Anta

Painter Annie Stewart and architect Lachlan Stewart founded Anta in 1984, starting out in Plockton before settling their manufacturing at Fearn, near Tain, where the factory and shop still stand side by side. The shop sells the full range made next door: hand-thrown and hand-painted stoneware, carpets woven from Western Isles wool, and oak furniture built in the Highlands. It is also the only place customers can buy seconds and end-of-line fabric. A tearoom serves home-made soups, scones and cakes, and children can arrange in advance to paint their own Anta mug while parents shop. The company remains a family concern four decades on, with a second shop on Rose Street in Edinburgh alongside the Fearn original.