Ailsa Bates

An Independent Spirit

Name: Ailsa Bates
Age: 33
Born: Newcastle, England
Lived in Scotland: 15 years

Company director, Ailsa Bates, spent the long summers of her childhood deep in the Scottish countryside.

She rolls her eyes and gives a dry smile: “It didn’t make any sense to me! We come to this beautiful place for a few weeks a year and then we go home to Newcastle. Er, why?”

Flying North

So when it came to flying the nest she followed her heart and flew north, and she’s never looked back.

“The thing about Scotland is you can be urban and edgy one minute and deep in the countryside the next. You’re never far away from the sounds of nature, the solitude, and that’s not necessarily the case in other parts of the UK.”

Brown Belt:

Ailsa is now Operations Director of a dynamic young computer games company, as well as being an accomplished singer-songwriter and a brown belt in kung fu!

“Scotland has a massive global profile in the games industry. It’s responsible for some of the biggest selling games in the world – Grand Theft Auto, Lemmings. When we go to conventions like E3 in Los Angeles and say we’re from Scotland, we always get a positive response.”

 

Brains

The decision to move to Scotland has obviously been a good one. “I’ve never been tempted to live anywhere else. Scots have a strongly defined sense of personal, individual freedom. And they’re smart, they’ve got brains.

“The fact that you can come here and make your home in the furthest, most remote islands of the north if you want, that’s very liberating. You know, I think it’s because I really want to enjoy my life, get something out of it, and living in Scotland gives you the space to follow your own path. Nowadays I think of myself as a Scot.”

Insider Info

Ailsa says: “Go cycling in Roslyn Glen in the summer.”

“Scotland has a massive global profile in the games industry. It’s responsible for some of the biggest selling games in the world – Grand Theft Auto, Lemmings. When we go to conventions like E3 in Los Angeles and say we’re from Scotland, we always get a positive response.”