The new branch is in Portree, the largest town on the island. There is no other timber merchant there and the only other major competition on the whole of Skye, said a spokesperson, is a branch of Jewson.
Rembrand has recruited a team of five for the branch, headed by store manager Paul Sinclair. They are also backed up by the company’s Inverness-based sales manager who regularly visits the island.
Like other more remote branches in the Rembrand chain, the Skye outlet has augmented the company’s core timber and wood products range with a selection of building products, including aggregates and tiles.
"There is a strong self-build market on the island," said the spokesperson. "We’re very keen to serve that and have stocked the branch with the kind of products self-builders would need."
There were some delays in opening the branch due to a hold-up in planning permission for its biomass boiler. But once opened, it has proved popular.
"We started with an open event, which attracted a lot of people," said the spokesperson.
Rembrand said Skye would probably be its only new outlet in 2012, but beyond that it "planned to keep growing".
The company now has a total workforce of 180.
