DRAM July 2011

251 DRAM MAGAZINE JULY 2011 ISSN 1470-241X

DRINKS RETAILING AND MARKETING

AWARDS SPECIAL 2011 - ALL THE DRAM AWARD WINNERS ¬

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DRAM

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DRINKS RETAILING AND MARKETING

WELCOME

CONTENTS

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July

he DRAM Awards took place on 20th June, and it was a super evening. Congratulations to all the winners and all our finalists. This month we highlight the winners in all the categories and next month we will take a look at some of the finalists too.

It was a real pleasure meeting so many forward thinking licensees, and hearing how their businesses are developing. The special feature on the awards starts on page 9 and runs through to page 27 with some extra pictures on page 42.

This month we also have a special design focus featuring new bars Scotts in Largs and Whiski Rooms in Edinburgh, and the refurbishment of the Illicit Still in Aberdeen.

Over the last few months we have been canvassing opinion on how we could improve the magazine.

The feedback was great, and it seems that you like the way the magazine looks, so although we will be tweaking it over the next month or so, it will be to focus even more on the people in the trade.

If you are looking out for news outwith our publication dates check the website dramscotland.co.uk, and you will also see more information there on what the brands are doing.

We had a brief glimpse of summer earlier this month, here’s hoping the sun comes out again and give you all a real boost.

Editor susan@mediaworldltd.com

2011

FEATURES

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2011 DRAM AWARDS All the Award Winners.

DESIGN FOCUS Scotts, Largs; WHISKI Rooms, Edinburgh and The Illicit Still, Aberdeen.

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BARKING UP THE RIGHT TREE

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SOFT DRINKS

Jason Caddy caught up with Sandy Fraser at The Oak Tree Inn, Balmaha.

Susan Young takes a look at what’s happening in the soft end of the market.

REGULARS

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NEWS The latest news from around the trade.

SUE SAYS Straight talking from our very own Editor.

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A modern, Scottish, flavoursome IPA. Refreshing floral hints and citrus tones with a crisp, clean flavour

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT OUR CUSTOMER SERVICE TEAM Aberdeen: 01224 896 826 • Alloa: 01259 728 510 • Dumfries: 01387 259 466 • Dunbar: 01368 862 323 info@belhaven.co.uk JULY 11 DRAM

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HEAD OFFICE Spott Road, Dunbar, East Lothian EH42 1RS

www.belhaven.co.uk

NEWS ¬ HAMISH MARTIN & STEPHEN RUSSELL

A GRAPE ACQUISITION FOR WM MORTON

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m Morton has bought Inverarity Vaults, the leading specialist wine retailer owned by Hamish Martin. The purchase, which was completed on the 1st July, is good news for the trade, says Wm Morton MD Stephen Russell.

He told DRAM, “I think we will end up with the best wine list in Scotland, which will be good news for all our customers.”

He continued, “We fully intend to preserve Inverarity’s ethos and culture. They have built up a specialist wine image and we want to preserve it. Hamish has joined our Board, and will preside over the development of the new business’s wine interests. For the time being both businesses will operate as separate entities, and by the end of the year, our systems and wine lists will be merged. I’m delighted both for our customers and for all our employees. This heralds a new era for both of us.”

Inverarity Vaults, which was established by Hamish Martin in 1991, has got a reputation as being one of the most forward looking wine businesses in the country, as a result, over the years there have been numerous approaches by English based companies to buy it. Hamish Martin comments, “We had been approached on numerous occasions by some of our Southern counterparts to purchase Inverarity but the mix never felt right.

However, with Morton’s, it is a natural alliance: they are a truly independent Scottish company and founded on the same family values and commitment to staff as Inverarity. Our specialist wine knowledge and service combined with their buying power, financial strength and composite drinks offering will establish the strongest-performing independent Scottish wine and spirit merchant in Scotland and I’m extremely excited about the future.”

This is Wm Morton’s first major acquisition. Says Stephen, “It’s not been for a lack of trying. This is my sixth attempt, and it was a joy to complete the deal, and in record time. We shook hands on the 4th May and signed the papers on the 1st July. Having missed out on earlier acquisitions, when Hamish was receptive to our offer, I was determined to move heaven and earth to sign it up.”

He added, “Hopefully this acquisition puts paid once and for all, to rumours that Wm Morton is for sale. The Bulloch family that own Wm Morton’s also owns Glen Catrine Bonded Warehouse, which effectively makes the company one of the biggest drinks businesses in Scotland. The combined turnover of the group’s companies now comes to around £90m, and the acquisition of Inverarity will make us, without a doubt, the largest wine supplier in Scotland.”

Hamish concludes, “We have worked hard to become number one independent wine supplier in Scotland and we got there because we put our clients first and we feel great pride in what we have achieved. As a family business with over 60 years’

experience in the trade, Morton shares our outlook and beliefs and understand the need to safeguard what we have established.

It really will be ‘business as usual’ as far as our clients are concerned and that was a key driver in our accepting the deal.”

Inverarity will continue to be based out of Symington for the time being.

The alliance will also deliver improved distribution capabilities – both businesses run standalone warehouse facilities and in-house logistics operations – and dedicated staff training provision, with all clients able to benefit from Inverarity’s Wine and Spirit Education Trust (WSET) School of Excellence.

EVERYONE AT DUNNS FOOD AND DRINKS WOULD LIKE TO CONGRATULATE ALL THE WINNERS AT THE 2011 DRAM AWARDS.

WELL DONE! www.dunnsfoodanddrinks.co.uk DRAM JULY 11

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NEWS BAROLO

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£1.5M SPEND BY GIZZI & CONETTA Di Maggio’s group directors Mario Gizzi and Tony Conetta have invested £1.5m bringing Barolo Grill to Glasgow and Amarone Pizzeria to Edinburgh. The group spent £1m on Amarone, on St Andrews Square, and £500K on Barolo in Mitchell Street, formerly L’Ariosto.

Both outlets opened last month.

Commenting on Barolo Gizzi says, “The bar has been moved to create more space, and there are now 180 covers, and the outlet specialises in Italian rump steaks. It has a contemporary, fresh design and a wood-burning pizza oven.

“I also sent a photographer over to the Barolo region of Italy to capture the beauty of the area, and the work is on display in the restaurant. There’s also a wall-long mural of Barolo castle.”

Amarone Edinburgh marks the second for the group, after Glasgow, and took 14 weeks to complete. It combines two dining areas and a wine bar. Says Gizzi, “It’s a former bank with a beautiful glass dome, and it’s all lit with an intricate lighting system. There are marble floors throughout, walnut panelling on the walls and a wood-burning pizza oven.” Next month we feature them in both on our design pages.

LISINI TAKE OVER DALZIEL PARK

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alziel Park in Mothwerwell was finally acquired by the Lisini Pub Co last month in a deal said to be in the region of £1m. The family-owned company had been in negotiations with administrators KPMG since the beginning of the year, but the deal was only finalised in June, almost a year since the original business went into administration. Says Managing Director of Lisini, Lisa Wishart, “We are delighted to join the community of Motherwell and thrilled to be owners of such a superb and well reknowned venue.”

Dalzeil Park, rests in 250 acres of land, and operated as a wedding venue, conference facility, hotel, restaurant and golf course.

Says Lisa, “We have great plans for Dalziel Park, not least in creating food and service synonymous with our sister venues. A brand new restaurant will open in November and

we have plans to immediately refurbish and upgrade 10 bedrooms.”

She continues, “Of course we will be honouring existing bookings and functions but we will be closed for another two months and won’t re-open until September after some remedial work and a refurbishment.

We are re-doing three of the function suites which will cater for private parties from 20 to 400.”

The Golf Centre remains as a 9 Hole Golf Centre, which in the interim will be a mix of members and pay per play and in the future we will be developing a Golf Academy, and children's Pitch & Putt with Golf Lessons.

Dalziel Park joins Lisini’s other ventures which include the Parkville Hotel in Blantyre, and Angels and The Castle Rooms in Uddingston and the Croft in Croftfoot.

Wetherspoon’s new £1.8m pub and 30-room hotel in Corstorphine, The White Lady, hasn’t had the most auspicious of launch months. Since opening on June 21, there have been a number of incidents, including one in which a woman was smashed over the head with a bottle, while a week later a man was allegedly assaulted outside the pub. The local community council have raised concerns with the police with regard to the prices of drink at the pub. They believe that the prices are encouraging anti-social behaviour. However Wetherspoon spokesman Eddie Gershon comments, "We can confirm that an incident took place in the pub in which the police were called. We deeply regret that this happened in the pub and will assist the police in any way possible with their enquiries. We also regret the injuries caused to the person involved. That is the only incident that we are aware of in the pub.”

SHORTS The Nicholson’s family in Edinburgh have re-opened the famous Haymarket bar at Haymarket after an extensive refurbishment. The pub is the newest addition to the Nicholson’s family estate which includes The Conan Doyle, Deacon Brodie’s and The Mitre Bar. The UK, Chile's second largest market, is becoming increasingly unprofitable, and many Chilean companies are retreating from this market according to the latest issue of Wine Quarterly.

Visitors to whisky centres and JULY 11 DRAM

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distilleries last year spent almost £27m.

The one million visitors were responsible for boosting the Scottish economy, according to a new report commissioned by the Scotch Whisky Association.

Campbell Evans, SWA director of government and consumer affairs, said, "Our survey shows the scale of the economic impact of Scotch whisky and how exports can help drive up tourism.

Spending by tourists, and the jobs created as a result, is injecting new money into the Scottish economy."The report reveals that

visitor centres and distilleries add £30.4m in value to the economy and provide 640 jobs - direct and indirect.

Andrew Cowan is to take on the role of Country Director of Diageo GB, with current GB Sales Director David Smith moving to the position of Country Director, Diageo Ireland. Both are key appointments within the new structure of Diageo Western Europe. Cowan, who is currently Commercial Director, Ireland, will report in to Andrew Morgan, President of Diageo Europe, from 1

¬ TOM CULLEN

WWW.DRAMSCOTLAND.CO.UK

CULLEN JOINS MOLSON COORS NEW OWNERS FOR

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om Cullen has been appointed Regional Sales Manager for Regional Pub Groups and Key Accounts at Molson Coors. Since Christmas he has been working as a consultant for the company. Tom told DRAM, “It’s a massive challenge as Molson Coors hasn’t been well represented to date in this area.

Molson Coors as a company is driving forward in Scotland. I like what they are doing, and I’m delighted to be part of the team.”

Tom started his career in the drinks industry with IDV, before joining Belhaven

and spending 12 years with the company.

When he left he was Commercial Director. He then joined CPL as Marketing and Operations Director where he stayed for just under 5 years, and also spend time with Dark Star/McKever Hotels and Skerryvore Ltd. Says Tom, “All of my experiences will stand me in good stead in this new role.

I’ve gained insight and maturity over the years, and I’m ready for it.”

A team of six report into Tom, and he in turn reports into Alastair Hamilton, OnTrade Sales Director for Scotland.

Bacardi Brown-Forman Brands (BBFB) has recruited Steve Martin in Scotland to deliver informative, fun and interactive sessions on BACARDI, Jack Daniels, Bombay Sapphire and Grey Goose.

STAFF PRAISED AS EDRINGTON REVEAL EXCELLENT RESULTS Famous Grouse owner The Edrington Group revealed an excellent set of results for the 12 months ended 31st March 2011 and have also praised staff for their ongoing commitment and dedication. Turnover increased by 18.2% at £553.4m (2010: £468.3m) and profit before tax (excluding exceptional items) was up 19.3% to £141.5m (2010: £118.6m). The Famous Grouse grew by 4% with premium expressions contributing 8% growth while The Macallan grews by 14% to over 700K cases Brugal consolidated its position as the number one rum in Spain and grew into other markets. Cutty Sark added one million cases of sales to the Group in first full year of ownership with Highland Park sales growing by 9%.

In the current year the company said it had experienced growth in the USA and the UK, however, this was offset by declines in Greece and Spain.

September. He will now be responsible for leading the GB spirits and beer business by driving the commercial agenda and encouraging a customercentric focus country-wide. Andrew will also lead Diageo GB’s external agenda with key government, media, trade and consumer stakeholders.

Scotland outperformed the rest of the UK with regard to hotel occupancy and revenue levels in April. Scots hoteliers saw occupancy and revenues rise faster than anywhere else in the UK

according to PFK. Scottish check-ins, year on year, rose by 7.7% in April. In England the figure increased by 1.4% and in Wales by 3.2%. Revenue for hotels in Scotland rose 6.8% during April and dropped by 1.9% in England. Edinburgh saw the biggest increase in the number of hotel guests - occupancy and revenue levels were both up by 12.1% compared with last April.In Glasgow occupancy and revenue rates increased by a respective 3.9% and 3.7%, and in Aberdeen by a respective 0.4% and 1.6%.

MACHRIE HOTEL A former advisor to Gordon Brown and her husband, an ex-BBC chairman, have stepped in to buy the Machrie Hotel on Islay. Gavyn Davies and Baroness Sue Nye’s purchase, for an undisclosed sum, after the hotel was put into administration in January.

In future the development will be managed by G3k, whose chief executive is Stewart Smith, and there are plans for a renovation. Now a billion pound hedge fund manager, this is Gavyn Davies’ second attempt to buy the Machrie, after an unsuccessful attempt seven years ago. He is known to be a keen golfer. Baroness Nye was made a life peer last year. The 16-bedroom Machrie also has 15 separate lodges, a golf shop, as well as a 71-par championship golf course.

LOLA LO TO OPEN IN EDINBURGH Edinburgh is to get its first Tiki Bar in the shape of Lola Lo. The new bar will open next month on Frederick Street, on the site that was formerly Po Na Na. Eclectic, who own the bar and club, aim to convert the venue into a “tropical oasis”.

The new interior will feature bamboo, handcarved woods, evocative lighting, a new dance floor and rustic décor. It will be along the same lines as their Lola Lo venues in Brighton, Cambridge, Norwich and Oxford.

A complaint about a Kronenbourg 1664 promotion on Spotify has been upheld by the Portman’s Group Independent Complaints Panel for featuring a music track which references drinking to excess. The complaint was made about one of the tracks in the playlist, a cover of the Dead Kennedys’ ‘Too Drunk to Fuck’ by Nouvelle Vague.

Heineken immediately took steps to remove the track from the playlist as soon as the complaint was brought to its attention.

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BAR NEWS BOBAR ¬

BOBAR UNVEIL REFURBISHMENT

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lasgow’s BoBar is back in business after closing for a week last month for a £50K refurbishment. Owners, the Hilton Group, made most of the changes to back of house operation at the Byres Road bar. Manager Andy MacDonald told DRAM, “We’ve added a small prep kitchen and three phase power supply. Out front, £15K went on new granite steps. We’ve also added a new smoking area in the terrace, as well as painting the outside of the building.”

He continues, “Inside, the walls have been painted in various shades of grey, the chairs have been recovered in grey and red leather, and the bar’s been varnished. The existing wooden floor also got a thorough acid clean.”

The toilets, meanwhile, were treated to brand new drainage systems and Dyson Airblade hand dryers, at £2K a pop.

HAT-TRICK FOR LA GARRIGUE Jean Michelle Gauffre has extended Edinburgh’s French quarter with La Garrigue number three for the capital, on Commercial Street, Leith, in what was formerly Daniel’s Bistro. The 70cover La Garrigue Bistro has a French rustic interior, and all wines are sourced from the Languedoc region of Gauffre’s home country.

Although Gauffre, who opened his first Edinburgh restaurant on the city’s

Jeffrey Street in 2001, never quite intended opening a third concern. He told DRAM, “Daniel Vencker had decided to sell his business and introduced a friend as a potential buyer. They couldn’t agree a deal, so Daniel asked me if I would step in, and we sealed the deal over a glass of wine, of course. But I have promised myself that this will be my third and final restaurant.”

He also has La Garrigue on Eyre Place.

Boho manager Paul Hislop will open The Sugar Cube Club in Glasgow this August, with business partner Brenden Hegarty. Work is underway refurbishing the former Cube at 42 Queen Street, and the transformation is going to be drastic, according to Hislop. He told DRAM, “The name Sugar Cube fits in perfectly with the fun vibe we are looking to achieve in the club. We are revamping all four rooms, and the colour scheme will be predominantly silver and white. There will be table service throughout. We are looking to open four nights per week, and we’ll be aiming at the top end student market during the week and young professionals at the weekend.”

NEW STEAK RESTAURANT FOR INCHYRA GRANGE Falkirk’s Macdonald Inchyra Hotel opened its newly refurbished cocktail bar restaurant, The Scottish Steak Club. Owner Macdonald Hotels and Resorts spent £250K on ripping out the former Priory Restaurant, as part of a £5M investment, which includes a brand new hotel spa.

Thr3 Design came up with the new ‘bovine’ concept in The Scottish Steak Club, with cowhide wallpaper and pictures of cows grazing, dotted about the new 121-cover restaurant.

Assistant manager, Lisa Brown, told DRAM, “The Priory was essentially quite old-fashioned and really only ever frequented by hotel guests. Now we have a stand-alone cocktail bar and restaurant with a fresh contemporary look and feel. We are now marketing it to non-guests too. The aim is to make it a destination bar and restaurant for the area. There’s also a brand new private dining facility.”

Says Lisa, “All our beef is reared in Scotland and hung for 21 days, and our new Josper Grill ensures none of the moisture or flavour is lost from the meat during the cooking process.” Head chef Dawid Kaleta has previously worked with both Andrew Fairlie at Gleneagles and Stuart Jarvie at Crieff Hydro.

RED SQUIRREL CHAMPAGNE GARDEN FOR FINNIESTON! Gordon Fuller and Gary Thomson have added Red Squirrel in Edinburgh to the Fuller Thomson portfolio. The Lothian Road bar opened recently on the site of what used to be The Vat and Fiddle.

The layout remains the same, but there have been some major changes to the décor.

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The Finnieston area of Glasgow will soon have its very own namesake restaurant.

Business partners Graham Suttle, Mo Clark and Scott Arnot will open The Finnieston in August, on Argyle Street – down the road from their other operation, Lebowskis.

Work is nearing completion on the site of the former Bayan Café. The new venue includes a bar, 60-cover restaurant and a Dom Perignon & Moet Champagne Garden.

Says Graham, “We have reclaimed stained glass windows from the Fishermen’s Mission in Largs, and pews from the Gourock Fishermen’s Mission. The food menu will focus on seafood, and we want to put the emphasis on champagne and Scottish beers in our drinks offering. The bar will also stock a very wide range of gins.

In fact, we want to become known as the bar that serves Glasgow’s best G&T.”

Benromach Award for Success 2011 Congratulations to Neil Connolly of Moskito, Colin Clydesdale and Carol Wright of the Ubiquitous Chip on sssharing their secret of success.

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Congratulations to all the winners and finalists of the 2011 DRAM Awards. Our 16th event saw more than 400 people from all over Scotland gather at the Grand Central Hotel in Glasgow, for what was their biggest ever dining and awards event.

All the category winners and finalists feature on the following pages, and you can read why the winners took the top accolades.

Unfortunately at an awards ceremony there are those that take home a trophy, and those that don’t.

But everyone that reached the final deserves a real pat on the back. This year’s entry was one of the best yet, with the quality, commitment and passion of licensees undiminished by the difficult economic circumstances.

Our Lifetime Achievement Award went to industry veteran Colin Beattie, with John Gilligan doing the honours. Actors and directors including David McLennan, David Hayman, Juliette Cadzow and Mel Giedroyc paid homage in a specially crafted film clip to the man they credit with helping to ensure that creative talent is actively encouraged in Scotland. He started out with one pub in Yoker and has gone on to create the immensely successful OranMor and in the process has created one of Scotland’s most iconic buildings.

To all the finalists and the winners, well done. I’d also like to thank our sponsors, without whom this event wouldn’t have been possible, and of course the Sunday Mail who carried out the search for Pub of the Year, which coincidentally went to OranMor, after readers voted it their favourite pub in Scotland. It received four times as many votes as its nearest competitor!

Roll on next year!

COLIN BEATTIE AND FAMILY, TOP, COLLECT THE LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD WHILE COMPERE PETER MARTIN, ABOVE, ADDRESSES THE GUESTS.

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Heading for the belly of the beast: The Kraken Hunter, Graham Swankie of Bath Street Pony and Dave Steward of Marblehead.

Congratulations to Bath Street Pony on winning The Kraken Cocktail Bar of the Year in the 2011 DRAM Awards.

BENROMACH AWARD FOR SUCCESS

BENROMACH AWARD FOR SUCCESS

Neil Connolly, Moskito, Glasgow pictured with David Urquhart, Joint Managing Director of Gordon & Macphail

Colin Clydesdale and Carol Wright, Ubiquitous Chip, Glasgow with David Urquhart, Joint Managing Director of Gordon & Macphail

WINNER Owner/Operator: Neil Connolly, Moskito, Glasgow.

WINNER : Multiple Operator: Ubiquitous Chip Ltd, Glasgow

The judges said of the winner: “With eleven years under its belt this pub continues to be a leading light in the Glasgow bar scene. Its turnover has risen to £1.7m in the last year, and the man behind it is one of the best-liked, and most consistent licensee in the business.”

FINALIST: Oak Tree Inn, Balmaha.

William Morton and Cheviot Fine Wines would like offer their congratulations to all the award winners.

We would like to give special mention to Colin Beattie on his Lifetime Achievement Award.

Wm Morton, 137 Shawbridge Street, Glasgow G43 1QQ Tel : 0141 649 9881

The judges said of the winner, “This business has been in the same family for more than 40 years, and just over a year ago, it passed to the next generation of the family. Since then this pub and restaurant group has gone from strength to strength. It prides itself on the quality of its offering – from food, to service, from premium spirits to locally sourced produce. Last year it extended and invested significantly in one of its venues, and this improvement has already achieved critical acclaim. Its flagship venue has also benefitted from investment. They certainly don’t rest on their laurels and also think outside the box.”

FINALIST: Navan Taverns, Motherwell.

MacCallums of Troon would like to congratulate Ubiquitous Chip Ltd on winning the Benromach Award for Success at the 2011 DRAM Awards.

MACCALLUMS OF TROOn TEL: 0141 204 4456 • FAX: 0141 204 4466 71 HOULDSWORTH STREET, GLASGOW G3 8ED DRAM JULY 11

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Maxxium UK congratulates Niall Webster of Bramble, The Maxxium Bar Apprentice of the Year Winner 2011.

Andy Gemmell, UK Brand Mixologist, pictured left with Huw Pennell, Managing Director of Maxxium UK, right, presents the 2011 Bar Apprentice of the Year Award to Niall Webster, centre.

Maxxium UK Brand Mixologist, Andy Gemmell, led eleven of Scotland’s brightest young bartending talents through an in-depth training programme. Everyone who completed the course passed their final exams, qualifying as Mixxit Bar Apprentices.

Well done to all of them.

www.mixxit.co.uk

BII TRAINING AWARD

COMMUNITY SPIRIT AWARD

Lauren Meldrum and Georgina Spacey, The Balmoral, Edinburgh with Alice Cardwell Hodges, BII Client Development Director

Siobhan Edwards and Lisa Wishart from Lisini Pub Co pictured with Jim Rowan, Managing Director of Dunns Food and Drink

WINNER The Balmoral, Edinburgh

WINNER Lisini Pub Company, Uddingston

The judges said of the winner: “This company embraces all aspects of training. They ensure that staff are kept up to date with current leglisation and all employees get a passport which highlights training they have undertaken.

They run coaching and mentoring sessions, and lately have been running motivational courses with other hospitality businesses. All staff are encouraged to better themselves through training.”

The judges said “Each year there is a special annual award, for which companies cannot enter themselves for. This year it is going to a pub company that really has cornered the market when it come to creating great community pubs. It’s not just the fact that it caters for its local communities in various locations from Uddingston to Blantyre, but the fact that they continue to strive to ensure that their customers benefit from the marketing initiatives it orchestrates. This pub company knows its local market and the local community is incredibly loyal too.”

FINALISTS: Signature Pubs, Edinburgh; Ubiquitous Chip Ltd, Glasgow.

Everyone at BII Scotland would like to congratulate

THE BALMORAL on their recent triumph at the 2011 DRAM Awards.

http://scotland.bii.org DRAM JULY 11

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Kenny Blair, Buzzworks pictured with Alisdair Hamilton, On-Trade Sales Director, Molson Coors

CHAMPION IN INDUSTRY 2011 COLIN & KENNY BLAIR, BUZZWORKS Molson Coors, the global family brewer, championing beer and supporting the licensed trade in Scotland.

DRAM

DRAM GASTRO PUB OF THE YEAR

GLENMORANGIE WHISKY BAR OF THE YEAR

Ross and Michelle Henderson from the Birds and the Bees, with Martin Cassidy, Sales Manager, DRAM Magazine

Neil Aitken, Business Development Manager Europe for Glenmorangie, with Gary and Anne Little and Duncan Stewart from WHISKI and Maya Jethwa of Glenmorangie.

WINNER The Birds and the Bees, Stirling

WINNER WHISKI, Edinburgh

The judges said of the winner: “It was very welcoming, the staff couldn’t have been more pleasant. The food was exceptional, the best fish cakes that we have ever had, and superb fish and chips too. In fact all the food looked great.

It was obvious that the owners took great care in the quality of the food and presentation and take pride in what they do at every level.”

The judges said, “This is a very strong category, but this year’s winner demonstrated that they run an excellent whisky bar, with more than 300 whiskies and well-trained staff, who are just as happy to recommend a malt, or make a whisky cocktail. The owners are also committed to developing driving the whisky category onwards and upwards and have shown their continued commitment by investing in a new bar, retail outlet and tasting room, which has only just opened.”

FINALISTS: Roseleaf, Edinburgh; Stravaigin, Glasgow; The Sun Inn, Dalkeith.

FINALISTS: The Anderson, Fortrose; The Ballygrant, Islay; The Fiddlers, Drumnadrochit.

Congratulations to Ross, Head Chef Raymond, and the rest of the team at The Birds and the Bees on winning the DRAM Gastro Pub of the Year Award.

7+( :25/'¦6 /($',1* 0$/7 :+,6.< 63(&,$/,67 ELGIN, SCOTLAND SINCE 1895

WWW.GORDONANDMACPHAIL.COM

Unit D16, Glasgow Fruit Market, Blochairn Road, Glasgow G21 2DU T: 0141 548 6989 W: www.freshfoodcompany.co.uk DRAM JULY 11

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THE KRAKEN RUM COCKTAIL BAR OF THE YEAR

MIXXIT BAR APPRENTICE OF THE YEAR

The Kraken Hunter, left, pictured with Graham Swankie from Bath Street Pony and Dave Steward, Director of Marblehead Brand Development

Andy Gemmell of Mixxit, left with Niall Webster of Bramble and Huw Pennell, Managing Director of Maxxium UK.

WINNER Bath Street Pony, Glasgow

WINNER Niall Webster, Bramble, Edinburgh

The judges said of the winner: “The Kraken cocktail was a masterpiece. The mixologist was creative, and the cocktail was expertly made by staff. This understated bar is stylish, and its staff are well-trained. It also appears to know its market well – appealing to both nearby office staff and other bartenders with a good premium offering and cocktails which are imaginative. The Fennel Destination was a real winner.”

The judges said of the winner: “They have the makings of a truly excellent bartender. Their thirst for knowledge and their unassuming, but quietly confident demeanour, came through and really impressed the judges. Both their bartending skills and their written examination proved that he was a worthy Maxxium Bar Apprentice of the year.”

HIGHLY COMMENDED: Bond No. 9, Edinburgh.

FINALISTS: The Blythswood, Glasgow; Booly Mardy’s, Glasgow.

MOLSON COORS CHAMPION IN INDUSTRY

Colin Blair from Buzzworks left, with Alisdair Hamilton, On Trade Sales Director Scotland, Molson Coors UK

WINNER Colin and Kenny Blair, Buzzworks The judges said of the winner, “In the past year this company has doubled its profits, and has also recently opened a new flagship outlet. They lead by example and show a passion for the business that appears to have been undiminished by their time in the industry. They were clear winners due to their tenacious approach to supporting the local area and the community. They also have developed their business by investing in their people. And when it comes to legislation they are knowledgeable and prepared to fight for the best interests of the licensed trade locally.”

FINALISTS: Siobhan Edwards & Lisa Wishart, Lisini Pub Co; Jeremy Tucker, Kilted Kangaroo; David Wither, Montpeliers.

FINALISTS: Toni Herbert, Voodoo Rooms, Edinburgh; Easton Boyd, The Blythswood Hotel, Glasgow; David Howie, Elliots, Prestwick; Mikey Mitchell, Tigerlily, Edinburgh; India Parry-Williams, Bon Vivant, Edinburgh; Ami Gillies, Hamilton’s, Edinburgh; Jack Blackwell, 99 Hanover Street, Edinburgh; Ian Sanderson, Tiki Bar, Glasgow; Jack Halstead, Oloroso, Edinburgh; Gabriela Perna, The Ivy, Glasgow

Wholesale

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DRAM JULY 11

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CAPTAIN MORGAN’S SPICED AWARD FOR BEST LATE NIGHT VENUE

REKORDERLIG NEW BAR OF THE YEAR

Craig Fraser and his team from The Loft, pictured here with Captain Morgan, centre and David McGowan, far right, National Commercial Development Manager for Diageo GB.

Colin Blair, Buzzworks pictured here with Fiona Brown, Key Account Manager for Scotland for Chilli Marketing and Fraser McIlwraith.

WINNER The Loft, Perth

WINNER Scotts, Largs

The judges said of the winner: “From the minute you walk in it is impressive – it was so much more than just four walls, a DJ and a bar. It was really stylish, had a great atmosphere and the music was just right. The staff were friendly and knew what they were doing. For instance, the bartender was able to whizz up a rum cocktail that was not on the menu without any bother at all. The door staff were very friendly, more like hosts than stewards, really professional. In fact all the staff were very professional. Definitely the place to be seen.”

FINALISTS: The Den, Inverness; Dusk, Stirling; Elliots, Prestwick.

The judges said of the winner: “This was a late entry, as the bar only officially opened earlier this month, and the judges had to make a special visit. But it proved worth it. It’s not just the best bar that has opened in the last 12 months, it is one of the best bars to have opened in the last couple of years. Its drinks offering is premium and its food is a credit, the bar looks fabulous, and it has got a lovely outdoor area too. Already it is buzzing. What also sets this bar apart is the investment that the company has made in a town that really needed something of this calibre.”

FINALISTS: Black Cat, Edinburgh; Boudoir, Glasgow; Limelight, Glasgow.

REPERTOIRE BEST OUTSIDE AREA

CAIRNHILL DEVELOPMENTS

LTD

We would like to wish Dennis Forsyth and the staff of Cheers Bar every success in the future.

Dennis Forsyth, pictured centre with his team from Cheers and from Repertoire, Lynn Kelly.

WINNER : Cheers Café Bar and Tavern, Fraserburgh The judges said of the winner: “What a well thought out outside area. There is something for everyone. Whether you want to recline on tasteful outdoor couches, or enjoy a game of darts, or pool. This outside area is one of the largest we have seen, and one of the best equipped and most stylish. With an outdoor capacity in excess of 300, this outside area is to be envied.”

FINALISTS: The Beechtree Inn, Dumgoyne; The Birds and the Bees, Stirling.

We are proud to be associated with such a progressive award-winning business.

Specialist in Joinery Manufacturing, House, Builders Doors, Stairs & Windows, Bars and Bespoke Joinery. All types of contracts undertaken from New Housing, Bar Re-furbishments & Shop Fitting.

Union St, Rosehearty Fraserburgh AB437JQ Tel: 01346 571131 Fax: 01346 571151 Email: lana@cairnhilldevelopments.com DRAM JULY 11

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DRAM

JULY 11 DRAM

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“A thoroughly enjoyable evening.

I’ve been raving about the food from the first mouthful, as it wasn’t the standard fare you get at these events, and it was great to see my daughter pick up the Manager of the Year, award along with Denis (Laird). It’s really down to the teamwork they have together and not forgetting the staff that work with them. A fantastic night was had by all at Navan Taverns.”

Pat Ross, Navan Taverns

“It was absolutely mighty.

Although I’ve been to other events at this hotel, this was the best. The room looked great, I don’t know what you did, but seemed much warmer in atmosphere.

I was absolutely stunned to get the Lifetime Achievement Award and delighted to pick up the Sunday Mail Pub of the year mirror. We did work hard to get the votes.

We all had a terrific time. Thank you so much.”

Colin Beattie, OranMor

“It was a great result for us to win the Benromach Award for Success, and I really believe it comes down to the staff, when it comes to making a company or a stand alone venue work, and stand the test of time. The staff at the Grand Central did a fantastic job, considering the amount of covers they had.

I’ve been to a few nights on this scale and I thought it was very good. I have to admit though, that I was one of the more sensible people and left just after the awards presentation!”

Carole Wright, The Ubiquitous Chip Ltd

“It was absolutely fantastic. I had guests who had never been and they to a man, had a great night.

They enjoyed it massively. There were so many people there, and so many big hitters. We were even taking pictures of the food, it looked so good.

The compere hit it spot-on, and the number of awards was just right too. This wasn’t a Glasgow centric event, which surprised me.”

Louise Maclean, Tennents

“The DRAM awards are a vanguard in the industry – as they represent glamour and aspiration. If we as operators don’t look forward and put more emphasis on quality and delivering extra-special outlets, we are all dead in the water.

The DRAM awards represent the future of the trade, and we are immensely proud to have won in two categories.”

Colin Blair, Buzzworks, Ayrshire

“The food, ambience and setting were all superb, and the Grand Central renovation was certainly amazing. I’m sure we’ll be seeing a lot more events hosted there in the next few years. It was terrific to see so many old faces. I couldn’t tear myself away – in fact, I didn’t stagger out until the back of one.”

Rab Orr, Attraction Inns DRAM JULY 11

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MANAGER OF THE YEAR AWARD 2011 CONGRATULATIONS TO GEMMA ROSS AND DENIS LAIRD, JOINT MANAGERS OF THE MINT BAR & RESTAURANT IN COATBRIDGE, FOR WINNING THE STRONGBOW MANAGER OF THE YEAR AWARD. Proving they put the ‘hard graft’ in to ensure their bar is a success, Heineken UK would like to offer congratulations to Gemma Ross and Denis Laird, joint managers of The Mint Bar & Restaurant in Coatbridge, for winning the Strongbow Manager of the Year Award.

With a strong work ethic and a track record to show their hard work has made a real difference to the success of the family run

bar located in the heart of Coatbridge, Gemma and Denis have proved they are both worthy winners of the award.

John Gemmell, Trading Director of Heineken UK North, said: “The success of outlets in the on trade depend on the hard work and dedication of the team of people who look after the customer. Well done to Gemma and Denis for winning the Strongbow Manager of the Year Award; both have demonstrated they are willing to put in the ‘hard graft’ to ensure success.”

Strongbow is the undisputed number one draught cider in the UK, accounting for more than 3 in every 5 pints of draught cider sold in the UK.

STRONGBOW MANAGER OF THE YEAR

TENNENT’S QUALITY AWARD

Gemma Ross pictured with Denis Laird from The Mint, Coatbridge and John Gemmell (right) Regional Director of Heineken UK.

Garreth Wood and his team from The Illicit Still with Louise Maclean, Regional Sales Manager of Tennent’s.

WINNER Gemma Ross & Denis Laird, The Mint, Coatbridge

WINNER The Illicit Still, Aberdeen

The judges said of the winner: “There is no doubt that managing an outlet that turns over in excess of £33K a week is a big commitment, and takes hard graft. Especially as the outlet in question not only has a very successful bar and dining business, but also caters for functions, too.

What impressed the judges was the teamwork that was clearly evident.”

FINALISTS: Danny Doogan, Moskito, Glasgow; Alec Trousdale; The Queens Arms, Edinburgh; James Ward, The Priory, Blantyre.

The judges said of the winner: “This outlet offers an extremely warm welcome. It scored extremely high on customer service, from the friendly chat to the small touches. They clearly pride themselves on everything to do with quality. They have a rigorous induction process where each bar staff member is trained on cellar management, perfect pour, glass care etc.

No one is allowed to serve until full induction is complete. They are meticulous when it comes to line cleaning and renovation and also keep a very clean and tidy cellar. This outlet oozed quality in every aspect of the bar, it was immaculate.”

FINALISTS: The Scarecrow, Kilsyth; St Machar Bar, Aberdeen.

WaverleyTBS Billy and the staff at Forsyths Produce Direct, Scotlands leading supplier of fresh fruit and veg/dry goods to the hotel and restaurant trade would like to congratulate

Denis and Gemma on their recent win at the DRAM Awards 2011 and wish them continued success.

Visit our website: www.forsythfreshproduce.co.uk Tel: 01236 628 007

is proud to congratulate its many award winning customers following

The DRAM Awards 2011 (We’ve won a few awards ourselves recently)

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URBAN REALM AWARD FOR BEST DESIGN

SUNDAY MAIL PUB OF THE YEAR

David Taylor and Denis McCann with John Glenday, Publisher of Urban Realm pictured right.

Bruce Waddell, Editor-in-chief of the Scottish Daily Record and Sunday Mail pictured here with Sharon McGurn, Sandy Gourley and David Ogston.

WINNER Limelight, Glasgow

WINNER OranMor, Glasgow

The judges said of the winner: “The transformation of this building is quite amazing. You couldn’t tell what it used to be.

A colourful bar area, with some innovative touches which marry beautifully with some well preserved original features, set it apart. Digital artwork, as well as original specially commissioned artwork add to the whole look. It’s certainly no electricity sub station now.”

The judges said: “This pub’s customers have voted it the best in Scotland and the judges agreed. It got more than four times the votes of its nearest competitors, and this is probably due in part to the scale of the venue. It’s much more than just a pub, it has become one of Scotland’s iconic pubs since it opened seven years ago. The owner gets behind local events, knows the value of customer care, and knows how to run a successful business that’s popular too.”

FINALISTS: The Dormy, Gleneagles, Auchterarder; Stravaigin Glasgow; Paramount, Aberdeen.

FINALISTS: Angels, Glasgow; Milton Inn, Dumbarton; Perth Arms, Dunkeld.

“Colin - what an incredible journey.

We put our hard hats on and went on to create what is a world class venue.

From a pub that always evolves, a mural that will never finish, and a Play a Pie and a Pint that breaks new ground every day. Congratulations on your achievement.”

John Gemmell, Trading Director North, Heineken UK

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CONSTRUCTION INTERIORS REFURBISHMENT

CCI Developments Ltd Main Contractor for the refurbishment of The Illicit Still.

Congratulations to The Illicit Still, on their Tennentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Quality Award.

CCI Developments Ltd - T: 01562 734052 JULY 11 DRAM

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W: www.ccidevelopments.com

DESIGN FOCUS: THE ILLICIT STILL, ABERDEEN BY JASON CADDY

T

he Illicit Still in Aberdeen was only ever in need of a little nip and tuck, rather than a full-on face lift, despite the wear and tear of years at the top as part of Saltire Taverns’ portfolio. This was the challenge for new owners, The Signature Pub Group, who took over last May. They earmarked £200K for a subtle redesign, and the brief was nothing too radical, but just enough to freshen up a design that’s stood the test of time - and attract new, as well as retain existing, customers.

“We use TibbattsAbel design across all our outlets. It’s a challenge for them to come up with new concepts – but I think that they have delivered once again. The execution has been subtle enough to freshen up, without losing the bar’s original identity” Signature boss, Garreth Wood comments, “Since re-opening last month, the weekly turnover has doubled to £15K, so the combination of oldmeets-new seems to have received the ‘thumbs up’ from all-comers.

This is far from the end of the line for the refurbishment. The ground floor of the outlet, accessed through a separate entrance on Netherkirkgate, will open as an American-themed sports bar in January 2012.

Once submerged in the subterranean bar, via the Guest Row entrance, your eyes quickly adjust to the dim light, and the evidence of the refurbishment immediately presents itself. An intricate gold light hangs above the entrance staircase, and the gold rag-rolled effect on the newly painted walls and ceiling has certainly invigorated what was a well-worn space. The wall-mounted copper still on the wall is now more prominent, purely down to more effective illumination.

Inside the bar, the layout pretty much remains the same. It’s still split into three rooms. The main bar, a separate seating area and newly added pool room.

However there are three noticeable changes as soon as you step inside. The removal of one side of the bar to create the new pool room, the addition of a new ‘gothic’ area, and the removal of the raised walkways.

The first of these you happen on right away, as you emerge into the pool room.

The bar has now been reduced to a one-sided servery, and where the second part used to look out onto is now the pool area. Two brand new pool tables, in a brightly lit area with gilt-edge framed plasma and enclave booths in the walls, are standout features. “Apart from pool halls, there aren’t really any other outlets in the vicinity with a pool offering,” explains Garreth. “It’s opened up a whole new market to us – as it’s a comfortable place to play a few games, and

it’s proving to be one of our biggest draws, and the carpet gets everyone talking.”

The carpet has a print pattern of wooden floorboards, and it looks so convincing that people – including our very own editor – hesitate before committing to stepping on it. It was from a company called Ego, based in Denmark, that Garreth sourced on line. Sister venue Paramount has the chopped log version of the carpet, although Garreth’s not so keen on that one and may change it in the near future.

The second big change comes in the form of the gothic seating area, with dark painted wood and mirrored tiles on the ceiling at the back of the outlet in a space once occupied by the now downsized kitchen.

Says Garreth, “We wanted to attract an older, corporate clientele, and it has certainly bolstered our lunchtime trade. I wasn’t sure about it at first, but it has grown on me. It’s a lot darker than the rest of the design,with heavy black painted walls and gargoyles, and I personally think it fits very well with the original design.”

There are 500 green wine bottles glued and screwed into the ceiling – making for the design focal point. They also did this at the Queen’s Arms in Edinburgh Garreth comments, “On the day we opened I stood outside the local Oddbins at 10 in the morning, as we were 22 bottles short of 500. That’s dedication for you.”

Elsewhere, the changes are subtler. The bar has been fitted with a copper top, which is so brand spanking new that it sparkles in the light. Although the idea is that it will tarnish in time, thereby settling to the original design. And the names of whiskies that use to be painted along the tops of the walls have been replaced by quotes and witticisms about the ‘water of life’.

All of the wooden partitions and balustrades have been dyed a deeper stain and new furniture, like cow hide covered seats are a bit of a departure, but they work a treat.

Then there’s the addition of new pieces of bric-a-brac dotted about the place, mirrors on all the pillars, and new candles. But the famous ‘candle wall’ behind bars in the raised seating area remains, and this area now contains tables and chairs instead of couches. The rest of this area remains pretty much unchanged, apart from the ceiling/wall paintwork.

Nothing Signature has done in any way detracts from the original design. Nic and Garreth Wood’s less is more approach has revived a classic.

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JULY 11 DRAM

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T

he WHISKI Rooms in Edinburgh opened its three doors last month. It combines a bar, bistro and a shop, on North Bank Street off the Mound, Edinburgh. But it was very nearly just two doors, according to co-owner, Anne Still. She explains, “We had secured the lease on former gift shops at numbers 4 and 6, but the Bank of Scotland at number 7 came up for sale just as the developers rolled in. So we decided to buy that property too and expand our vision.”

Anne and Gary Still of Omnitaverns are the people behind the WHIKSI Rooms, which also owns and operates WHISKI Bar and Restaurant round the corner on High Street. In fact it was comments from their existing customers that brought about the WHISKI Rooms. “We were always being asked by our customers where they could go and buy the whisky we were serving, so we thought why not open a whisky shop with a bar attached. That way, customers could purchase straight away the whisky they’d tried in the bar. We have 500 whiskies in the shop and 300 in the bar,” says Anne.

Edinburgh-based architects KBAD worked in unison with Wagstaff Interiors and it was 13 weeks in the making. Anne wanted something unique and, as far as she knows, there’s nothing quite like this in Scotland. “We saw something in Paris called Lavinia, which is along the same lines, in that it’s a wine shop next to a café.

But whisky is more worthy of a try before you buy, because it’s a lot more expensive for a start. And we wanted to provide a clean, classic design in a comfortable setting in which to eat and drink.”

The three areas are the bar, bistro, and the shop. The bistro has a large stag mural on the right hand wall as you enter. Below the mural is a red leather banquette, which stretches the entire length of the room. The opposite wall is exposed stonework.

The remainder of the floor space is populated with dark wood tables and chairs, with the latter covered in mushroom and green coloured leather. There are also two window seats, either side of the entrance, above which are medieval chandeliers in black with orange candles. The other two lighting sources comprise of spots and orange wall-lights.

There’s a bar at the far end of the space with a coffee station, which is overlooked by a smoked glass mirror. The bar is split-level and is shared by both the bar and the bistro. It’s a reddish marble top with a copper belt around the front. Behind

EDINBURGH BY JASON CADDY it, in the bistro, are advertising posters featuring whisky brands in frames from as far back as 100 years.

A couple of stairs and an archway lead you through to the bar in the adjacent property.

Wooden shelves house an impressive array of whiskies and the bar is lit by a row of pendent lights with copper shades that hang exactly in line with the bar.

The building’s original features – namely the corniced ceiling – are pained in a greyish white. The tables and chairs are also dark wood, with brown and yellow leather upholstery. As in the bistro, the window seats and chandeliers are also a feature.

One of the things Anne is most proud of is the 12-point stag’s head, a rare find, apparently. It looks down on pictures of whisky distilleries old and new, periodpictures of workers and marketing material alike, from a host of iconic whisky brands.

The most interesting part of the space is tucked away slightly awkwardly at the back of room, beyond the bar. It’s a private area sponsored by Ardbeg whisky, which can be reserved for special occasions, although it’s open to anyone and everyone at all other times. It’s one large table, perfect for accommodating a small group of, say, ten. Red leather seating, Ardbeg-branded mirrors and pictures of dogs look brilliant. One of them is a period painting of a dog wearing a crown. But the pinnacle is the dog on the ceiling. Well, it’s more accurately a perforated outline of a dog, and the perforations are illuminated in white, on a greyish white mount.

The shop is accessed up another couple of stairs through the bar. It’s clean in its design with walls of illuminated shelves encased in wooden shelving displaying all the whiskies. And there’s a very keen man itching to share his passion for whisky patrolling it.

The whole thrust of the design is fairly clean and simple, and given its proximity to the Royal Mile, it will attract tourists without alienating the natives. With this in mind, I like the fact Omnitaverns didn’t go to town on tartan. There are only a suspicion of it on some of the seats and one tiny patch of wall. But it’s sufficiently Scottish, clean and comfortable to compete with the rest of the hullabaloo in this part of the city.

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DESIGN FOCUS: SCOTTS, LARGS BUZZWORKS HAS OPENED ITS SECOND SCOTTS IN LARGS. JASON CADDY ISSUES HIS VERDICT ON THE DESIGN.

T

here’s a buzz in Largs at the moment. The proprietor of the local petrol station enquired after where I was heading and, when I mentioned Scotts at the Yacht Harbour, his eyes lit up. As it turns out he’d been twice in as many weeks and was planning a third trip that weekend. ‘It’ll do wonders for the town,’ he said.

Scotts in Largs opened last month, and scooped Rekorderling Cider New Bar of the Year at this year’s DRAM awards. Owners Colin and Kenny Blair of Ayrshire-based Buzzworks Holdings lavished a cool £900K on the outlet in Scotland’s largest marina. Their second Scotts after Troon, the brothers are renowned for their detailoriented work and, in tandem with both Thr3 Design and Nord Architects, they have delivered an outstanding outlet with so much going on.

“The main consideration for the design brief was incorporating what Kenny calls the “Scotts’ DNA.” He explains, “There are certain key elements that make the design of Scotts in Troon unmistakably Buzzworks and we wanted to bring these to Largs, too. The wooden floor, the pebble wall, the wall-mounted fire, and the bamboo canes.”

So what is it like inside? The DNA similarity certainly gives it echoes of Scotts in Largs, the main difference being that it is all situated on the ground floor. The outdoor area is just as striking as the interior, with many nods to its nautical theme. Grey slate water features and driftwood are situated in amongst all the silver aluminium chairs and marble top tables.

The nautical theme is immediately evident as soon as you walk through the front door. Quite literally. There’s an £11K fish tank containing living coral and fish all named after the characters in the film Finding Nemo. Says Kenny, “The reason it was so expensive is because it contains a living coral reef.” Bathed in a blue light, and with lots of beautiful brightly coloured tropical fish, it’s both relaxing and mesmeric. It can be viewed from inside the bar too.

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As for the rest of the design, it’s essentially one space with a central island bar, around which there are three seating areas.

The original building was a lot smaller and what is effectively a conservatory area was designed by Nord Architects, compromising three window walls with views over Cumbrae, making it extremely light and airy. However, it has neither a glass or (like Scotts in Troon) a retractable roof. There are darker pockets on the opposite side of the bar, where there are no windows.

The central bar is like a glittering emerald in a crown. There’s a 1930s/40s glamour to it as both the mirrored gantry and ceiling smack of the art deco era. The mirrored theme continues around the bar front, below which is a wooden parquet effect. At the side of the bar facing you as you enter is a chilled cabinet displaying all the cakes and pastries.

Along the right hand side of the bar (as you enter) are five horseshoe booths. They have mottled velvet backs in green, coupled with soft brown leather seats. Behind them are wall mounted mirrors which are quite funky. Triangular mirrored pieces of glass have been mounted on a mirror and it looks a bit like pyramid jigsaw pieces piled on top of each other.

Beyond here at the back of the bar are more booths, a lovely long high-ish wooden table with silvery stools, four more booths and a wood burner. Again, there’s an interesting mixture of textures and materials, ranging from brown leather paired with green/pink velour and silver for the seating, to reclaimed wood wallpaper. From a distance this looks like they’ve taken reclaimed some wood from a ship yard and stuck it to the wall. This is the pub element of Scotts.

Edging round the bar slightly, towards the extension, are the wine fridges and racks. A wall of them with lots of oak, silver and polished glass, which is a lot more cocktail-oriented.

Then we come to the main seating area. There’s a dividing unit with

fixed banquette seating all the way round, on top of which are the bamboo sticks, all arranged at different angles from the ceiling to the top of the unit. There’s also seating all around the edge of the space next to the windows, and this is where most of the customers want to dine. On the day I was there, it was pretty much full by 11.30am.

“I’m obsessed with every minutiae of the business,” says Colin Blair.

“No detail is too insignificant to overlook. For example, I saw the hand dryer in the toilets at a trade show four years ago. Now it’s in all our venues. And don’t get me started on the toilet roll – I could write a thesis on it. It took us six months to find one that doesn’t disintegrate, and that is dispensed fluidly. It all adds to the quality experience and we are in the business of making our outlets better than people’s homes. If they can get an M&S meal for two and Sky HD, then the enticement to come out and spend their money has to be stronger. The design is crucial in this.”

And as well as the power hand dryers and indestructible loo roll, the toilet design with its sleek grey tiling, white wash basins, trendy porcelain ware and ginger and ginseng hand wash are absolutely superb touches and right at home in an outlet of such high calibre.

I also got to see behind the scenes and I have to say that the staff are treated to equally as lavish restroom facilities, and a snazzy staff room, painted in calming green, with a Fat Boy seat (a giant bean bag), trendy white furniture and a plasma and Apple mac computer.

How things have moved on since I worked in bars and restaurants in the 90s!

People will travel from miles around to Scotts, and the clientele so far has been made up from a mixture. “We have attracted a lot of customers from Largs, West Kilbride, and a smattering from South Ayrshire. But there are 750 boats moored here over 100 people working here, too,” says Kenny.

The brothers never rest on their laurels, so it’s no surprise that there’s a phase two. Kenny explains, “We chose to do the ground floor first of all, and once the dust has settled, we’ll tackle upstairs, which will be principally fine and private dining.”

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BARK THE

LICENSEE INTERVIEW BY JAS

S

andy Fraser is a bright spark. When his electrical contractor business was struggling in the early 80s, he suggested his wife Lucy open a guest house in Balmaha, Loch Lomond. He saw a gap in the market for a ‘great eatery’ at the Loch, and in 1997 The Oak Tree Inn opened its doors.

Since then the business has gone from strength to strength, and it now turns over some £1.5M. A DRAM Gastro Pub of the Year award winner, the Frasers have built up a family business, renowned for its locally sourced and home-grown produce.

Sandy comments, “I think we have created a heritage pub here. We offer consistency and quality and the building had to be just right.” An old mill in Fortingall, designed by Charles Rennie MacKintosh’s mentor, James McLaren, was his inspiration for the Oak Tree.

He says, “We kind of superimposed it in Balmaha. It’s an amazing building in the Neo-Vernacular, with lots of slate and stone. When I first saw it I thought ‘wow’. The

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KING UP RIGHT TREE

JASON CADDY

materials came from the quarry at Aberfoyle, which was all cut here on the premises during the build with specialist equipment that we hired. The roof came from the stable block, at Buchanan Castle.”

It’s easy to see why he was a finalist in the Benromach Award for Success category at this year’s DRAM awards, as Sandy has quite a large footprint in the village now.

Says Sandy,“The Oak Tree now has nine rooms. I also own the six-acre field to the rear where we grow the produce, and where we built two cottages in early 2000, to extend our accommodation offering. My wife was responsible for all the interiors and soft furnishings. And in June 2010, we bought back the cottage next door to the Oak Tree, which we had sold in 2001, and turned it into the village shop.”

However he still runs the electrical business too. His son David is a director of the electrical business, and his sons Stuart and Sandy are partners in the Oak Tree.

His daughter Emma teaches in Thailand, while daughter Nina worked for a charity in South Africa, but they both still occasionally work front of house at the Oak Tree, under the guidance of mum, Lucy. The two youngest children, Holly and Ben, muck in during the school holidays.

His eldest son James was tragically killed in a basement flat fire in Glasgow in 1999, after which Sandy campaigned for a change in the multiple occupancy laws.

After garnering a groundswell of support, they were successful in bringing about a change in the law the following year.

I met Sandy at the centre of his operation, at the back of the Oak Tree.

He told me,“My electrical contractor business is my core business, I suppose, but the Oak Tree is definitely the more successful of the two. We have 70,000 plus walkers pass by every year. One of my strengths is that I really know my market.

I can look

around the bar at any one time and pinpoint the type of customer and who they’re in with. Husband and wife, illicit affairs – you name it.”

However, the last 14 years haven’t always been a breeze for the business. Sandy explains, “The right to roam legislation meant the late 90s and early 2000s saw an influx of wild camping, which has now been outlawed in favour of designated camping areas.

“Wild campers intimidated many families who would then refuse to leave their cars and walk. This broke a link going back generations, as this was always considered a safe place for families, and we have now re-established this link. The Oak Tree is very much a destination restaurant, and customers can now safely leave their cars, and then go hillwalking, canoeing etc.”

Sandy is also developing other tourism businesses. He explains, “I have two other developments in the pipeline. A £2.6m development of holiday homes at the old quarry at Buchanan Castle. The proposals are currently with the Loch Lomond & the Trossachs National Park Planning Authority. I’ve also applied for planning permission with the Park Authority to develop the site facing Balmaha Bay on land I’ve owned for 12 years, into a £1.8m micro-brewery and smoke house. It will employ 15 people.”

Born and bred in the forestry cottages at Rowardennan, Sandy was brought up with a strong sense of family and community. He is therefore passionate about providing jobs for life for local people. “We re-examine what we do on a weekly basis, and although there’s nowhere else in the immediate area doing what we are doing, we are never complacent. I employ 55 to 60 local people, and my passion is to stop the exodus of young people migrating to the city for jobs. If they have started out with me at the age of 14, I want them to know that they have a full time job with me. I’ll be creating more opportunities in the future with my two new projects.”

“The food side is my son Stuart’s domain.

I wouldn’t be here now without his passion for it all. He travelled across Australia and worked for Andrew Fairlie at Gleneagles, where he worked voluntarily on and off during his summer holidays, and learned a lot about his craft in doing so. He has mixed creativity with industriousness – as

this is a busy unit and at peak times we can be doing 500 main meals, plus 300 sandwiches and toasties.”

Sandy continues, “We aren’t fine dining but we are proud of the quality of our operation. We provide quality and consistency and grow all of our fruit and vegetables.

Stuart is also the driving force when it comes to embracing new technology. “He’s responsible for our website, and we now have a heavy social media presence, and people far and wide have learned got to know about our speciality fish dish, Arctic Charr. Some customers travel 100 miles for the fish alone!”

Sandy is incredibly open during our chat and keen for his family to share in the credit for his success. And much of his success he puts down to his roots, “My family are my passion and this is what drives the business,” he says. Sandy’s mother also ran an award-winning guest house in Balmaha – and was considered quite an authority on the subject. Says Sandy, “In 1980, she was chosen to represent ‘Scottish landladies’ on a promotional tour of America, organised by the British Tourist Board, and talked publicly about Scottish hospitality. She was quite a woman.”

There’s not much in the way of ‘down time’ in Sandy Fraser’s world, even when he is on holiday he has his business head on. Says Sandy, “My daughter’s teaching in Chiang Mai in northern Thailand, and when we visit her, I’m always on the lookout for new ideas, or products for the shop, so I suppose you could say that I’m always working. I also like cycling and walking. In recent times, I’ve cycled from Paris to London and climbed Mount Kilimanjaro.”

The sense of community also extends to his relationship with his neighbouring operators.

“My friends are local licensees in the area, and although we are friends, there is still a healthy dose of competition. I do like to stay ahead of the game by eating out as much as possible. We don’t always get it right, so it’s prudent to be out there,” he says.

He’s also looking forward with relish to the challenges that lay ahead. “I spent £430,000 refurbishing the village shop, and didn’t know much about the retail business. Similarly, I don’t know much about micro-breweries, but I’ll learn. It’s a risk, but I like risks.”

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SOFTIES - A VALUABLE COMMODITY

BY SUSAN YOUNG ALTHOUGH THERE’S PLENTY OF CHOICE WHEN IT COMES TO SOFT DRINKS IN THE OFFTRADE, WHEN IT COMES TO THE ON-TRADE ARE WE STUCK IN A RUT? SUSAN YOUNG TAKES A LOOK AT THE MARKET.

C

oke, Irn Bru, Red Bull and Schweppes splits – licensees were buying these brands for their customers a decade ago, and nothing much has changed. Ask just any licensee what their best selling soft drinks are, and these four still dominate. That doesn’t mean to say that you don’t have a carton of Cranberry behind the counter, but when it comes to anything out of the ordinary, consumers would be better served in their local sandwich shop.

Certainly when you talk to licensees the chances of them bringing up the subject of soft drinks voluntarily is just about nil, despite the fact that it accounts for a reasonable part of their turnover. And soft drinks is still one of the few drinks categories that is growing.

In fact in the on-trade, according to the recent soft drinks report from Britvic the value of soft drinks increased 1% last year, despite the fact that volumes fell 3%. However you have to bear in the mind that generally speaking right across the board sales in pubs fell between 5% - 10%, soft sales are holding up well.

The value of the on-trade market in the UK is £2.8bn, and if you take Scotland as roughly 10% of the total, it means that here the market is worth a substantial £280m.

In the on-trade, consumers are influenced because they are either drinking a soft drink as a mixer, or they are looking for an energy drink to give them a lift, or perhaps the drinker is a ‘designated’ driver. Although I have to say I have yet organised a night out with a designated driver. Do they exist?

There also appears to have been a move away from bottled soft drinks to drinks dispensed on the gun, as consumers try to be more economic with their spend in the pub. Paul Linthwaite, Britvic's business unit director for on-trade, said that many cashstrapped consumers have traded down to carbonates, especially dispensed cola and lemonade. Draught soft drinks saw value growth of 3% last year, while packaged sales of comparable products fell 1%.”

Linthwaite also believes that customers are bored with the range available in pubs. He says, "If you're not drinking alcohol, the choice of a carbonate, fruit juice or juice drink, or water, is actually quite boring." I would agree with him. When you are not drinking alcohol in a pub, you actually get fed up with the range of soft drinks on offer, not only that bartenders never try to get you to trade up, or make a soft drink recommendation. The only occasion that has happened to me in the last year was at Buzzworks when boss Colin Blair introduced me to their mock Mojito – a non-alcoholic drink that was absolutely delicious. They make an effort no doubt because Elliots very often has customers that have cars, and what better way to maximise sales than to have cocktails that that nonalcoholic, to cater for them. They do require a bit more work, but the GP is far greater too.

One range of drinks, particularly in Scotland, which is also relatively steady and still growing is energy. And Red Bull is way out in the lead. Coca Cola Enterprise may have taken Monster on last year, but the monster in Scotland is the Bull. That doesn’t mean to say it doesn’t have competition. You will find a plethora of energy drinks around, but in 80% of pubs it’s Red Bull that dominates.

Says Jim Rowan of Dunns Food and Drinks, “Red Bull now sells at

a good price, and they give licensees great support through promotions. That’s why they are maintaining their market share.”

And it’s not as if they don’t have competition. In the last few years there have been around 100 energy drink launches – one of the most recent being Kick Ultra, from Global Brands, which is very much trying to persuade consumers to drink Kick Ultra in cocktails and long mixed drinks. There’s also ‘Playboy Energy – promoted by Kelly Brook, there’s no doubt this drink is aimed at men… while Rockstar are bringing out Rockstar Pink a 10 calorie energy drink aimed at women.

One brand that promotes itself heavily, and successfully in Scotland, is our other national drink…Irn Bru. They have invested some £15m in the brand recently, and are now growing sales outside of Scotland. This year’s marketing includes a new ad which celebrates summertime. The 60-second seaside ad, includes a soundtrack from Scottish singing sensation Paolo Nutini and his hit ‘Pencil Full of Lead.’ At its launch, Adrian Troy, Head of Marketing for AG Barr said, “This commercial is another Irn-Bru classic and starts a summer-long campaign which will reinforce Irn-Bru’s position as a favourite choice for consumers. We feel this campaign has really captured the spirit of summer.”

Another soft drink which has been popular in Scotland in the past, and now seems to be making a comeback is ginger beer.

Claudia Flynn, Manager of Behind the Wall in Falkirk says, “Ginger beer and lime has become such a big seller lately that it now has its own button on the till.”

However she has also seen a lift in pineapple juice sales, she comments, “We had to get in cartons of pineapple juice because the baby bottles weren’t enough to meet demand. Our most popular-selling soft drinks are without doubt fresh orange and lemonade and diet coke, followed by soda and lime. Bottled water isn’t selling so well – although we now put a bottle of tap water on every table in the restaurant, so this may have made a difference to the sales.”

While Clem Barrere, Assistant Manager at The Voodoo Rooms in Edinburgh comments, “In the last six months, ginger beer and grapefruit juice have become very popular soft drinks. But the biggest swing we have seen has been away from diet drinks and water towards full fat cola, and orange juice and lemonade.”

Brendan O’Neil of Morrisons Cold Beer Co in Stirling says, “Ginger beer is going great guns, but mainly as a mixer.” He adds, “I’ve also noticed that people tend to order a lot more tap water than bottled.”

The move to drinking tap water, has led to bottled water sales seeing a significant decline. That could be because YouGov research reveals that 71% of consumers believe that tap water is just as good as bottled.

There is a lot of opportunity out there for licensees when it comes to soft drinks. More so that you might realise, and in this economic climate a category that is showing growth in value is certainly worth paying more attention to. Perhaps licensees should be looking closer at what restaurateurs are doing to promote soft drinks this area of the licensed trade has seen a sales increase 26%.

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SUE

SAYS

T

here have been highs and lows this month. Of course the DRAM Awards were great. I must take my hat off to the Grand Central Hotel who were just brilliant to deal with. And the feedback from our guests has been superb. Chef Murphy and his team are to be applauded, the food went down a treat. From bar manager James Anderson to the man in charge of banqueting on the night, Barry Van Den Berg, and Wendy Johnston, they were a real pleasure to do business with. I think Laurie Nicol, the hotel’s GM, has picked a super team. Thank you and well done.

I also think the judges were also great, and made some brave decisions. Unfortunately not everyone can be a winner, but in every case, the winning people, bars and clubs proved to the judges that on the day/night, they deserved the title. Although some categories were close run, the winning outlets were on every occasion a

unanimous decision. And most finalists who weren’t winners, were very gracious.

There is always next year, and it’s great to see some new people picking up awards.

What made the event bitter sweet, was the fact that Donna Ballantyne died on the morning of the event. Her obituary is below. The trade has lost a very special person.

I’ve also heard that Mark Goldinger is terribly ill. He too is much loved by his family and friends and by people who know him in the trade. Our thoughts are with him and his family at this time.

I caught up with Donald Mcleod recently, he was in a wheelchair, clutching a zimmer… the occasion his 50th. Amazingly it was the first time that I have heard him sing on stage – thankfully! Only joking. Since I have known Donald since he was about 15, I would say he is improving with age! Roll on the next 50…

My piece last month on rating and how the

trade should be campaigning for a level playing field when it comes to rates ie they ought to be be evaluated on sq ft rather than turnover, hit a chord. As you will see from the letter below. I think it about time we got a campaign going.

One of the items covered in your column was a mention of the new unfair business rates introduced this year increasing many of our rates considerably by using the gross turnover with no recognition of the bottom line.

Where does the government think we can afford this hike whilst every other commodity is being increased in price plus VAT. We have appealed against this increase but local councils are unlikely to give this issue high importance. It would be interesting to see how many in the licensed trade have appealed and do they know the knock on affect to their annual fee to the license board and the unmetered water services calculated by using the rateable value?

George Grant, The Sorn Inn

DONNA MORTIMER BALLANTYNE Donna Mortimer Ballantyne lost her courageous battle against melanoma last month. Donna, the youngest daughter of James and Rena Mortimer, had been battling the disease for the past nine years but still managed to work, raise more than £1m for charity and spend as much time as possible with her three children and husband James Donna spent all her working life in the licensed trade, starting out at 16, in the family business and during her 23 years with the business worked across all of Lynnet Leisure’s units. One of her earliest roles was manning the cloakroom at Victoria’s, then the company’s flagship outlet, where her cheeky chat and sunny disposition greeted allcomers.

Her funeral in Bothwell was attended by the good and the great of Scotland’s showbiz, business and sporting fraternities including Sir Alex Ferguson, Walter Smith, Ally McCoist and Alex McLeish. Sir Tom Hunter and Michelle Mone, to name but a few, as well as hundreds of other mourners.

Alexandra Burke sang Hallelujah – a fitting tribute to a woman who brought the best out in everyone that she touched.

Speaking about Donna’s courageous battle against cancer the doctors who treated her said that she was an ‘inspiration’. That she never complained and was in fact a tower of strength to other cancer sufferers. While Willie Haughey addressed the congregation on behalf of the family and told the assembled audience to leave with their heads held high and smiling, because that’s what Donna would have wanted

Donna believed that she contracted skin cancer after using unmanned coinoperated tanning booths as a teenager, and after she was diagnosed with melanoma she helped raise awareness of the dangers of sunbeds. Although the original melanoma was removed, in 2006 the disease returned with a vengeance, but that didn’t stop Donna raising a massive £1m for cancer charities including the Beatson Oncology Centre, Glasgow and the Kilbryde Hospice Appeal in Lanarkshire, of which she was a director. She was also an ambassador for the Fake Bake Save Your Skin Campaign, which campaigns against the use of unmanned sunbeds.

Since 2006 Donna has fought the disease, not willing to give in to it. She endured intensive chemotherapy in the States, and in the UK. All through her illness she was supported by husband James, and her family –Mum and dad, James, Rena, and sisters Christine, Lynn, Jackie and Annette. They couldn’t have done more for her, and she really appreciated their support.

Donna will be remembered for her outgoing and bubbly personality. Her caring and her empathy, her determination to be there for her children Dylan, Sophie and Leon. I’m sure she will be there for them all in spirit.

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ROUNDUP

After the 2011 DRAM awards people mingled, relaxed and partied.

DRAM DRINKS RETAILING AND MARKETING PUBLISHED BY MEDIA WORLD LIMITED UPPER FLOOR / FINNIESTON HOUSE / 1 THE STABLES YARD / 1103 ARGYLE STREET / GLASGOW / G3 8ND t. 0141 221 6965 e. dram@mail.com web. www.dramscotland.co.uk Editor: Susan Young • Chairman: Noel Young • Production Manager: James Devlin • Advertising Executive: Martin Cassidy • Editorial: Jason Caddy • Administration: Kate Robinson Published by Media World Ltd. Subscriptions: DRAM is available by subscription for all other qualified persons involved in the Scottish Licensed Trade at the rate of £48 per annum including the DRAM Yearbook.

The publishers, authors and printers cannot accept liability for errors or omissions. Any transparencies or artwork will be accepted at owner’s risk. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without the written permission of the copyright holder and publisher, application for which should be made to the publisher. Articles published in this magazine do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the publishers. © Media World Limited 2011.

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