Peter Lederer will retire as a director of Diageo in Scotland and as Chairman of Gleneagles Hotel at the end of this year, bringing to a conclusion a distinguished career at the forefront of Scottish hospitality and tourism spanning 30 years.
Commenting on his retirement plans, Mr Lederer said, “I have had a wonderful 30 years as part of Gleneagles Hotel and Diageo. It has been a privilege to be part of such great industry, both hospitality and Scotch Whisky, which are at the forefront of promoting Scotland on the world stage. I would like to thank all of those I have worked with over that time and who made it such a rewarding and fulfilling career.”
He continued, “I would also like to thank all of those outside Diageo, particularly in the hospitality and tourism sector, who I have worked with. Anything I have achieved in my career has always been part of a team effort and I’m grateful for the support I have received along the way.”
Mr Lederer’s principal role throughout that time was running the Gleneagles Hotel and Golf Resort, which is owned by Diageo. Mr Lederer is credited with leading the transformation of the hotel from a seasonal golf resort into one of the world’s leading luxury hotels and was instrumental in bringing The 2014 Ryder Cup to Gleneagles in September this year.
In recent years after handing over operational control of the hotel to Patrick Elsmie – who also announced his retirement last month – Mr Lederer played a broader leadership role for Diageo’s business in Scotland, representing the company on the CBI Scotland board and the Secretary of State for Scotland’s Business Board. He also led the establishment of the Diageo Learning for Life Scotland programme, a £5million initiative launched in January 2014 to help young unemployed people find training and job opportunities in the hospitality industry.
Diageo Corporate Relations Director Charlotte Lambkin led the tributes to Mr Lederer on behalf of the company. She said, “Peter Lederer’s contribution to Diageo and to Scottish public life has been remarkable. Diageo is proud to call Gleneagles Hotel part of its corporate family and Peter was instrumental in transforming it into a global benchmark for luxury and quality hospitality and for bringing the Ryder Cup to Scotland, with such outstanding success. He has also been a great ambassador for Diageo and particularly for our business in Scotland.”
MacGochan’s on the Isle of Mull picked up the Tennent’s Quality Award at this year’s DRAM Awards Susan Young caught up with Mull-born licensee Neil Morrison to find out the secret of his success.
When myself and fellow judge Stevie Dickson snuck into MacGochans on the Isle of Mull one rainy evening in May it was a real haven. The bustling bar and restaurant immediately lifted our spirits. It wasn’t the only bar that we visited that night on Mull, but it was evidently the most popular, and the service, food and the quality of the outlet were spot on. What struck us immediately was how professionally run the business was, and it was one of the few bars on the island that we could actually see working on the mainland too. Owner Neil Morrison is of a similar opinion.
I caught up with Neil at the Ben Nevis Bar in Glasgow and he told me that he was actively looking for other premises either in Edinburgh or Glasgow. In fact he had only that morning been busy helping Paul Sloan clear out a pub in Oban. Says Neil, “Paul offered me some furniture and fittings but I had to get my hands dirty… that’s why I have blisters. I’m not used to manual labour!”
But let’s rewind… Neil’s first job in the pub trade was in the Mishnish, on Mull, in fact that is where he first met Calum McLachlainn who is his now landlord and friend. Neil explains, ‘Calum owns MacGochans (and I now lease it from him) but back when I first met him I was working in the Mishnish and he came in and asked for a free pint. I said no, and that’s when he first offered me a job at MacGochans. I took him up on his offer and worked in MacGochans during the holidays and at Christmas when I was off college.”
He left the island for Glasgow and attended Stow College where he studied music. Although he did managed to combine this with door stewarding before taking the helm at one of the Student Union bars. By this time he had the licensed trade bug and when he graduated he headed to Campbeltown to open a bar for friend Calum Maclauchlain. This eventually led to a colleague’s mum suggesting Neil would be good at running his own pub and before you knew it he was working for MDP Leisure which was a management company that looked after distressed pubs. Neil comments, “My first role for them was managing the Crosskeys in Renfrew.”
His next role at MDP saw him head to Elgin to manage High Spirits where he stayed for two years. Says Neil, “Basically I bullshitted my way into the job at MDP and did most of my training on the job. I got sent to every type of pub you could imagine including a few in Glasgow – The Old Toll, the New Regent and a few in Edinburgh including the Cougar Lounge in Leith. I had a few interesting nights there!”
He continues, “I dealt with so many different types of customers over the 15 years that I can handle just about anyone. I also gained a lot of experience with regard to what makes a pub work especially when dealing with distressed pubs – the main issues were always the clientele and the difficulties in getting the target audience in.”
After leaving MDP eight years ago he went to work for Rab Orr in Edinburgh, but an ill-fated trip to Sweden severed that working relationship. Says Neil, “Don’t ask!” He continues, “Then I heard that the guy that was running MacGochans in Tobermory was looking for a new manager. I was reluctant because I didn’t really want to go back to Mull at that time. But I decided to give it a go for six months and ended up working for him for four years before taking the lease on myself.”
He continues, “I was nervous about taking the leap and working for myself. But I knew the business inside out before I took it on, and I knew what it could do. It had been rebuilt in 1998 after a landslide by the owners Calum McLachlainn and his business partner Allan ‘Winker’ MacLean, but by the time I took over it was in need of a refurbishment. Nearly three years ago I did just that, totally gutting it. Obviously I funded it and Calum and Allan gave me a hand. This is when I got renowned Scottish designer Ranald McColl in. The bar had originally been on the left of the building and we turned this into a restaurant that locals and families could use, and the public bar on the right evolved from that. We put in a nice fire and Ranald gave the restaurant and bar a modern Scottish look. He even had me out fishing for wood! We had to borrow a local scallop dredger to tow this massive lump of Greenhart wood out of the sea. It is the hardest wearing wood we could find and weathered over thousands of years to give it a perfect rustic finish. We used it on the surrounds, to create the bar front, and used the remainder as seat barriers for the booths. I was really pleased with the finished look and we re-opened in February 2012. Now we have just completed stage two and have refreshed the upstairs function area and created a large balcony and a new bar. We already do a lot of functions but I wanted it to be a nicer area. I kept finding myself apologising for the look of it. So I decided to do something about it and brought back Ranald to add his touch.”
Neil continues, “We are just about to extend our dining time from 10pm to 11pm to make the most of the dining opportunity. You now need to do good food, and we use, when we can, locally-sourced produce. We are part of the Oban Bay Buying Group but all our seafood/fish comes straight off the boat and we don’t like to freeze. During the season we can be doing 300/400 meals a day. It used to be that pubs threw cheap food in to get folk in to drink, now it is exactly the opposite.”
As well as being passionate about buying locally Neil also owns, with Calum Maclean, the Isle of Mull whisky brand and gets heavily involved with local events too; from the Isle of Mull Music Festival to the Mull Car Rally. Says Neil, “It’s good to be involved in events which get people to pull together. I have taken over the marketing and PR for the Mull Music Festival. The budget is small but we used social media to promote it to make the most of the budget.”
Neil is also one of the Mull Car Rally guardians – this is a group put together to ensure the rally goes ahead every year. Says Neil, “This year my lovely job is to find a mainline sponsor for the 2015 event.”
When he is not promoting the music festival and rally he is busy motivating his team. Last year he blew the pubs budget when he took two of his staff to New York. Explains Neil, “Every year all the MacGochans staff vote for their two hardest working colleagues to win an end of season trip to the states, these votes are done in a secret ballot. Last year Mikey Macdonald and Steven Higson were treated to a long weekend, flights and accommodation to New York including dinner at one of Danny Meyer’s top restaurants.” Neil continues, “This was a fantastic training experience and I wanted them to experience American service for themselves without me preaching about it.”
Certainly keeping his staff happy is one of his priorities. Says Neil, “It is difficult getting good staff, and we do employ a lot of students during the season, but during April and May and towards the end of the season the students are not around, and it is more challenging to keep the continuity of the service. But we do try very hard.”
So what is next for this island dynamo? Says Neil, “I would like to have at least five or six, even seven places. I’m torn because although I know that the mainland is the way forward for the business, I would like to see my son, who was born ten months ago, grow up on Mull.” But he adds, “When I am on Mull I can’t relax. I am always on call.” However he did get his first motor bike a few months back and now can take off on it when he needs to get away. I’m sure that with the success of MacGochan’s, Tobermory, it won’t be long before he achieves his ambition of opening a second venture. I’m sure his pals will be spurring him on.
Congratulations to Laurie Nicol, general manager of Glasgow’s Grand Central Hotel. She is among the first group of just 12 hotel industry leaders from across the globe to graduate from the exclusive Executive Masters in Hospitality and Tourism course. The highly sought-after qualification is offered through The International Leadership School – a partnership between three of the world’s leading universities, Ivy League Cornell University in New York; Ecole Hôtelièr de Lausanne in Switzerland, recognised as the world’s top hospitality management school; and Scotland’s Strathclyde University, Glasgow.
Other famous alumni who have graduated from the universities include former presidents of Taiwan and Cuba, the inventors of the Atkins Diet and the Pacemaker as well as the founder of global retail chains Burger King and Staples.
Laurie Nicol said, “It is an incredible honour to stand alongside some of the world’s most respected and high-ranking leaders in the hospitality industry to receive this fantastic qualification.”
Ewen Mackintosh takes the helm this month at Elgin-based business Gordon & MacPhail. Ewen, 46, succeeds MD Michael Urquhart, who is retiring. Ewen, Gordon & MacPhail’s Chief Operating Officer, has been with the company his entire working career, after graduating from St Andrews University. He was also part of the team that brought Benromach Distillery back to life following its purchase in 1993 and only this month the company opened two new warehouses at the distillery following the success of the brand across the world. The new warehouses, and the appointment of a third distiller last year, will allow the company to increase production at the distillery. The completion of the new warehouses almost doubles the storage capacity at Benromach from 8,000 to 15,000 casks.
Gordon & MacPhail also revealed last month that it had become the sole distributor of Gordon Castle Gin a new Scottish super-premium gin.
Meanwhile both Ewen and Sales Director, Stephen Rankin have received accolades from within the whisky industry. Ewen became a Master of the Quaich and Stephen became a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Distillers as did Michael Urquhart.
Gordon & MacPhail was established in 1895 and is one of the world’s leading malt whisky specialists, exporting to more than 60 countries. It is still family owned.
Donald Campbell, Sales Director at Inverarity Morton (IM), will take over from Peter Lederer of Diageo, as the new chairman of The Scottish Licensed Trade Association (SLTA) in November.
SLTA President Paul Waterson commented, “We were delighted when Donald accepted our recent invitation to become The SLTA’s 56th Chairman and this will be a very popular choice. He is a man with immense experience in our industry, and is highly respected by all. I know Donald will bring his considerable expertise and enthusiasm to our Association and we thank his company, Inverarity Morton, for their support. I am sure this appointment will be highly beneficial for both parties. We are very much looking forward to working with Donald for the general good of our trade and The SLTA in particular,” he said.
While Donald Campbell said, “My chief priority will be to increase the current membership. The SLTA is a national, not-for-profit organisation that relies solely on support from the trade to function. It’s only as strong as the number of members it retains.”Married with two children, Campbell and his family own and manage two pubs: the Two Chimneys in Uddingston (since 2000), and The Lawburn, Cambuslang (since 2005).
Dunns Food and Drink is set to capitalise on the current growth in craft beer having purchased Dameck Drinks, widely recognised as one of the best beer wholesalers in Scotland with a range of some 1,200 beers on its list. Dameck, set up by Danny McGeough in 1994, has over the years become the ‘go to’ wholesaler for unusual beers. And although not supplying beer in the same scale as the major wholesalers he has carved a niche in the market for Dameck, particularly with discerning licensees and beer afficionado’s.
Says Dunns Food and Drinks MD, Jim Rowan, “We have been steadily expanding the range of premium spirits we have to offer our customers and the natural step was to go one further and improve our beer range. We’ve have had a good relationship with Danny McGeough over the years, in fact he originally worked for Dunns, and Dameck is a good fit. I am delighted that Danny agreed to sell to us.”
Jim continues, “It’s a win win for all concerned. We can give him the buying power of a larger firm and he has the beer knowledge to share with us. It will allow us to give our customers, who are interested in craft beer, the best service possible and the widest range available.”
Danny McGeough added, “It’s a very good fit for us. Gastro pubs serve good food and good beer, and Dunns are the biggest independent supplier of food to the Scottish gastro pub market, and we are one of the biggest suppliers of speciality beers. This sector is growing and this presents lots of fresh opportunities for us.”
Dunns has also appointed Tom Cullen as Commercial Controller. Tom who is currently with Molson Coors, will join the company in late September. Says Jim, “He will be a fantastic addition to our team.”
The Whisky Shop has appointed former Whyte & Mackay CEO John Beard as a non-executive director.
Mr Beard left Whyte & Mackay at the end of 2013 and most recently worked with Lion Capital Private Equity in a £430m bid for Whyte & Mackay, which ultimately went to a higher bidder – Emperador, the Phlippines-based brandy group.
Wallaces – TCB, formed after the recently-completed acquisition of Wallaces Express by C&C Group, has today announced the following senior management appointments, reporting to Chief Executive, Brian Calder:
Kenny Barclay – Finance Director
Chris Cosh – Procurement Director. (including Third Party Procurement across C&C Group).
Paul Condron – Marketing Director
Jim Young – Sales Director – Off Trade
Matt Munro – Sales Director – On Trade
John Gilligan, Managing Director for TCB will continue to work with Brian Calder to help shape the business going forward.
Brian Calder, Chief Executive of Wallaces – TCB commented: “Today’s appointments are the next stage in the integration of our businesses and confirm our intention to ensure that Wallaces – TCB and Tennents Off Trade business provide unrivalled service, choice and commitment to our customers in all sectors of the trade in Scotland”
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