded its operations further by opening a store in St Andrews.

However, company director and co-owner Archie MacDonald, 28, said he wanted the new Inverlochy centre to be ‘the cornerstone’ of the Highland Soap Company brand.

The objective was to create a visitor experience along the same lines as a distillery,’ he told the Lochaber Times. ‘So we’re going to have tours of the production areas so visitors can see into our workshops and view the process. We’re also going to have a garden with all the herbs that we grow so people can see what we make the products from. And, as part of the visitor experience, people can even try to make the soap themselves.’

‘We want the whole thing to be high end and attractive so the whole town can get behind it,’ he continued.