Destination & Leisure
Nestled within pine woodland in the Cairngorms, Speyside Centre has been welcoming visitors for more than 50 years. The family-run destination brings together a restaurant serving home baking and locally sourced produce, garden centre, gift and whisky shops, wildlife viewing area and woodland walking trail.
Following a devastating fire in 2016, the centre was rebuilt as a modern visitor destination designed to complement its relaxed woodland surroundings.
With a long-standing commitment to green tourism and visitors increasingly travelling through the region in electric vehicles, reliable on-site charging is an important part of Speyside Centre's offering.
After experiencing ongoing issues with its existing EV chargers, the centre turned to Connekt for a reliable replacement solution.
Speyside Centre already had EV charging facilities, but the existing chargers had become increasingly unreliable.
The units relied on reconditioned parts with no warranty, resulting in around two years of inconsistent charging provision. For a rural visitor destination, where drivers need confidence that charging will be available when they arrive, reliability was particularly important.
There were also two key considerations when selecting the replacement chargers:
Rather than simply installing higher-powered chargers, Speyside Centre needed a solution that made the best use of the available infrastructure while providing a useful top-up for customers during their visit.
"We're absolutely delighted with the whole experience with Connekt, from the initial discussions through to installation and ongoing support. Being situated in a very rural setting, having reliable EV charging available is ideal for our customers. After a couple of years of unreliable chargers, we're delighted to now have modern, dependable units. Connekt understood the restrictions on our available power and recommended a solution that made sense for how our customers use the centre, rather than simply suggesting larger chargers. We've been advocates of green tourism for many years, so EV charging fits perfectly with where we want to take Speyside Centre in the future."
.png)
Connekt assessed the site's existing infrastructure, available power and typical visitor behaviour before recommending the most appropriate replacement charging solution.
The installation included:
Because the existing infrastructure was already in place, the installation itself was straightforward, allowing the old units to be efficiently replaced with modern, dependable chargers.
Importantly, Connekt did not recommend unnecessarily powerful equipment.
With restrictions on the site's available power and customers typically spending between one and two hours exploring the centre, the 7.4kW units provided a practical solution. During a typical visit, customers can add approximately 30–60 miles of range before continuing their journey.
This tailored approach ensured the solution worked for the venue, its infrastructure and its visitors.
Reliable EV charging now gives electric vehicle drivers another reason to stop at Speyside Centre while travelling through the Cairngorms.
Visitors can top up their vehicle while enjoying lunch, browsing the shops, exploring the garden centre or taking a walk through the surrounding pine woodland.
The new charging facilities are helping Speyside Centre to:
Most importantly, the centre now has confidence in a modern charging solution backed by ongoing support rather than continuing to rely on ageing and increasingly unreliable equipment.
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
For Speyside Centre, installing the right EV charging solution wasn't about choosing the fastest charger available. It was about understanding the site's infrastructure, how long customers typically visit and what EV drivers actually need.
By replacing unreliable legacy equipment with two carefully selected 7.4kW chargers, Connekt has provided a dependable and practical solution that complements the centre's rural location and commitment to sustainable tourism.
As EV travel continues to grow across Scotland, Speyside Centre is now better equipped to welcome drivers exploring the Cairngorms — giving them the opportunity to stop, explore and recharge.
