A China Anniversary for

because the government there had banned the making of gambling machines - which were fundamental to the success of an Australian bar! So instead of a bar in Paddington, Sydney we bought one in Aberdeen.” It was the entrepreneurial spirit that his dad instilled in him that Nic is now trying to instil in his management team. He says, “I always try to encourage managers to think for themselves. To think about how they would run the business if it was their own? How would they spend the money? Mind you, it was a lot easier when I only had five units! Then, you sat and had a conversation with managers every other day. They got their notebook out once a week and if something wasn’t working, or changes were needed, we discussed what we could do and how could we make it work. There are still a few people who work with us who remember the way it was then.”

After buying The Rutland, the next big step was when he bought five former Maclay pubs in 2016. Two years later, he bought his brothers business which included the Boozy Cow chain, Nox and Paramount bars in Aberdeen and The Auld Hundred in Edinburgh. Says Nic, “When I took over my brothers’ business, that was hard. We almost doubled the size of my business overnight. Garreth wanted to go on a different path and set up a charity - he is now doing a fantastic job setting up operating theatres in countries all over the world for children. He has made a massive difference, that was always where he wanted to be.”

Over the subsequent years the business continued to flourish with Nic buying units as they came along, and he diversified into brewing by creating the Cold Town House brewery and brand.

Although the recession of 2008 was tough it wasn’t as tough as Covid. Says Nic, “Covid was a bigger shock, purely because we were sitting there with days to go, and you could see what was going to happen. In 2008 we got stuck in. We just got on with it. With Covid, we didn’t know what was going to happen, and we quickly realised that we were going to get screwed, when we had done nothing wrong. I had 700 staff but luckily things came into play for it to work.

Since Covid, Signature have offered on a couple of businesses but have not bought anything. He explains, “We haven’t bought anything in the last three years. That is not just because of Covid, but it is the aftermath of Brexit. When you talk about buying a new business the most intimidating thing, if starting from scratch, is finding the people to do it. We can’t find enough staff for 20 units right now - how could we manage taking on another and finding an extra 80 people? Over the 18 months there have been times when it has not been worth opening some units on certain days, because we have so few staff. Sometimes we need to shut a bar and move the staff to another one in order to ensure that we can trade profitably.”

Having said that Signature did offer on two venues recently – one was the former Film House on Lothian Road, which fell through because the administrators let the licence go and wanted a clean offer from the entrepreneur. Nic comments, “I was quite excited about our plans, but I didn’t want to invest without the assurance that the licence would be granted. However, in last 18 months, although we haven’t grown the business in terms of units we have strengthened the business with a real focus on training and retaining staff.

“When you go to places such as Newcastle it reminds you how more fun can be achieved when you make entertainment interactive. It’s not about encouraging people to get drunk but encouraging them to have more fun.

Nic Wood

“We used to be able to take our pick of experienced staff, we had a good reputation as a good company to work for and you could get people through the door. Hospitality recruitment, as everyone knows, is a real issue for us all. There is just not enough staff to go around. Now we are employing 18-year-olds with no bar experience – they just need to demonstrate that they have a bit of chat. We then train them up. That costs us more time and money, and obviously because we are investing more in them, we want them to stay with us longer. So, retention is very important, and we incentivise staff with bonuses and such like. We are also considering putting a training facility in the basement of our HQ.

“I hadn’t given two hoots about politics before Covid. Then, I ended up getting stuck into it. We were a founding member of the Scottish Hospitality Group, which we set up because we were so frustrated. Talking to politicians was just brutal. We were trying to talk to people and quickly realised that they did not care – or certainly the person that they were giving the information back to didn’t care. The amount of conversations we had trying to get them to see things from a hospitality point of view and how they could do things better, which could have fundamentally cost them less money, but they were not interested. I realised our politicians basically don’t understand how the economy works – for first time in my life my eyes were really opened to the quality of politicians in Scotland and how poorly anything we said was received, even when we could show them the benefits.”

“What frustrates me most is the fact that politicians could help fix this problem, but they just blame each other. Why does Labour always blame the Conservatives and the SNP always blame Westminster? I was more impressed by the Lib Dems at the recent election, they seem to be much more positive in trying to come up with ideas, rather than slagging people off – and they actually said that’s why they thought people voted for them. Quite frankly it doesn’t matter whose fault the recruitment issue is – we have to fix it. The problem is all the things that the government is saying is not helping us get staff now.

“What could be done right now? They could cut down the cost of sponsorship and open it up. That is my top wish. We could be developing programmes with other counties such as with India, the Philippines, Australia, Canada, New Zealand or offer two year work permits like Australia does.

“Hospitality gives people great life skills - the ability to converse, negotiate, and deal with situations - which you wouldn’t learn on a phone chatting to your pals.

“We have gone one step in the right direction by trying to big up hospitality to young people, but now we almost have to big up the perception of hospitality to parents. We need to make them proud to say their son or daughter works in hospitality. That is part of the problem.”

The second acquisition he attempted was that of the Caledonian Brewery. “We wanted to keep it as a brewery. Our Cold Town brand is getting a lot of recognition and we are bursting at the seams at Powderhall. When we first took that on, it seemed huge, and we had lots of spare space. We would have moved the brewery from Powderhall and put our offices there too, however, the owners decided to sell it for a residential development instead.”

He also admits that before Covid they had started thinking about adistillery, and had gone quite far into the process. But these plans are on hold for the time being. But he admits he, and his team, love coming up with new ideas. “We had plans for a distillery before covid - distilling everything from vodka, to gin, and whisky. We’ve talked about wineries, or, buying barrels and bringing them across and bottling ourselves.

However, not all ideas make sense, and that’s why we haven’t done them yet. It’s great to have good ideas, but sometimes the practicalities are complicated.

“I get eyeballs from everyone when I suggest doing things like buying a farm and producing our own beef from A-Z!”

He has also considered buying a bar down South. “When you go to places such as Newcastle it reminds you how more fun can be achieved when you make entertainment interactive. It’s not about encouraging people to get drunk but encouraging them to have more fun. We have been debating whether to open a bar there. Politicians there seem to have better appreciation with regard to how hospitality works. They understand that pubs are meant to be places where people go and have some fun.”

Now Nic has 20 years under his belt at Signature and 20 units, I askedhim what was next? “You always ask me what’s next, I’m not sure. In another 20 years I’ll be 70! I am not one for giving out compliments, but I’ve got a great team. I feel they are committed for the long term – we’ve been with each other through the ups and downs, and we all work well together. We are certainly looking for new venues, and new projects.” So watch this space.

Experience EVOLUTION 23, a drinks event like no other. Join us on Tuesday 5th September, from 12 noon until 5, at the iconic PLATFORM in the heart of GLASGOW.

EVOLUTION is more than just a drinks event; it is INVERARITY

MORTON’S celebration of the EVEREVOLVING drinks industry. Curated in partnership between Inverarity Morton and key brand partners, prepare yourself for an afternoon like no other! Witness amazing BRAND ACTIVATIONS, sample all the LATEST TRENDS and new INNOVATIVE SERVES.

Explore over 80 BRANDS, experience sensational flavours, and allow Inverarity Morton to redefine your relationship with drinks. We’ve partnered with PLATFORM to curate world-inspired street food, showcasing the remarkable versatility of pairing culinary delights with a wide range of beverages.

DON’T MISS OUT on securing your place at Scotland’s most dynamic and immersive drinks event brought to you by INVERARITY MORTON. Contact your IM Account Manager for more information.