Hotel Scotland issue 25

HOTELSCOTLAND ISSUE 25 DECEMBER 2019 ISSN 2515-8287

THE BLYTHSWOOD CELEBRATES WITH MOËT & CHANDON

WWW.VALENTINEFRYERS.COM

CONTENTS

4 NEWS 13 EMAIL MARKETING

15 REVIEW OF THE YEAR

18

TOM YOUNGER

WELCOME

18 INTERVIEW:

TOM YOUNGER OF ARCHERFIELD HOUSE

24 DESIGN:

W

e are galloping towards the end of the year and it has certainly been a busy year on the hotel front.

This issue I take a look back at the last 12 months in our annual review.

Our cover features the team at the Blythswood Hotel in Glasgow toasting the arrival of its Moët & Chandon Bar. See news for the full story.

And many thanks to our wonderful photographer, Gerardo Jaconelli, for pulling out all the stops.

I also interviewed Tom Younger of Archerfield. Find out what he has to say on our centre pages. Next issue we will have all the news on the HIT Health and Wellbeing Summit which took place at Archerfield.

The new-look Station Hotel in Aberdeen was unveiled last month. Jason Caddy reports on the new look.

Everybody in the Hotel Scotland office is starting to get into the spirit of the season and I hope that you too are beginning to feel a lot like Christmas.

Hopefully it will be a smooth-running season for you all.

THE STATION HOTEL

26 DESIGN:

HAMILTON PARK

29 FAWN BALL

24

34 CHECKOUT

THE STATION HOTEL

29 IO

FAWN BALL

See you next year.

Susan Young Editor

susan@mediaworldltd.com @hotel_scotland hotelmagazinescotland.co.uk

HOTELSCOTLAND Published by Media World Limited t: 0141 221 6965 e: news@mediaworldltd.com w: hotelmagazinescotland.co.uk

Editor: Susan Young Editorial: Jason Caddy Advertising: Julia Smith Commercial Manager: Justin Wingate Production:, Fiona Gauld, Jack Thompson Admin: Cheryl Cook

Upper floor Finnieston House 1 Stables Yard 1103 Argyle Street Finnieston, Glasgow G3 8ND

Subscriptions: HOTEL SCOTLAND is available by subscription at the rate of £52 per annum. The publishers, authors and printers cannot accept liability for errors or omissions. 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 2019. Printed by Stephens & George Print Group.

HOTELSCOTLAND • 3

NEWS

LISINI TEAM PUT ON A GREAT COMPETITION

Gleneagles’ The Strathearn Series celebrates Scotland’s brightest kitchen talent Gleneagles’ Executive Chef, Simon Attridge, is to welcome a host of acclaimed guest chefs in the New Year to The Strathearn restaurant’s kitchen.

The guest chefs are all head chefs or chef-patrons in small independent restaurants and represent some of the best upcoming talent in the industry.

They include Roberta Hall from Edinburgh’s The Little Chartroom’s, Paul Graham from Edinburgh’s Sonder’s, Scott Smith from Edinburgh’s Fhior’s and Sam Carter from Restaurant 22 in Cambridge.

The collaboration, titled The Strathearn Series, will mean that 12 guests will enjoy a six-course, wine-paired meal, prepared in front of them in The Scullery – an open kitchen within the hotel’s newly-renovated Strathearn restaurant. The cost of the package will vary from £500 to £550 depending on the time of year and includes an overnight stay for two.

Chef Attridge comments, “This unique series of events is about breaking down the barrier between the restaurant and the kitchen and inviting guests to join in the fun. From the kitchen buzz and the banter between chefs, to the relaxed and lively atmosphere, I want our guests to feel like they’re coming round to my house for a dinner party.

“All our guest chefs represent different culinary styles, but they share a common passion for great food and the best seasonal produce. Each of the menus will be based on the guest chef ’s signature style, so all the menus will be completely unique.”

4 • HOTELSCOTLAND

Employees from Dalziel Park Hotel in Motherwell, Angels in Uddingston, The Castle Rooms and The Parkville in Blantyre competed in an inter company food and cocktail competition titled Heavenly Creations late last month.

The competition was a closely fought battle with staff even coming in on their days off to compete.

Siobhan Edwards, one of the masterminds of the competition explains, “Normally drinks lists and food menus are created

by Head Chefs and General Managers but the team decided that grassroots staff needed to be involved too. So we invited bar staff to come up with their

own cocktails ideas and kitchen staff to come up with food dishes.”

The competitors then prepared their drinks and dishes for a judging panel who scored them. The winners will be announced shortly with the winning concoctions going on the menus at Lisini venues.

Siobhan Edwards concludes, “What a great team effort. I was extremely proud to witness their exceptional talent and as Garry Rae Executive Head Chef said - we talk about listening ...about development and bringing people on but proof is in the pudding and events like this unleash the talents for people who have a passion for hospitality. This will be a big annual event.”

MOËT & CHANDON’S CHRISTMAS MAGIC AT THE BLYTHSWOOD It’s the most magical time of the year and this Christmas Moët & Chandon unveiled its Moët & Chandon Bar at The Blythswood Square Hotel in Glasgow.

Invited guests were treated to Christmas carols sung by the Glasgow Gospel Choir in the foyer of the hotel which also featured a dazzling Christmas tree elegantly accessorised by Moët Chandon decorations.

They enjoyed Moët by the glass poured from iconic magnums complete with complimentary Moët pretzels whilst revelling in festive sounds.

The guests were also invited to try Moet’s

new cocktail, Fairytale of New York - which is Solerno blood orange liqueur and orange and clove syrup topped with Moët, and garnished with Moët-branded orange peel for sparkling splendour.

The bar, which will be in place in the hotel until Hogmanay, will offer guests The Moët Champagne Afternoon Tea, which runs daily for guests and remains faithful to the classic combination of finger sandwiches, scones served warm with clotted cream, sweet pastries and freshly baked cakes. The centrepiece of afternoon tea is, of course, a chilled glass of Moët.

IT’S DOG FRIENDLY FROM BREWDOG

BrewDog, the infamous craft brewers, have opened a dog-friendly hotel in Aberdeen called The Kennels. The mini-hotel, with six rooms, is located above its Castlegate Bar on Union Street and comes complete with dog beds and treats available upon request. The company say it is the first of its kind in the UK. Guests are treated to a welcome beer at check-in, and all the rooms will feature a beer fridge in the shower, bedding from Simba Sleep and bikes available for rental.

NEWS

MACDONALD HOTELS SELL ICONIC RUSACKS HOTEL

Anne Gracie Gunn Awarded Highland Ambassador of the Year accolade Leading Skye hotelier, Anne Gracie Gunn, has been awarded Highland Ambassador of the Year at the Highlands & Islands Tourism Awards 2019, held at Drumossie Hotel in Inverness.

Anne who owns three family-run boutique hotels on the Isle of Skye known as The Sonas Collection. The three venues, Duisdale House Hotel, Toravaig House and Skeabost, are known for their elegant dining, picturesque scenery, personable service and comfortable accommodation.

The Highland Ambassador of the Year category, sponsored by SSE, recognises an individual who has significantly shaped the future of the tourism industry throughout the Highlands and Islands. Anne was celebrated for her commitment and passion for the industry and the time and energy she has spent making a difference to the tourism in the local area.

Anne Gracie Gunn said, “I am over the moon to be awarded Ambassador of the Year at the Highlands and Islands Tourism Awards. To be recognised in an industry full of amazing individuals who work incredibly hard to make the region’s tourism industry

as strong as it is, is a huge achievement.

I’d like to thank all those involved in the Highlands and Islands Tourism Awards and the team at Sonas Collection for their continued hard work and support. I am proud to be a part of such a thriving industry known worldwide for its incredible quality of service, warm hospitality and incredible food and drink.”

Macdonald Hotels has sold the Rusacks Hotel in St Andrews and the leasehold interest of the Randolph Hotel in Oxford to Chicago-based AJ Capital Partners for an undisclosed sum.

Macdonald Hotels Group (MHG) deputy chairman Gordon Fraser said, “This is a superb deal for the business, which allows us to reduce our borrowings significantly while we progress a number of very positive options for the refinancing of the group.

“The scale of the deal reflects both the long-term performance and enormous potential of these landmark properties and I am confident they are in very good hands.”

The sale of the two properties has allowed the hotel group to pull out of plans to sell 27 of its properties in a £190m deal that at the time would have helped to pay the majority of the company’s debts held by Lloyds Bank.

The deal was abandoned after the group received a “major offer” for Rusacks and the Randolph. But it is believed the group will still have to renegotiate its terms on the remaining debt before Lloyd’s January deadline. This may mean another sale.

AJ Capital Partners’ Graduate Hotels brand, launched in 2014, and operates 21 hotels in university towns across the U.S. but only one in the UK - Graduate Cambridge. Plans are already in place to expand and renovate The Rusacks Hotel with a new carpark, a 44-bed new extension and a large rooftop extension which will offer views of the Old Course. Work on the expansion will be completed by July 2021.

HOTELSCOTLAND • 5

NEWS

Lithium-ion battery to help power a 200-room hotel in Scotland The Edinburgh Park hotel has now started to use a lithium-ion battery to help power its operations.

The 200-room Premier Inn in Edinburgh is trialling the 100-kilowatt battery with the aim of better managing its energy consumption, as reported in Hotel Scotland a few months ago.

The battery weighs around five metric tons and takes two hours to fully charge up and has the capacity to run the site for as much as three hours.

Energy company E.ON supplied and installed the battery technology. In a statement, the firm said Edinburgh Park was chosen “in part because Scotland is a large producer of renewable power, such as wind power, which can be prone to volatility.”

E.ON said the installation was expected to save the hotel £20,000 in energy savings annually and that if it proved to be successful the trial could be extended to other Premier Inn sites.

By using battery storage the hotel will have the ability to draw electricity from the grid when prices are low, storing that energy for use at peak times and having the ability to sell it back to the grid to help balance supply and demand on the network.

DRYFESDALE BECOMES AN OYO BRANDED HOTEL OYO Hotels & Homes is the world’s second largest and fastest growing hotel company with more than 175 OYO-branded hotels across the UK, including several in Scotland.

The Dryfesdale Hotel in Lockerbie is the most recent hotel to join the OYO family. The hotel will continue to operate under the same management, with OYO working closely with the owner to maintain its visibility to visitors and optimise its operations.

The hotel has been owned since 2004 by Glen Wright, who commented, “Dryfesdale Hotel has been running very successfully for the last 15 years, thanks in no small part to our fantastic team, but now with OYO’s support and expertise, we’re looking forward to an even brighter future.”

Jeremy Sanders, head of OYO UK, added, “We’re delighted to be working in partnership with Glen Wright at The OYO Dryfesdale Hotel which is the first four-star OYO hotel in Scotland.”

As well as the OYO Dryfesdale Hotel, Mr Wright also owns The Queens Hotel in Lockerbie which will continue to run independently of OYO. With 29 rooms and independently owned, Dryfesdale Hotel is typical of the type of hotel OYO works with. The hotel now has new fascia signage reflecting its rebrand to OYO Dryfesdale Hotel Six years since its founding, OYO has over 1.2 million rooms across its 35,000 hotels and 125,000 vacation homes in 80 countries.

YOTEL EDINBURGH LAUNCHES THE SLEEP CLUB YOTEL Edinburgh is inviting tired new mums (and dads) to become members of The Sleep Club by offering 100 free rooms to those who need (and deserve) a good night’s sleep.

As par t of the package the hotel is also launching BOOBER, a mum-umental milk taxi service (inspired by THAT popular transpor t app) enabling mums to send fresh bottles of breast milk back home, just in time for the evening feed. Swapping the changing bag for a bag of a different kind, the package will also come with a Good Sleep Goody Bag to help forget mini-me at home and to enjoy some uninterrupted pamper time.

Commenting on the new package, Emily-Jane Clark, author of Sleep Is For The Weak (How To Survive When Your 6 • HOTELSCOTLAND

Baby Won’t Go The F**k to Sleep), said, “After two babies and years of sleep deprivation YOTEL Edinburgh’s Sleep Club is music to my ears! Nothing can prepare you for the tiredness you feel as a new parent so having a place to escape to, alone, with a big glass of wine is invaluable.

“YOTEL has truly thought of everything and if BOOBER had been around when I was breastfeeding, I would’ve jumped at the chance for a night away. Make the most of it and enjoy a good night’s sleep – if anyone deserves it, it’s new parents.”

Stuar t Douglas, General Manager at YOTEL Edinburgh, said, “As a parent myself, I know how valuable sleep is. Our aim is to help mums and dads reclaim at least some of the countless hours of sleep lost whilst raising a family.

NEWS

Glasgow’s Grand Central Hotel raise £6,000 to help homeless people and sick children in Scotland Grand Central Hotel in Glasgow is well on target to meet its promise to raise significant funds for Social Bite and the Glasgow Children’s Hospital Charity, as part of a twoyear partnership with the two charities.

As well as raising money, 11 staff volunteered to run a soup kitchen for Glasgow’s homeless out of its Deli restaurant, with the next one scheduled for near the end of the month. The Grand Central team also raised £4,500 in a trek up Ben Nevis and by racing in Pedal for Scotland.

The staff aim to raise fur ther a £1,100 by joining Social Bite’s Sleep in the Park event on 7th December.

Guests of the hotel have also been doing their par t by donating £1 to

Milligans put Ballathie House Hotel on the market Ballathie House, considered to be one of Scotland’s finest castle-like country house hotels, has been put on the market with an asking price of nearly £5 million. The hotel which has been owned by oil tycoon John Milligan since 2005, and run by son Mark who is MD, has 53 rooms in total, 25 of which are in the main house, all ensuite.

Within the Riverside House, a more modern annexe, just 100 yards from the main house, there are 28 contained rooms which enjoy views across the River Tay. Adjacent to this, 12 Sportsman’s Lodges graded as Three-Star have been erected, which are perfect for outdoor enthusiasts.

The hotel itself has a themed bar and lounge with an extensive whisky collection, a 2AA Rosette restaurant, and meeting room.

Ballathie, which was originally a sporting estate, still has private fishing rights on the

River Tay, and caters for fishermen and those that enjoy outdoor pursuits.

The current owners have owned the larger Estate since 1998 and the hotel since 2005.

Stuart Drysdale, Director at Christie & Co, is handling the sale and comments, “Ballathie House Hotel is a superb example of a Scottish castle-style Country House, set in classic Perthshire countryside on an elevated position over-looking the River Tay. Family owned and operated for many years, the hotel benefits from the wider Perthshire catchment area, while also proving attractive to home grown and international visitors looking for a classic Scottish break.”

They also suggest that there is significant potential for a new owner to increase the estate’s income through the development of additional luxury accommodation or spa facilities within the vast grounds (subject to planning consent).

par tnership charities once they check out.

Paul Bray, General Manager of the Grand Central Hotel, said, “We pride ourselves in our effor ts to help our community and the city of Glasgow as a whole. It’s par t of our culture of working here at this iconic hotel and we know our guests appreciate being able to get involved and help in any way they can to give back to those less for tunate.”

Guests have also helped to raise £1,500 from £1 donated each time they pick a special desser t and cocktail. The desser t, a Black Forrest cheesecake, is available from the hotel’s Tempus restaurant while the cocktail, available from the Champagne Central bar, is the Dragon Sour made with Disaronno amaretto, ginger syrup, wasabi, lemon and egg white.

The Best Western Hilcroft Hotel in Whitburn has been sold to the Argyllbased BV Group. The popular 32-room hotel had been owned by the Hilditch family since the 1980’s. The BV Group owns two other Scottish hotels: Best Western The Crianlarich Hotel and The Inveraray Inn, a BW Signature Collection hotel.

Balbirnie House Hotel in Markinch, has increased its turnover by more than 8%.

It grew from £2.8 million in 2018, to £3m for the year ending April 30 2019 and posted a profit of £124,007.

Managing director Nicholas Russell said in its annual report that the the directors were “very happy indeed to see a return to profit in this financial year”.

IF YOU HAVE ANY NEWS LET US KNOW. EMAIL US AT: NEWS@MEDIAWORLDLTD.COM HOTELSCOTLAND • 7

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NEWS

TRONGATE TO GET APARTHOTEL The former Royal Bank of Scotland building on Glasgow’s Trongate may be demolished to make way for a 157room, 12-storey aparthotel if Caledon Property Group get the go-ahead from planners. The company has appointed Mosaic Architecture & Design to oversea the project, which adjoins Candleriggs Square. The same team has already completed the refurbishment of 190 Trongate into serviced apartments.

Mosaic is also the architects working on the former Glasgow Garden Festival for Pacific Quay Developments who are planning

a hotel on the south bank of the River Clyde which will include conferencing and co-working space alongside a seventh floor skybar. The 150-bedroom Holiday Inn will be part of a £18m development designed to cater for visitors to the SEC. Neil Haining of Mosaic said, “The development has been designed to take advantage of the views of the SECC, The Hydro and the Finnieston Crane, with ground floor hotel reception and public areas connecting through to an external terrace and a rooftop Skybar and terrace with north and south facing views.”

McLeod reveals plans for Aurora hotels American magazine Forbes has selected the debut of The Red Carnation Hotel Collection’s first Scottish hotel next year as one of the “20 most anticipated world openings of 2020”. No pressure!

Flamboyant Stirling hotelier Steven McLeod is back on form following recent legal disputes with shareholders which saw him restructure his business.

The hotelier, who owns Airth Castle,The Parsonage and Glenbervie House is planning on a raft of refurbishments. First up is Glenbervie

House with McLeod revealing plans for its new Drawing Room Bar. He has also revealed plans for a Glass Dome which will be available for hire next year. Plans are afoot to refurbish Airth Castle too, and the Parsonage.The plans for the latter include creating a custom-made ballroom instead of utilising the two marquees.

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HOTELSCOTLAND • 9

GREAT WHISKY

CHRISTMAS WHI 01 LOCH LOMOND 12 YEAR OLD SINGLE MALT

02 LITTLEMILL 29 YEAR OLD

Since 1814 Loch Lomond Distillery has been distilling and crafting the finest single malt whisky. Whiskies which are as beautifully delicious as the landscape is stunning.

Loch Lomond 12 year Old Single Malt uses a combination of whisky from our unique straight neck pot stills and more traditional swan neck stills to give a distinguished fruity character found only in Loch Lomond Single Malt.This perfectly balanced single malt brought together by Michael Henry, our master blender, has a deep, fruity character of peach and pear layered with vanilla sweetness and a gentle hint of peat and smoke. Perfect for any Christmas malt range.

Aged in three types of cask – bourbon, refill and recharred – these whiskies are bottled at 46% non-chill filtered, to keep things as nature intended.

Now recognised to have been the oldest licensed distillery in Scotland, Littlemill distillery fell silent in 1994 and was destroyed by fire in 2004, making this liquid exceptionally rare and covetable.

Littlemill 29-year-old is the third release from the Private Cellar Collection, each crafted by Master Blender Michael Henry in Littlemill’s traditional Lowland ‘floral’ style.This latest release places emphasis on developing the wood character and only 600 bottles have been released across the world.

The liquid is contained within a bespoke Glencairn crystal decanter etched with an illustration of the River Clyde and a silver star signifying the Littlemill distillery’s location. Situated in Bowling on the banks for the River Clyde, it would prove to be a defining factor in the distillery’s success, opening important trade routes to key cities including Glasgow and Edinburgh when the Forth and Clyde Canal was completed in the 1790s.

03 LAPHROAIG® 10-YEAR-OLD

04 GLEN SCOTIA VICTORIANA

Our 10-Year-Old is the original Laphroaig, distilled the same way today as when Ian Hunter invented it more than 75 years ago. It is the foundation of all other Laphroaig expressions.

In making Laphroaig, malted barley is dried over a peat fire.

The smoke from this peat, found only on Islay, gives Laphroaig its par ticularly rich flavour.

Those enjoying the 10-Year-Old will first notice the bold, smoky taste, followed by a hint of seaweed, a surprising sweetness, and a long finish.

Glen Scotia Victoriana is a modern interpretation of a classic Victorian style Campbeltown malt. Bottled at cask strength, it is full of flavour with a long, beautifully smooth finish.

Each cask is hand chosen by our Master Blender, Michael Henry for its character, maturity and flavour ensuring this amazing liquid truly reflects why Campbeltown was known as the “Victorian Whisky Capital of the world”.

Married in small batches and bottled at cask strength without chill filtration, its subtle wood and vanilla flavour is enhanced by a full bodied spicy aroma and mildly smoky aftertaste.

10 • HOTELSCOTLAND

ISKY SHOWCASE 05 FIRE & CANE

06 GRAND CRU

Glenfiddich Fire & Cane is a bold fusion of smoky and sweet notes. By marrying peated whisky and malts matured in bourbon barrels, and then finishing in Latin rum casks, it has created an exquisite whisky with campfire smokiness and toffee sweetness. This is the 4th release in the Glenfiddich Experimental Series, designed to continue to push the boundaries of what is possible with Single Malt Scotch.

This exclusive Glenfiddich expression has been matured for 23 years in American and European oak casks and elegantly finished in rare French cuvee casks. The finest flavours from Scotland and France have been fused together through the art of experimentation, to redefine moments of celebration and create a new and extraordinary drinking experience.

07 GLENGOYNE UNVEILS TEAPOT DRAM BATCH NO. 007 Glengoyne Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky unveiled the latest batch of its coveted Teapot Dram - Batch No. 007 - earlier this month. Only 3,993 bottles of the inimitable spirit available to whisky connoisseurs exclusively from the Glengoyne Distillery shop and online. This limitededition whisky, which has been matured in only 10 first fill European Oak Oloroso sherry casks in the dunnage warehouses of Glengoyne.

We are absolutely delighted to be unveiling the latest batch in our ever-popular Glengoyne Teapot Dram series, just in time for the festive season.

“Each batch has its own incomparable character, having been carefully and patiently nurtured and selected at its prime, and Batch No. 007 is no exception. Luscious and mouth-coating, it may even be our best batch yet and certainly one which we know our fans will be raving over.”

The Teapot Dram series has been created in tribute to an old Glengoyne Distillery tradition: until the 1970s, workers would be given three fingers of whisky, three times each day. Most distilleries gave their teams new make spirit, but not Glengoyne. At Glengoyne, the finest whisky from first fill Oloroso sherry casks was chosen for the distillery workers’ drams. The less seasoned stillmen would, to save face, discreetly pour some of their untouched drams into a copper teapot which sat on the canteen windowsill, ready for their older colleagues to enjoy later.Glengoyne Distillery is owned by one of Scotland’s leading independent, family-owned distillers, Ian Macleod Distillers. Glengoyne runs the slowest stills in Scotland to build up fruity richness and fill the finest Oloroso Sherry casks. Teapot Dram Batch No. 007 has an RRP of £120.

HOTELSCOTLAND • 11

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FEATURE

EMAIL MARKETING: THE ‘OLD MAN’ OF DIGITAL MARKETING, BUT IT STILL HAS PULLING POWER…

BY GORDON WHITE, MANAGING DIRECTOR, FATBUZZ It may not be as ‘sexy’ as other forms of digital marketing, but email is undoubtedly still one of the best ways to drive sales; in fact, I would argue that it is still the most effective of any marketing activity.

It’s curious then, why so few businesses have a coherent strategy for Email Marketing. For many, an email newsletter is more of a chore than a genuine opportunity to drive sales.

Others cite GDPR as a reason for pulling back from regular emails, and many simply think they lack a variety of exciting content to make it worthwhile.

The reality is, an opted-in subscriber is not only someone why has agreed to hear from you; it is someone who is expecting to hear from you. And they are expecting to hear from you more often than you think.

It is a proven fact that people who have an affinity with a consumer brand will stay subscribed, even when the brand send them two or more emails every week.They may not read all of them, but they won’t unsubscribe if they are genuinely interested in the brand.

Successful Email Marketing starts with a clearly defined strategy. It has to look at the aims and objectives, the content plan, the data capture strategy, and continuous fine-tuning to increase open and click-through rates.

Knowing what you want to achieve is vital; without a goal, you have no way of measuring success or failure, but these must

be measurable objectives. Simply saying more bookings is not measurable because bookings can come from many channels. On the other hand, increasing return visitors is something that can be more easily attributed to email, especially when you give them VIP status by offering them unique deals.

The easiest way to build and retain subscribers is to give them good reasons to be on the mailing list. So, how about a monthly prize draw for a Sunday night stay open to any subscriber every month? Or, special discounts at quieter periods that are not available to anyone else? Make them feel special, and they will stay.

You should also use your social channels to promote the offers that your mailing list members are enjoying, let others see that there are good reasons to sign-up.

When someone does sign-up, make them feel special, the onboarding process is fundamental. Send new subscribers a welcome message and thank them for subscribing. Follow that up with another email with some useful information, and a third with an introductory offer. This series of emails is as much designed to encourage non-genuine people to unsubscribe as it is to make genuine consumers feel welcome. The ‘cleaner’ you can keep the mailing list, the better. You don’t want non-interested people on the list, they skew the stats and serve no useful purpose.

“The opportunity to drive engagement and sales via automated (triggered) emails is enormous.”

It may all seem like a lot of work, which brings me to the next point, much of Email Marketing can, and should, be automated.

The opportunity to drive engagement and sales via automated (triggered) emails is enormous. These are emails sent when an event occurs, so an auto-responder series for onboarding is set up once and is triggered when someone subscribes.

Likewise, on the anniversary of someone subscribing, an automated email can be sent with a special offer. Other triggered emails might include an ‘Abandoned Cart’ email, which is sent when someone doesn’t complete a booking; this can recover up to 20% of incomplete transactions. These automations are created once and then do a lot of the work for you.

Email Marketing may be the ‘old man’ of digital marketing, but it more than pays its way with some of the sexy stuff it can do to make your business attractive to a desiring audience.

HOTELSCOTLAND • 13

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FEATURE

REVIEW OF THE YEAR 2019

The end of a year is always a good time to look back on the last 12 months and this is exactly what we have done on the following pages.

HIT

GROWING SUCCESSFULLY

The year kicked off with HIT celebrating its Silver anniversary and this year’s trek to Machu Picchu saw 18 intrepid explorers raise some £25K for HIT.

Apex Hotels increased its turnover by 6% to £68.9 million and Strathmore Hotels saw a 23% rise in profit with turnover rising to £17.2m last year.

REFURBISHMENTS IN CONVERSATION...

We caught up with Maroulla Nicholas at The Glynhill Hotel, Renfrew; Jonathan Gillbanks the owner of The Cairn Lodge, Auchterarder; Frances Ryan & Julia Spencer, the mother and daughter team at The Crinan Hotel, Crinan; Gordon Campbell Gray, who has just created the Wee Hotel Co; Conor O’Leary, the GM at Gleneagles Hotel, Auchterarder; Charming Gavin Ellis at Knockomie Inn, Elgin; Steve Macfarlane, the ‘Green guru’ at Glenuig Inn, Glenuig; Entrepreneur Steve Graham of Manorview and Sanjay Narang the Mumbai businessman behind Black Sheep Hotels.

The Kinghouse Hotel at Glencoe reopened after a £12 million refurbishment.

The hotel is operated by Crieff Hydro Family of Hotels and has spectacular views down the Glen.

Dalmahoy Hotel & Country Club revealed its new rooms and The Bonham in Edinburgh unveiled a top-to-toe refurbishment. Hotel Colessio got a makeover and a new classical look, which tied in with its Georgian roots. The Seafield Arms in Cullen re-opened after a £1.3m refit. The Castlecary Hotel opened a new bar and grill called Cary Bar & Grill, while Meldrum House Country Hotel opened a new restaurant called Pineapple. The rebranded Kimpton Blythswood Hotel opened its Bo & Birdy restaurant and Lochgreen House Hotel saw a new Brasserie created which has a contemporary art-deco feel.

Dalmeny Park House Hotel in Barrhead got a RAD Group make-over which included an extension. Le Monde in Edinburgh saw its public areas transformed and in Aberdeen The Gallery at the Chester Hotel opened. The new bar is double the size of its previous incarnation. The hotel also revealed new-look rooms and a garden room.

NEW ROLES

MICHAEL NAWROT

DAVID TRACEY

David Tracey took on the role as Managing Director at Manorview, and Lynn Hood was appointed Chief Operating Officer at Focus Hotel Management. Gary Robinson took on the role of Executive Chef at The Balmoral in Edinburgh and Bruce Price joined Dalmahoy Hotel & Country Club as Executive Head Chef too.

Michael Nawrot took over as General Manager at Hotel Indigo Edinburgh.

Jason Dombrower became General Manager at The Crowne Plaza in Glasgow. While Craig Haddow took on the role of GM at The Kingshouse in Glencoe. Daniel Greenock joined Gleneagles as restaurant manager at The Strathearn. Don McGregor was appointed new regional director for 7 H Hospitality Management. Darren Scott joined Glendola as General Manager at Le Monde in Edinburgh while Phil Scott took on the role of General Manager at Links House at Royal Dornoch. Nick Gamble joned the Cairn Group as Operations Manager.

HOTELSCOTLAND • 15

FEATURE

JUST A FEW OF THE HOTELS THAT HAVE CHANGED HANDS OVER THE LAST 12 MONTHS...

THE PIERHOUSE

Cringletie House Hotel near Peebles changed hands at the start of the year.

Bill and Anne Cross of Cross Hotels Ltd are now the hotel’s owners.

Gordon Campbell Gray announced he had set up his own hotel company called The Wee Hotel Company and revealed that he had already bought The Pierhouse at Port Appin and The Three Chimneys on the Isle of Skye.

The Coylumbridge Hotel in Aviemore joined the Britannia Hotels stable and The Fenwick Hotel in Fenwick changed ownership becoming part of The Fitzsimmons Group.

Crerar Hotels sold Scotland’s Hotel and Leisure club in Pitlochry to Irish firm Castle Collection run by the MacCumbhail family who also ownd the

NEW HOTELS Fingal launched – Scotland’s first floating boatique hotel, was launched in Edinburgh, excuse the pun, by Royal Yacht Enterprises. The Edinburgh company also has The Britannia and spent £5m renovating the former Lighthouse supply ship.

IHG opened its first Kimpton Hotel in Scotland Kimpton Charlotte Square Hotel, formerly The Roxburgh in Edinburgh.

Moxy Hotels emerged at Edinburgh Airport. Hampton by Hilton Hamilton Park, owned by Hamilton Racecourse not only opened but got a Royal Visit from Princess Anne who is a keen horsewoman herself. £10m was invested in the 118-roomed hotel.

Meanwhile in Aberdeen, Scotland’s first Aloft opened next door to the new P&J Live on The Event Complex.

The 150-roomed hotel is operated by RBH.

ACCOLADE Chef Jeff Bland received HIT’s industry award for his inspiring work in Scottish hospitality and the HIT Industry dinner raised more than £69,000. While Donald Clark of the George Hotel received a Hall of Fame Award at the Scottish Bar and Pub Awards.

KIMPTON CHARLOTTE SQUARE HOTEL

CONTROVERSIAL...

In February Broadcaster Simon Calder called out the Westminster Government saying that it was causing criminal damage to Scotland’s tourism industry in a hardhitting speech at the Scottish Tourism Alliance Conference.

OPENING OF ALOFT HOTEL

DEATHS...

HARRY HOOD

16 • HOTELSCOTLAND

nearby Fishers Hotel and Atholl Palace hotels.

Lochardil House Hotel in Inverness was sold to Perle Hotels, and Sanjay Narang of Mars Hosptiality bought Letterfinlay Lodge in Spean Bridge, Craigard Guest House in Invergarry and the Cluanie Inn in Glenmoriston. Subsequently they have all been totally refurbished with new branding for Letterfindlay. It is now known as The Whispering Pine Lodge Hotel, with Craigard becoming Rokeby Manor.

Strathmore Hotels bought The Ben Wyvis in Strathpeffer from Crerar Hotels while Bespoke Hotels also bought Craiglynne Hotel in Speyside, also formerly part of the Crerar portfolio.

Chef Andrew Fairlie died on 22nd January.

He was a legend in his lifetime and his memory lives on and his work continues to inspire with the Andrew Fairlie HIT Scholarships. While Harry Hood of Lisini passed away too later in the year. Just recently, Sean Henry of the Douglas Hotel in Arran died.

NEW CHARITY Hospitality Health was founded

by Gordon McIntyre Associate Dean of Hospitality and Tourism at Glasgow College at the start of the year. The new charity aims to tackle the support staff and employers in hospitality and help with stress.

ROLL ON 2020!

ADVERTORIAL

S

IN SCOTLAND

tannah Lifts’ refurbished passenger lift at Fort William’s 93-bedroom Alexandra Hotel continues to make the hotel accessible to visitors of all mobilities as well as take the strain off tired guest’s legs in an area renowned for its challenging terrain.

The lift refurbishment is one of three for Strathmore Hotels’ eight-strong hotel group after lifts at sister hotels, The Royal Hotel in Oban, and the Cumbria Grand Hotel in Grange-over-Sands, Cumbria, also benefited from the same refurbishment.

Simone Townsley, Property Manager for owner Strathmore Hotels, said, “We pride ourselves in keeping our hotels in pristine working order. Every lift has a lifetime and the refurbishments reflect our commitment to visitor access and comfort, whilst enhancing the individual aesthetics of each hotel. Importantly, Stannah has ensured that we maintain our hospitality standards for

the foreseeable future, whilst meeting the requirements of the Equality Act 2010.”

IMPROVED RELIABILITY In the hospitality industry, the comfort of guests is vital and every mobility level must be catered for. The passenger lift upgrade in the Alexandra Hotel entailed removing and replacing the original lift mechanics and aesthetics in a lift that had broken down through old age and reached the end of its working life. This resulted in seamless access for all - guests, staff, maintenance personnel, anyone in need of assistance in navigating its five floors.

The refurbishment works covered Control system: Replaced with a modern open protocol microprocessor unit.

Gear unit: Replaced with a modern open protocol system with new oil and fittings.

Push station: All landing and car buttons renewed, complete with open protocol TFT

indicators and gongs.

Car interior: Completely gutted and fitted out with satin stainless steel and complementary wood-effect paneling, downlighter ceiling, intercom, grab rails, halfheight mirror and non-slip floor.

On installation completion, the Stannah Scotland team left the lift immaculate and fully serviced, commissioned and tested to the relevant sections of BS 5655 Part 10 and BS 9999. The lift also operates under a full 12-month warranty.

As with all Stannah lift products and refurbishments, these modernisations are covered by Stannah lift service plans. The Alexandra benefits from the premium service plan and The Royal and the Cumbria Grand benefit from the comprehensive service plan, all supplied by the respective regional branch of Stannah Lift Services, as part of a nationwide network providing comprehensive lift servicing and support.

Tel: 0141 266 0025 | email: contact@stannah.co.uk | www.stannahlifts.co.uk

INTERVIEW

THE ENTERTAINER 18 • HOTELSCOTLAND

SUSAN YOUNG talks to TOM YOUNGER of Archerfield House.

T

om Younger has been the boss at Archerfield near North Berwick for the past 16 years, yet he still shies away from calling himself a hotelier. He cites the likes of Peter Lederer and Nick Holmes as true hoteliers, both of whom he has worked with in the past. Instead he believes he is in the entertainment field.

Tom got into hospitality through his first love – golf. In fact he was a professional golfer.

He has managed to take his passion for the sport and turn it into a career rooted in hospitality, but not only that, he now presides over one of the most successful privately owned hospitality and golf properties in the country.

He has, of course, excuse the pun, achieved great things at Archerfield. But he is quick to point out that it is a great team that delivers the experience and that it was the vision that owner, Kevin Doyle, had, that has now evolved into the entity that is Archerfield.

I caught up with Tom at Archerfield House, the venue for the first HIT Health and Wellness Summit on 4th December, and that was probably the only reason I was able to tie him down for an interview.

He explains, “I don’t really do interviews.

I get a wee bit uncomfortable talking about myself, after all I have just worked for Kevin for 16 years. There’s nothing to talk about really.

I am more interested in what our people are doing and I see my job as making them look and feel like stars.”

That may be the case but you can’t deny the success that Archerfield has enjoyed under Tom’s stewardship.

This year Archerfield House Hotel was the only Scottish property to make the coveted Sunday Times Travel Magazine 56 best hotels in the world list, and Tom tells me that the business is doing very well, albeit with challenges.

But let’s recap, for those of you not familiar with the estate and the venue.

The Archerfield estate once belonged to the Duke of Hamilton. There has been a small golf course on the land for centuries. But in 1910, the then owner of the Scotsman created a 18-hole course on the estate. During World War Two the land was taken over by the Ministry of Defence, and subsequently for the next 50 years the estate languished until Kevin Doyle, arguably Scotland’s most successful licensed trade and property entrepreneur, bought it in 1999 under the banner of his business Caledonian Heritable. His vision was to turn Archerfield into a world class golfing

facility which included restoring Archerfield House and creating a private hotel, as well as the building a private membership base.

At the time myself and many others thought he was taking a massive risk, after all there was no shortage of very good golf courses in the vicinity. The new courses would be between the famous Muirfield and North Berwick courses, in fact there were no less than 20 golf courses in East Lothian. And as for creating a private house – the general viewpoint of the soothsayers was that “how often would that be rented out in a year – 20/30 times?”

We should have had faith. Today Archerfield boasts two world-class courses The Fidra and The Dirleton and its private hotel, Archerfield House does not have many available weekends for the entirety of 2020. The resort also features three waterside properties, various lodges, a 200-capacity event space, 12 Pavilion rooms, a fabulous Spa, which is in the top 6 spas in Europe, and one of the best Golf Performance Centres in Europe. The plots at Kings Cairn are also selling well.

Tom has been there for the whole journey joining some 16 years ago just about the time course opened. He joined Kevin with impeccable credentials having not only been professional golfer (until he injured his back) but with extensive experience at Gleneagles and at Cameron House under his belt. He explains, “ I joined Gleneagles as the Assistant Manager at the Country Club after my professional golf career ended. The role allowed me to continue my passion for golf and I was lucky in that I was able to develop a career doing something I loved. I also worked with some great people – Peter Lederer at Gleneagles and Nick Holmes at Cameron House. I joined Cameron House at Loch Lomond, as Leisure Director, as part of the opening team. I had always wanted to do an opening and it was great opportunity.”

But it was at Gleneagles that Tom really found his niche. Gleneagles was focussing on its Golf Development side of the business and Tom travelled the World consulting for the it. Says Tom, “That was a fabulous nine years. There was a lot of travel but I was also involved in some great golfing events there - including numerous Bells Scottish Opens, and the first Johnnie Walker PGA, and my favourite the McDonald’s Charity Pro-Am. 2,000 volunteers came to help us with it – and we raised a huge amount for the Ronald McDonald charity. We also built the new club house and the golfing academy. It was a very successful tenure.”

With this pedigree it is hardly surprising that Kevin Doyle and Tom work well together and help drive this project forward, and Tom has not looked back since. He tells me, “It has been one of these projects that has been a privilege to work on and I wouldn’t work anywhere else. Kevin is incredible – his honesty and desire to get it right resonates throughout the business, and it is great that you can have a quick dialogue. This means if there is something you need to fix you can do it quickly. We are only a small part of his bigger business which has interests all over the world. He is constantly surprising me with the businesses he is involved in.”

You get the feeling that Archerfield has been a labour of love for Kevin – it is Caledonian Heritable’s flagship property. It may have evolved over the years but the ethos of the business remains the same throughout the estate.

Tom explains, “Our ethos and strap line is ‘We play a different game.’ We’ve had it from the very start. Back then we were the new kids on the block. Initially it was £15,000 for a debenture, so we wanted and needed to offer something fresh. I think we all knew what we wanted to try and achieve and it has grown over the years. For instance, most other golf courses at the time insisted on jackets and ties, and no mobile phones or laptops. We were happy for members to use their mobile phones. We also have a more casual approach to the dress code ” The house too is informal. He explains, “We knew from the word go we wanted to be different and offer a service standard much looser than a formal property. People are definitely interested in less formality but they still want good service and that’s what we are good at.

“When people join from other hospitality organisations I have to tell them that we have a more informal approach and not to be surprised if they see me giving an arriving guest a big hug on arrival! As for what they wear there are no suits on staff here unless it is a formal event. After all, how many people now wear suits to work? The team that we have certainly doesn’t.”

He continues, “I always say we are in the entertainment business rather than hospitality, or perhaps the hospitality business is in the entertainment business. It is the Disney cliché ‘we are on a stage’. “Our team can come across as being as quiet as a mouse because that’s what the client wants, or they can be the life and soul. Being familiar but not being too HOTELSCOTLAND • 19

familiar is the real skill.You must know when pride in what you do, you do a good job.” to back away. We try to adapt to our clients’ He adds, “It is also important to look after needs and we are incredibly customer focussed. the health and wellbeing of staff, and that is For example if you book an event here you a focus here. We do that by educating them get your own event planner who is with you about stress and even things like posture your entire journey. If you are used to going to within the Spa team. If you educate people it a hotel you may not know, for example, that means they can prolong their career by doing you can help yourself to drinks in Archerfield just simple exercises.You have to think about House. We take the customer through how it will be in ten years and you don’t everything so that they know what to expect. want a bad back for example. We also like to They can do lots of things here from business nurture our team.” meetings, to a wedding, parties, or a birthday. If He gives a small example, “Our marketing they want to play croquet on the lawn or put manager started here working in the bar. He up a marquee we will try and accommodate had a degree in business, but he stayed with their every need. us, became a trainee manager, and has now “I do believe that if our people are developed into a marketing role. Another motivated and happy they will give our member of staff started as a shop assistant customers a better experience. People come and now runs our events team.” But he for a nice and relaxing break and they don’t admits it is difficult attracting young people want to see unhappy faces which often leads into hospitality as a long-term career. “Our to poor service. Our business is all about the people. If you can’t smile at somebody when they walk in the door you are in the wrong business.”

Tom believes he is, in fact, Archerfield’s most critical customer. He puts himself in the customers shoes so that he can see what can be improved.

He says, “In our business it pays to be obsessive compulsive. If you don’t you could struggle.

My job is to be the most critical customer you could have. I look at the business through a customers eyes and it’s amazing how many times you see things ARCHERFIELD HOUSE that staff don’t. It’s not always about doing something fancy, it’s about doing the simple things just right. difficulty is keeping up with rates of pay. There “We get things wrong but the important are young people out there who can earn thing is when we get it wrong, we put it right. far more earlier than staff in hospitality. They I do think this is where our industry makes a may be earning £14 an hour and in hospitality fundamental mistake. Getting it wrong is a gift its £10... and the hours too prove to be a because you actually have an opportunity to deterrent. I say trust me you will catch up and put it right. Often the person you got it wrong will earn even more than they will. But getting for becomes your biggest advocate...because young people to believe that is difficult. you have solved their problem.

“Hospitality is certainly a bit of a vocation, “I don’t think people genuinely want to but I think there are so many opportunities complain but when they do you can’t sweep which no other business can give you. Not it under the carpet – if you do then good luck. many hotels have the luxury of having too If you face up to it and say we have to fix it , many people, people often have to do a bit that is a much better approach. Next time we more of just their own job, to marry it all will get it right.” together. That is where the opportunities lie.

He puts some of the success the business “I like it when my managers challenge things. enjoys down to recruiting well. His senior I don’t want people who will always do the team are good, he suggests, at identifying the same. I like fresh ideas and fresh eyes. It is a right people for Archerfield, but once they are cliche but to stand still is going backwards. We on board it comes down to education. He is need to keep refreshing what we are doing a great believer in encouraging staff to have and every event we do we try and make it pride in what they do. Tom says, “If you have better the next time.”

20 • HOTELSCOTLAND

Certainly Archerfield has gained a great reputation for special events. It has hosted various key golfing events such as the Ladies Scottish Open on five consecutive occasions, between 2010 and 2014, and the Scottish Senior Open in 2016 as well as one European tour. it also has played host to private pro-ams for the likes of Gary Player, Ian Woosnan and Sir Ian Botham. Says Tom, “We did the tournaments to help put us on the map. But now we rather do private events that make a lot of money for charity and lend themselves to us better. We allow privacy. It’s a discrete property where people can let their hair down and relax.”

Archerfield also hosts its own events such as its Ladies Day – which includes golf and a fashion show. It is probably the best golfing day for ladies in the country. It is already sold out for next year. It’s Hogmanay Ball is also sold out. It hosted a family Fireworks Display for members and friends which attracted 400 people just last month.

I asked him what trends if any he had seen over the last year or so and what his predictions were. He told me, “Families are now coming with their children who may have been coming since they were babies. So we are adapting our offering to keep them entertained too. We’ve now created a pitch and putt facility at Archerfield and next year we are putting in a cinema.

We have also seen a lot more ladies breaks – not hen parties, but girls’ weekends who use the spa. I have also seen more men and women playing golf together.

It used to be very much the boys played themselves and girls did too, and never the twain will meet. Now they all play in the same competitions. I’ve also noticed that What’s App groups are now the norm. If someone is free for a game of golf they don’t have to phone around, they are part of a What’s App group chat and usually they can muster a four-ball.

He concludes, “We will be continuing to invest in our golfing facilities. People are travelling more and compare our courses and facilities to what is on offer elsewhere, so we need to keep improving them. We are also doing wine tastings at the golf club and various other events too. It’s more about lifestyle now.”

For someone who doesn’t like interviews I could write another 1,000 words – but I have run out space. The last word goes to Tom. He tells me that he has a regular who once, a long time ago, asked Tom how he was, and he replied, “I’m strong.” Now when he visits he always asks “Are you strong Tom.” We know the answer to that.

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NEWS

RESEARCH IMPLIES DISCORD BETWEEN EMPLOYEES AND OWNERS A survey of 1,000 SME business owners saw 36% say they would sooner recruit a 55-year-old than a 24-year-old with less than a fifth (19%) of retail, catering and hospitality business owners preferred a 24-year-old with the same CV. One of the issues raised by business leaders about so-called ‘Snowflake’ and ‘Millennial’ employees included ‘lower productivity’ and ‘higher absence rates’, instead preferring ‘loyal’ older employees, according to data gathered by business healthcare provider, Benenden Health.

The study, which also surveyed 1,000 employees, found that nationally more than half (56%) of Generation Z employees (aged 16-23) felt they have been overlooked for roles due to their age compared to 47% of Millennials (aged 24-38), 29% of Generation X (aged 39-54) and a third (34%) of Baby Boomers (aged 55-72). More than a third (41%) of employees surveyed in the retail, hospitality and catering sector felt they had been overlooked for a job due to their age.

However, when it comes to attracting and retaining a workforce, the findings have shown a major discrepancy between what employers and employees see as a priority.

Health and wellbeing packages are starting to command increasing importance for employees, with almost half (46%) of all respondents in the retail, hospitality and catering sector saying a strong health and wellbeing benefit would increase their likelihood to join or stay with a business. Nationally, Generation Z employees (aged 16-23) revealed they would be willing to sacrifice a whopping third of their salary to receive a healthcare package that fits their personal needs.

Yet, despite this, as many as 87% of SMEs

surveyed in the retail, hospitality and catering sector reported that they don’t have a healthcare package in place for employees above statutory allowances, with 42% of those without one claiming they don’t believe it is necessary and more than half (62%) saying they don’t believe or weren’t sure a strong health and wellbeing package is valuable in recruiting and retaining employees.

Besides, almost half of retail, hospitality and catering businesses (44%) revealed that they have never consulted workers on what they would value in a healthcare package, despite employees having different priorities depending on their age. Nationally, younger workers revealed that they place value on mental health support, counselling sessions and life skill lessons, whereas older generations said regular medical checks and flexible working were top of their list of potential healthcare benefits.

Helen Smith, Chief Commercial Officer of Benenden Health, commented, “Younger generations told us that mental health support is of great importance to them, but these priorities change over time. Generation X workers often have the dual commitment of looking after children and parents so flexible working is valued by them, and with employees working longer than ever, ensuring your older workers are catered for as well – through regular eyesight and hearing tests, and ergonomic offices, for example – is vital to maintaining a strong modern workforce.

“At Benenden Health we firmly believe that a healthy workforce is a productive and motivated workforce and having these open conversations with employees and tailoring a healthcare approach to suit will put businesses in prime position for recruiting, retaining and maximising talent.”

Platform Launches Amidst Increased Allergens Legislation Zupa (the hospitality software developer for Caternet), has announced the addition of Caternet Menu Publishing to its long-established recipe management system.

The new platform will support growing legislative and consumer demand to publish menus and recipes with accurate, allergens data and nutritional information. The Caternet system will now enable the deployment of live, allergen compliant recipes and menus, delivered across multiple devices, channels and apps in just a few clicks.

Mark McCarthy, CEO at Zupa explained, “As a sector, we continue to face rising legislative demands as well as consumer-driven pressures to publish menus with up to date allergens and nutritional information. People want to view menus before they visit the venue and they want peace of mind that the dietary information they find on restaurant websites is accurate and current.

Using our Caternet system, suppliers have a live connection ensuring recipe data is always correct; this combined with the new addition of the menu publishing feature, means the data is published and presented in a way that benefits the customer, giving them the ability to highlight the menu options available, based on their own dietary requirements.”

22 • HOTELSCOTLAND

HOTEL PLAN FOR JENNERS

Danish billionaire Anders Holch Povlsen is planning to turn the building that houses Jenner's into a hotel, with a rooftop restaurant, cafes and luxury shops.The move will mean that the 181-year-old store will be relocated. It has been suggested this is due to the owner of the building, Povisen, and the owner of Jenners, Sports Direct (just renamed the Frasers Group) not being able to agree on terms.

2019 ABERDEEN CITY AND SHIRE TOURISM AWARD WINNERS

The Fife Arms Hotel in Braemar, which opened last year following a major refurbishment, won the coveted best hotel title ‘Most Hospitable Hotel’ at the recent Aberdeen City and Shire Tourism Awards. Tor Na Coille in Banchory received a Highly Commended in the category most Hospitable Hotel too.

Individual awards were presented to rising star Leonora Brebner of the Sandman Signature Aberdeen Hotel and regional ambassador Lynda McGuigan from Discover Fraserburgh Tourism Group in recognition of their work and commitment to the sector.

While the Best Restaurant Experience went to the Signature Food Festival - IX Restaurant at the Chester Hotel, Aberdeen and Best Informal Eating Experience was won by the Davron Hotel, Rosehearty. A highly commended went to Avo, Aberdeen.

Thirteen awards were handed out with the winners now going on to represent the north east region at the national tourism Oscars – the Scottish Thistle Awards – in spring next year.

ACSTA chairman Stephen Gow said,“Once again this year we have shown the diversity of the tourism industry. It’s not just about hotels and visitor attractions – tourism has a major part to play in our community and economy, with everyone from tour guides to taxi drivers responsible for delivering exceptional customer services.”

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DESIGN FOCUS

“These structural changes have resulted in airier spaces, which has been enhanced by a colour palette of golds, blues and greens.”

24 • HOTELSCOTLAND

THE STATION HOTEL

78 GUILD ST, ABERDEEN AB11 6GN

BY JASON CADDY

C

airn Hotel Group has unveiled part of its £5M rolling refurbishment of the Station Hotel in Aberdeen to coincide with its 125th anniversary.

The refurbishment of just under half of the rooms took roughly 12 months, with the restaurant and the lounge, and the reception and bar areas completed in the last three months.

General Manager, Linda Matthew, told Hotel Scotland, “It’s a listed building so we had to retain its original features and the re-design has been sympathetic to this – while also appealing to both business and leisure customers. We have refurbished 50 of the hotel’s 115 rooms so far and the remainder of the rooms will get the same treatment in early 2020.”

She continued, “All the rooms are different shapes and sizes – for example, some have up to five large sash windows, and they all have high ceilings, but the colour

schemes are predominately greys, whites and blues.

“All the furniture in the rooms has been renewed and all the bathroom suites have been replaced - plus one wall in every bathroom now also boasts a black and white tiled feature.”

When it came to the transformation of the public areas, there used to be a wall dividing the reception area and the bar which was removed as part of the refurbishment, likewise the wall that divided the restaurant from the lounge.

Explained Linda,”These structural changes have resulted in airier spaces, which has been enhanced by a colour palette of golds, blues and greens. The woodwork is a walnut colour and the feedback from our customers about the new look has been so positive, and one of the most commented on new additions has to be the beautiful black marble top bar.”

The Station Hotel has been part of the family-owned Cairn Group since the early 1990s.

HOTELSCOTLAND • 25

DESIGN FOCUS

HAMILTON PARK UNVEILS NEW EVENTS OFFERING

BOTHWELL RD, HAMILTON ML3 0DW

BY SUSAN YOUNG

H

amilton Park Racecourse has unveiled its new events capabilities, capitalising on their brand-new Hampton by Hilton hotel which has recently opened within the racecourse grounds.

The 118-bedroom hotel- which opened its doors to guests earlier this year - has enabled the iconic racecourse to create a 24-hour ‘resor t’ style experience for all their racing and events guests.

The new hotel boasts a range of facilities including a bar, restaurant and fitness centre, all of which complement the

26 • HOTELSCOTLAND

racecourse’s 20 outstanding event spaces.

Vivien Currie, Chief Executive at Hamilton Park Racecourse, said, “With a new on-site hotel in addition to our flexible hospitality and events spaces, free Wi-Fi, car parking and an attractive 24-hour conference package on offer, Hamilton Park now offers a full service, resor t style experience for our guests, whether visiting us for racing, an event, business or pleasure.

“It is our top priority to ensure that our customers are well looked after no matter the occasion of their visit.”

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SUSTAINABLE

28 • HOTELSCOTLAND

MATCHING PRODUCTS

EVENTS

FAWN BALL 2019

C

ongratulations to Fallon Cowley and her team who hosted the first Fawn Findlay Foundation Ball in memory of her sister who died last year.

The inaugural charity ball raised cash for Sepsis Research and took place at the

Grand Central Hotel. They raised more than £40,000.

Signature At The Chester Hotel Raises Cash For Charity

A

opportunity for people to enjoy fine dining festival exceptional food created by some in Aberdeen at of the county’s most talented chefs, The Chester Hotel here in Aberdeen. We always have attracted a host of world-class chefs to the Granite very positive feedback from the chefs about how much they enjoy City. coming to the area to cook, not Signature, featured chefs who between them hold a collective six least because of the high-quality Michelin stars, 19 AA Rosettes and ingredients on our doorstep.

“Signature has become one of three wins on The Great British the most eagerly anticipated events Menu.

Chefs taking part included Glynn in the foodie calendar, which is underlined by the fact that most Purnell – a favourite on cookery shows including Saturday Kitchen dinners were sold out hours after going on sale. We’re all very and My Kitchen Rules; Scottish household name Martin Wishart much looking forward to another as well as Phil Howard and Daniel memorable festival.”

Clifford, both mentors on The Great A charity auction took place during the Signature festival. This British Menu. year, funds will go towards Friends Graham Wood, owner of The Chester Hotel, is the mastermind of the Neonatal Unit in Aberdeen and The Parkinson’s Cure Trust. behind Signature. He said, “ Martin Wishart is pictured.

Signature creates a unique HOTELSCOTLAND • 29

S P E C I A L I S T S I N L U X U R Y H OT E L TO I L E T R I E S www.aslotel.co.uk 01372 362533 asl@aslotel.co.uk

PEOPLE

Award for Chef Gibb INGLIS JOINS THAINSTAONE HOUSE

strong portfolio.The aim is to bring the three-star properties up to four-star status.

Inglis comments, “I’m looking forward to working with the amazing team at Thainstone House.

“Now I’m settling in I shall be getting involved in the community, reaching out to the local businesses and groups.”

William Inglis is the new General Manager at Thainstone House in Inverurie. Prior to this appointment he held roles at Hotel Indigo and Staybridge Suites in Dundee.

Inglis joins Thainstone, part of Crerar Hotel Group, ahead of a refurbishment which is part of the group’s planned £15m refurbishment programme across its six-

Craig Gibb, sous-chef at Borthwick Castle, has been awarded Scotch Lamb, Surf’n’Turf Chef of the Year, seeing off competition from across the country.

His winning dish of saddle of lamb with lamb sweetbreads, crispy oysters, cucumber and lamb jus was complimented by the judges for “excellent use of two of Scotland’s most prized ingredients - Scotch lamb and Scottish seafood.”

The award was announced during the Scottish Chefs Conference held at Edinburgh International Conference Centre on Monday 4 November. As a joint initiative between Quality Meat Scotland’s Scotch Beef Club and Seafood Scotland, the panel of judges was looking for “the chef who shared the most exciting, inventive and delicious combination of land and sea”.

Claire Higgs, Communications and Events Manager at QMS, said, “Each of the finalist’s recipes brought something completely different to the table so the judges definitely had their work cut out for crowning the winner.”

Johanne Falconer, General Manager of Borthwick Castle commented,“We are immensely proud that Craig’s hard work, dedication and talent has been recognised at a national level.”

Falconer continued, “We believe we have one of the finest culinary teams in the country who continue to drive forward our reputation as Scotland’s leading private hire venue and we place their development at the heart of everything we do.

“Craig’s win comes just a month after our Head Chef, Derek Johnstone was awarded Runner Up in the Craft Guild of Chef ’s National Chef of the Year Awards.”

MANORVIEW GROUP APPOINT HEAD OF PEOPLE The Manorview Hotels & Leisure group have appointed Claire Johnston to the role Head of People. She joins from Group from Auchrannie Resort in Arran.

Claire, who lives in Whitburn,West Lothian, worked for Auchrannie for over three years as their HR & People Development Manager.

She saw the venue implement positive changes such as becoming Living Wage Accredited and employee owned.

A ‘people-person’, most of Claire’s roles have involved HR and people development. She was brought up with a good grounding and knowledge of the trade, by her parents who owned pubs in Staffordshire. She has lived in

Scotland for over 10 years. Claire said,“IClaire said,“The Manorview Group’s passion for people resonates with me, and their forwardthinking plans, drive and energy is infectious. I’m very excited about the challenge and delighted to become part of their team.”

David Tracey, Manorview Group, Managing Director, said,“Our Head of People role is an incredibly important one for us.The Manorview culture is very people-focussed and while we’ve been busy implementing lots of initiatives over the past three years, there’s still so much more we want to achieve and progress towards.

Claire’s appointment will help drive our journey, and we’re delighted she’s joined our team.”

New Team At Crowne Plaza Glasgow Crowne Plaza Glasgow, which is managed by Valor Hospitality Europe, has appointed a new food and beverage manager and head chef.

Matthew Mills has joined as executive head chef of Crowne Plaza Glasgow for all departments throughout the hotel, including the Mariner Restaurant, the bars, as well as large business events and conferences. Alongside Matthew, David Wallace has joined as food and beverage manager, taking control of the overall F&B operation, including the day to day operations of the hotel restaurant, bars, conference and events department and in-room dining.

As well as this, David’s day-to-day work will include front of house operations, driving sales and marketing, health and safety and food safety plus much more.

HOTELSCOTLAND • 31

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Want development funding?

A strong project team is key, says Allied Irish Bank (GB) Allied Irish Bank (GB) has invested over £55million in the Scottish hotel sector over the past year, the majority of which has supported the development of new-build hotels.

Craig Gebbie, head of AIB (GB)’s specialist hospitality and leisure team in Scotland, shares insight on how hoteliers can make new developments an attractive option for the bank.

“Individuals are as important as the company when it comes to development funding. We look in detail at the developers, architects, construction firm and project managers. We need to know that the parties involved have the experience, financial standing and knowledge to deliver.

“We are often asked if having a brand on board makes a development more attractive. The honest answer is it depends on a number of factors. Brands are only worthwhile if they add value to your offering.

“We are particularly interested in who will be running the hotel. An owner-operator with a track record, sound proposition and excellent location are just as attractive to us as a management company or global brand.

“My advice to hoteliers is to work with partners with experience and proven success in the hotel sector, from solicitors, advisory services, valuers, contractors and project managers. By choosing experienced partners from the outset, you put your project in a better position to receive backing from AIB (GB).”

AIB (GB)’s hospitality and leisure team operates throughout Scotland, from Glasgow to Gairloch and Edinburgh.

Contact Craig Gebbie for more information on 0141 225 3614 or craig.L.gebbie@aib.ie.

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CHECKOUT This month, as I’ve been preparing magazine, I’ve also been organising an event for HIT. Yes, my Chair’s Challenge is getting underway next week at Archerfield. Our first small Health and Wellbeing Summit is taking place and I have managed to coerce some great speakers into giving up their time to talk to our guests. There is another event for staff on the 4th February and please feel free to send some along to The Hilton that afternoon.

But I thought I would start at the top – after all, owners and GMs are not the best at making time for themselves. Julie Hanson, one of Scotland’s foremost Yoga teachers is coming along – no mat required, instead, she is going to teach some easy on the job stress-management techniques; while Mark Pettigrew is our Mindfulness guru. Fraser McIlwraith of Dark Spirits is going to discuss fitness and diet and share his own journey while Steve Macfarlane of Glenuig Inn will discuss what ‘Green’ steps are most achievable. After all, climate change must be part of the whole future story. Kai Murray is our Business coach and Gordon White of FatBuzz is gong to talk about digital. Michael Mao is coming along from STR to discuss hospitality trends and last but not least we Glen Dott covering the subject of employeeownership. The health of your business is very important too.

There will more next month. This is an inaugural event and, who knows, HIT may want to continue it going forward.

I was really sorry to hear of the death of Chef Gary Rhodes. I met him a few years ago in Dubai and interviewed him in between our New Year celebrations. He was a real gentleman and had a couple of fabulous restaurants there as well as countless other food-related businesses. He was an entrepreneur but most of all his was a genuinely nice guy who had time for everyone – he was inspirational in the kitchen and out. Our thoughts are with his family.

I was invited to help judge at an inter-company food and drink competition called Heavenly Creations at Dalziel Park Hotel, part of Lisini. Normally drinks lists and food menus are created

by Head Chefs and General Managers but the team decided that grassroots staff needed to be involved too. So they asked them to come up with their own dishes and drinks with the best one or two going on the menus at Lisini’s venues. KP to Sous chefs to part-time bar staff from work/ university to full-time hospitality and front of house. It was a great event indeed, and showed the talent that the team had. Well done to all involved.

I thoroughly enjoyed myself and it was great to see so many people genuinely enthused about what they were doing. I look forward to seeing the new creations on the menu.

And finally let’s finish off on a Christmas note. Apex Hotels has introduced Apex Advent. It has turned its 10 hotels across the UK into real-life Advent calendars.

34 • HOTELSCOTLAND

From now until 24th December, one lucky guest each day will open their very own hotel Advent door to reveal an extra-special festive surprise.

The family-owned hotel company will spread festive cheer, with more than £8,000 worth of gifts throughout the Advent period – from luxurious city breaks to shopping vouchers for high-end retailers.

Angela Vickers, CEO of Apex Hotels, said:, “From little children to the young at heart, Advent calendars signal the real start of Christmas. And most of us have experienced the anticipation that comes with waiting to find out what lies behind each door – so we thought we’d take that to the next level for our guests by turning our hotels into the real deal.

“Christmas is the perfect time to spread a little bit of cheer, and our Apex elves across the UK will be busy bestowing festive treats throughout the Advent period. We’re really looking forward to finding out which of our guests discover their very own special gifts.”

I was really sorry to hear of the death of Chef Gary Rhodes. I met him a few years ago in Dubai and in fact interviewed him in between our New Year celebrations.

He was a real gentleman and had a a couple of fabulous restaurants there as well as countless other food-related businesses. He was an entrepreneur but most of all his was a genuinely nice guy who had time for everyone – he was inspirational in the kitchen and out. Our thoughts are with his family.

Susan Young susan@mediaworldltd.com

For further information contact Edrington-Beam Suntory UK Distribution Limited. Tel: +44 (0) 333 016 1910 Web: Edrington-BeamSuntoryUK.com