New Start Highland has marked the beginning of the new year with an exciting expansion as it prepares to open the doors to its latest retail outlet in Nairn.
The shop, which will open in the coming weeks, will be a first for the leading social enterprise, East of Inverness. It marks the charity’s seventh retail outlet in the Highlands. The shop will be on Nairn High Street, and a recruitment drive is underway.
The new retail space, which will occupy the former ‘Original Factory Shop’ will offer an expanded selection of high-quality, affordable second-hand furniture and homeware, enhancing the town’s existing shopping options while promoting sustainability and reuse.
In addition to increasing access to pre-loved goods, the shop opening will create full-time, part-time and volunteering opportunities. Applications are now open for those interested in joining New Start Highland’s retail team.
Chief Executive of New Start Highland, James Dunbar, said, “We are incredibly excited to open in Nairn, where there is a real buzz of support for reuse and preloved. Our Inverness, Thurso and Dingwall locations continue to go from strength to strength, welcoming customers every day, who are looking for good quality furniture at an affordable price. When the chance came to expand into Nairn, it felt like an opportunity not to be missed. We also look forward to building our fantastic retail team and further investing in employment opportunities within the community. There are a several volunteering opportunities also at Nairn, so I’d advise anyone interested to contact us quickly via our website or social media channels, if they’re looking for a beneficial way to spend their time in 2026.”
Retail is just one of New Start Highland’s commercial activities with others being removals, storage, house clearances and commercial training.
All profits are reinvested back into the organisation to fund its charitable activities which cover a wide range of services that help people in need move away from poverty and crisis. These services include furniture provision, employability training, cookery classes and housing support.
New Start Highland has had a record year in 2025, having served the Highland community over 132,000 times. To date it has diverted over 1million items from landfill.
The new shop will be open six days a week, from 9am-5pm. For more information or to find out about retail staff opportunities, please visit newstarthighland.org.