JG Ross launches its new range of Afternoon Tea treats

J G Ross, a well-known bakery located in Inverurie, Aberdeenshire and Craft Baker of the Year at the Scottish Baker of the Year Awards, is delighted to announce the launch of its new “Afternoon Tea” treats.

J G Ross is committed to improving its product range by identifying market needs and creating new products that its customers will love. After recognising the growing popularity of ‘Afternoon Tea’, they noticed a gap in its product range and decided to act.

Following extensive research and product development, J G Ross adapted some of their existing recipes and created new ones based on nostalgic childhood memories and contemporary tastes to create new afternoon tea treats. Their newly launched unique small cakes, half the size of their existing cakes, make the ideal addition to an ‘Afternoon Tea’ spread, providing guests with delightful cakes to share with loved ones. They have already launched six new product lines, with six more ready to launch, and are continuously developing new creations to meet the needs of their customers.

J G Ross started in business in October 1962 from a small cottage bakery in the village of Auchleven. Initially baking plain bread, bath buns and fruit buns, the Bakery has continued to expand and develop its range of baked goods over the decades. One of the Bakery’s mainstays has been its Buttery, or Rowie as it is known in Aberdeenshire. The Buttery is as popular today as ever, and J G Ross continues to make a staggering 185,000 handmade butteries weekly.

Earlier in the year, J G Ross was recognised for their delicious butteries, softies and seeded rolls and was also awarded the Retail Craft Baker of the Year prize.

J G Ross Commercial Director Graeme Ross expressed his joy over the company’s achievement, stating that winning this year’s award is a testament to their dedication to craft baking. He commended his team’s passion and craftsmanship, which they put into creating new products and delivering quality products and services to their customers daily.

Aberdein Considine employees smash fundraising target

Teams from across national law firm Aberdein Considine have raised more than £50,000 as part of its charity fundraising programme during the last 12 months.

To help mark its 40th anniversary, the firm aimed to raise at least £40,000 to support four children’s hospital charities.

The charities which will benefit include the Archie Foundation, Aberdeen.

Aspect targets £100,000 charity partnership

Aspect: The Strategic Communication Experts has selected Aberdeen Cyrenians as its first Charity of the Year in what is the charity’s 55th year supporting vulnerable people in North-east Scotland.

This innovative partnership will see Aberdeen Cyrenians benefit from Aspect’s expertise, creativity and insights through a pro-bono communication campaign, as well as the Aspect team’s fundraising efforts and volunteering efforts.

Established by Aberdeen University students as a soup kitchen in 1968, Aberdeen Cyrenians aims to support the most vulnerable people in the North-east facing social exclusion, such as crisis, trauma, poverty, and isolation.

As the cost-of-living crisis continues to have a profound impact on people across society, demand for the services offered by Aberdeen Cyrenians increased by 600% in 2022 from the previous year.

Aspect’s support will include a combination of in-kind contributions of the firm’s strategic communication services, employee volunteering, fundraising and materials targeting an overall value of £100,000 by June 2024.

The integrated communication campaign will raise awareness of deprivation and poverty in Aberdeen and tackle the stigma associated with social exclusion and vulnerability in society.

ANM Group’s charity of the year

Member owned co-operative ANM Group has chosen Aberdeenshire North Foodbank as its charity of the year.

The target is to raise enough money to purchase two cows which is the equivalent of 2,000 meals.

When was your business established?

September 2009.

What does your business do?

Alto is a Premium Managed Services and Security Provider (MSSP) delivering increased productivity, peace of mind and a platform for growth for our client base. Located in Aberdeen, we employ a team of IT and cybersecurity consultants whose combined experience totals more than 100 years.

What sort of companies do you do business with?

We work with a growing portfolio of clients throughout the UK and in overseas locations including Spain, France, Denmark, Canada, the USA and the Philippines. With teams ranging from 20 to over 100, our specialism lies in supporting fellow businesses who want to grow in their respective sectors including energy, healthcare and accountancy to hospitality, third sector and manufacturing.

And the biggest opportunity?

Our biggest opportunity relates to the managed services and cybersecurity part of what we do and that accounts for more and more of our workload. Businesses can no longer look at this as something a skilled employee does as an aside. Often, inexplicably, the finance manager takes on the role of IT offices across Scotland.

What sort of companies do you do business with?

We do business with a vast number of hotels, restaurants, cafes, and bars plus contract caterers and offices. Our customers range from sole traders to those with hundreds of employees on-site.

Findlay

Leask,

Managing Director, Caber Coffee

When was your business established?

Caber was established in 1988 so we’re marking 35 years in business in 2023.

What does your business do?

We are wholesalers of coffee and coffee making equipment, specialising in bespoke equipment and supply packages for the hospitality sector and

What is the biggest challenge facing your business at the moment?

Our biggest challenge is centred on spiralling costs – from the cost-of-living crisis leaving consumers with a lower disposable income to the fact that all our customers are experiencing price increases from most corners.

And the biggest opportunity?

We’ve been working hard to offset price increases by renegotiating with suppliers, finding alternative products and doing our best to pass on each and every saving we’ve made. This, combined with an unwavering focus on but you would never expect the finance manager to act as the company’s lawyer! The specialisms are very different and the role needs someone who is correctly trained to do the job.

What are you most passionate and proud of?

I am most proud of the nature and depth of the relationships we have created, and these set us apart in the marketplace. I strongly believe that companies have to remember that they’re employing people, not just employees and it’s crucial to get a sense of the whole person. The only way to do that is to invest time in the relationship from the start. In everything we do, internally and externally, communication is priority – and the keystone is having a framework of job roles, not a hierarchy of people. My greatest passion lies in underlining and delivering on those relationships with excellent systems and processes which are thorough and all-encompassing, using a “measure twice, cut once” philosophy.

excellent customer care and aftersales means that the customer, and our community, always comes first.

What are you most passionate and proud of?

We always go the extra mile and, while we never promise to be the cheapest on the market, we have a business-wide focus on delivering value for money and outstanding service, indeed we were 2019 Northern Star Business Award winners in the “Customer First” category. We never take our customers for granted. There’s always a friendly team at the end of the phone ready to ensure next day deliveries of the freshest, most consistently tasty coffee blends around. Our community is important to us – recently we launched our Spill the Beans coffee to support Mental Health Aberdeen and we’ve also provided brand-new strips to a community youth football team. It’s all continuing what has been written into the DNA of Caber Coffee throughout the past 35 years.

Kevin Dalgleish, Chef Director, Amuse by Kevin Dalgleish

When was your business established?

We have been open since July 2022.

What does your business do?

Located on Queens Terrace in the heart of Aberdeen, Amuse is known for working with fantastic local and seasonal produce to create unique dishes in a relaxed atmosphere. We also offer bespoke private dining, whisky tastings, networking events, and business parties. Our menus change every few weeks to celebrate the arrival of new seasonal produce and our venue can host anything from 80 people seating and 120 for a standing networking event.

What sort of companies do you do business with?

At Amuse, we are committed to doing business with local suppliers and supporting Scottish produce. We use a variety of local suppliers for the food and drinks we serve in our restaurant and bar. We also source a range of Scottish products from small-scale producers. By doing this, we are able to provide our customers with fresh, quality ingredients and an authentic experience. This attracts real foodies and local and international businesses who enjoy good food and entertaining clients.

What is the biggest challenge at the moment?

As for any business today, numerous challenges exist, from rising energy

What does your business do?

We’re a creative studio building brands, digital experiences and beyond. We help ambitious businesses and people shine, making sure that they’re being seen and heard by the right audience. We love thinking beyond what’s expected and keep this mindset always; when we’re developing strategies, brainstorming concepts and creating visual outcomes.

Colin Leonard,Founder, Fine Day

When was your business established?

Fine Day was established in May 2023...but our story goes all the way back to 2012 when we started out as Design and Code. Over that decade both our team and service offering has grown and developed so it felt like the right time for a change.

What sort of companies do you do business with?

We partner with clients across a number sectors including arts and culture, energy, food and drink and technology. We work internationally with large global organisations right through to local businesses and social enterprises. Our mission is to build long-term client partnerships and that’s why collaboration is at the heart of how we work. We’re here to help our clients achieve their long-term goals and support them as they grow.

prices to increasing ingredient costs. It becomes even more difficult for businesses to remain profitable without compromising quality and increasing costs to our customers. With that in mind, we are extremely lucky to have a reliable, hard-working team in place, as we know that staffing is a big challenge for hospitality businesses right now.

And the biggest opportunity?

Aberdeen is a city full of potential business opportunities, and the food scene is no exception. With access to fresh produce from the surrounding areas, we want to offer customers a unique experience that they won’t find anywhere else while raising the bar in Aberdeen. Special one-off nights like our seafood and spice evening and our special Brummie Burns Night with the fabulous Glynn Purnell teamed by Glenfiddich Distillery are great examples. By taking advantage of Aberdeen’s diverse range of cultures and tastes, businesses can create something truly special that will attract locals and tourists alike.

Read a full interview with Kevin on page 8

What is the biggest challenge at the moment?

I suppose the biggest challenge is getting ourselves out there. We’ve built up a name and reputation so starting over comes with an element of risk…so things like writing this column gives us a window to help get our message out!

And the biggest opportunity?

Repositioning the business and laying the foundations for the future will open up numerous new and wonderful opportunities.

What are you most passionate and proud of?

It has to be our team. We’ve brought together a talented and friendly group of people who offer so much more than their design and development expertise. The team has backgrounds working in art, music, product design, architecture and engineering. This all adds extra colour and energy to our overall offering.

Sean Truesdale, CEO, Surface Corrosion Consultants Ltd

When was your business established?

November 2010

What does your business do?

Based in Belfast and Aberdeen, Surface Corrosion Consultants Ltd specialise in comprehensive paint inspection, NDT inspection and corrosion prevention for several industries including energy, subsea, renewables, marine, transport and infrastructure and the industrial sector.

What sort of companies do you do business with?

We work with an increasing number of operators, facilities management and access companies, both onshore and offshore.

What is the biggest challenge at the moment?

Like so many others across industries, red tape is a constant headache especially during the procurement process once a “proof of concept” has been met.

And the biggest opportunity?

So much of industry 4.0 and maximising the opportunities of the times we operate in focus on streamlining and maximising efficiency through digitisation. This holds true for the whole QA/QC experience for NDT/CUI and coatings surveying and inspection. This is the reason behind our engineers are engineers first and foremost. They design, develop, re-engineer and enhance bespoke software systems which remain supported throughout their life cycle. innovative web and tablet-based SAM™ system which allows the complete management of assets from conditional surveying and specification to scope of works and inspection reporting.

What sort of companies do you do business with?

What are you most passionate and proud?

The development of SAM™ to exceed expectations in our sector and, most recently, the development of our Degradation Forecasting Module (DFM) which enables better planning and cost efficiencies by forecasting when asset upgrading is required. This is proving to be pivotal in opening doors into new sectors and geographical territories for us.

What has been the most valuable to you as members of the AGCC?

Our AGCC membership allows us to be correctly positioned to engage with the business community in and around Aberdeen in a way which is proactive and mutually beneficial.

What are you most passionate and proud of?

Adam

Irvine,

Business Executive,Development

Sword Group

When was your business established?

Codify was founded over two decades ago and joined the Sword family over three years ago.

What does your business do?

Sword Codify are part of the APPS division of Sword. Our software

At Sword, we primarily work with the energy industry. However, we have a range of clients from finance, manufacturing to logistics, sports recreation and catering organisations, offering tailored software solutions to meet their specific needs in modernising business processes.

And the biggest opportunity?

The biggest opportunity for our business right now lies in harnessing the power of data-driven decisions. By capturing the right data at the right time, we can unlock valuable insights. This enables us to make more informed and strategic business decisions, optimise processes, and deliver software solutions that provide real value.

We are always a solution-oriented team and are dedicated to understanding our partners’ unique needs and delivering solutions that drive their success. By operating side-by-side with our customers, our expertise in creating solutions using an agile approach means we are able to deliver iterative improvements in response to customer feedback through the development process. Our team of expert software engineers have created a collaborative working environment and together we provide high quality software systems.

What has been the most valuable to you as members of the AGCC?

There have been several benefits to joining the Chamber. Having the opportunity to connect with more local businesses and continuing our support to economic growth in the region which benefits us all.

Popular Westhill venue reopens following £340k refurbishment

Glentanar Brasserie & Bar in Westhill has had a £340,000 restaurant and garden refurbishment.

Situated in the Holiday Inn Aberdeen West, Glentanar Brasserie & Bar’s brand-new elegant interiors and refurbished space has been designed to be perfect for any occasion, from intimate dinners with a loved one, group celebrations with family, friends, or colleagues, or a cosy place to unwind as a hotel guest.

Natalie Anderson at Glentanar Brasserie & Bar said: “After a short break, we’re delighted to welcome our customers back to Glentanar Brasserie & Bar at Holiday Inn, Aberdeen West. From its brand-new interior design inspired by the area’s rich history to the new menu which gives Brasserie classics a modern Scottish twist.” elevate management academy achieve new heights. elevate management academy achieve new heights. elevate management academy achieve new heights. elevate management academy achieve new heights.

Exclusive offer for AGCC members: 20% discount on bookings of an Elevate Academy programme for up to 12 delegates.

Exclusive offer for AGCC members: 20% discount on bookings of an Elevate Academy programme for up to 12 delegates.

Exclusive offer for AGCC members: 20% discount on bookings of an Elevate Academy programme for up to 12 delegates.

Exclusive offer for AGCC members: 20% discount on bookings of an Elevate Academy programme for up to 12 delegates.

Your customised learning and development programme to elevate anyone into a more strategic business management role. Must be booked by the end of 2023. For more information, email craig.smith@stcinsiso.com or call 01224 937497

Must be booked by the end of 2023. For more information, email craig.smith@stcinsiso.com or call 01224 937497

Must be booked by the end of 2023. For more information, email craig.smith@stcinsiso.com or call 01224 937497

Your customised learning and development programme to elevate anyone into a more strategic business management role.

Your customised learning and development programme to elevate anyone into a more strategic business management role. Must be booked by the end of 2023. For more information, email craig.smith@stcinsiso.com or call 01224 937497

Your customised learning and development programme to elevate anyone into a more strategic business management role.