The Hillend Tavern

Mike Henderson

The Hillend Tavern, Hillend, Fife

Mike has run the community-led pub the Hillend Tavern in Hillend, near Dalgety Bay, in Fife, with his wife, Francesca, since 2011. The Hillend Tavern was a finalist for Best Dogfriendly Pub in the 2023 Scottish Bar & Pub Awards

What have been the highlights of 2023?

“After we took over 12 years ago, we added real ales on draught so it was great for us to win Pub of the Year for Scotland and Northern Ireland from CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale this year. It’s great advertising for us – we’ve been in The Scotsman and other media. It’s increased our footfall substantially – we’ve had people coming from Edinburgh and Glasgow. We wish we had a bigger cellar but we just don’t have the space.”

What changes have you seen in 2023?

“Gas and electricity bills have all shot up and the brewers have put their prices up, and unfortunately we’ve had to pass some of that on to our customers. But we think that, if we have the quality and give them something for them to come out for, they will still come.”

What are your expectations for 2024?

“We’re a big rugby pub so we’re looking forward to the Six

Nations tournament in February and March. That’s going to be big for us. We are a friendly pub for the community with regular customers, and next year we have quite a few customers turning 60 within four months of each other so we have parties lined up for each of them.”