A carer from East Ayrshire has taken her first step towards a future in the hospitality sector thanks to two national charities.
Courtney Taylor, 20, took up a two day scholarship at the Grand Central Hotel in Glasgow through HIT Scotland’s scholarship programme. HIT Scotland decided to pilot the programme with young carers through Shared Care Scotland’s Respitality project.
Respitality, now in its fifth year, provides unpaid carers with a short break from routine by working closely with the hospitality, leisure and tourism sector who donate free of charge breaks to the project. So far Respitality has enabled 2,156 carers and 1,745 companions to access a short break, with donations estimated to be in the region of £177,314.
David Cochrane, Chief Executive of HIT Scotland explained, “Our industry is a very inclusive one and after talking it over with Shared Care Scotland, we knew we wanted to further support those within the industry with their wellbeing and Respitality gave us the opportunity to do this.”
Courtney is one an estimated 27,000 young carers in Scotland. She has cared for her mother since she was 8 years old, including helping out with her siblings and being in charge of household duties because of her mother’s health.
She receives support from East Ayrshire Carers Centre through their employability project – when they told her of a scholarship opportunity that would help her work towards her dreams of a career in catering, she jumped at the chance.
Courtney is currently studying catering at college and wanted to learn more about the different styles of plating up food for service and gain experience in cooking, as well as working in a fast paced environment. Her two-day scholarship at the Grand Central Hotel in Glasgow saw her learning from Executive Chef Zoltan Szabo.
Courtney said, “I only ever seem to get bad news and there are constantly issues that I need to deal with. I was shocked but delighted to hear that I was being offered this opportunity.
“I was so nervous on my first day. I felt like I didn’t belong somewhere like that, but the team at the hotel all looked out for me. By my second day, I just felt like one of the team and I could see myself working somewhere like the Grand Central Hotel. The scholarship has given me so much confidence. Zoltan even told me I have real potential and that he would like to employ me once I finish college. This has energised me so much!”
Both HIT Scotland and Respitality hope to continue to incorporate this unique opportunity to carers across Scotland within the current scholarship programme timeline that HIT Scotland operate.
Licensee Nan O’Brien is retiring from the trade and has put her Ayr pub, Wellington’s Bar on Wellington Square, on the market.
Nan has been licensee at the bar for a very eventful 28 years and told DRAM, “I’m 70 this year and after 28 years I want some time and space to myself.
“From the point of view of this business, I don’t think that the trade has changed all that much over the years. It’s still a stable business that I’ve loved being a part of.”
Eden Mill co-founder Paul Miller has won an industry recognition for his entrepreneurial marketing skills. He was presented with Global Marketer of the Year at the 22nd Academy of Marketing Science world congress at the University of Edinburgh.
The award recognises his significant global contribution to the marketing of drinks industry along with his key role in revitalising the Scottish craft gin market and bringing whisky production back to St Andrews after 150 years.
Previous winners include Olivier Dexemple, the former Marketing and Development Director of Coca-Cola Europe and Rod Drury founder and former CEO of the online accounting software company Xero.
Miller completed an MBA at University of Edinburgh Business School in 2004, where he continues to support the education of the next generation of marketers.
After a career with Diageo, Glenmorangie and Coors, he set up Eden Mill in 2012 and has seen turnover grow to £11million a year with the goal of becoming Scotland’s first carbon neutral distillery.
Said Paul, “I am thrilled to be recognised at the AMS World Marketing Congress 2019, as well as the wider marketing and business community. It’s been a tremendous few days learning from experts and peers from around the world.”
Professor Tina Harrison, co-chair of the 2019 AMS congress, said, “Paul Miller receives this award in recognition of his significant contribution to the development of the Scottish gin, whisky and beer markets at home and globally.”
This week’s 2019 congress sees a rigorous academic programme which focuses on enlightenment.
The theme ‘Enlightened Marketing in Challenging Times’, draws on the historical significance of Edinburgh as the birthplace of the ‘Scottish Enlightenment’, the intellectual movement that centred on reason and advanced the ideas of liberty, progress and the scientific method.
The congress reflects critically on the roles of marketing and marketers in incorporating and advancing the ideals and actions of the Scottish Enlightenment within contemporary marketing theory and practice.
Seeing as it’s summer, we decided to spotlight seven GMs of venues renowned for their excellent outdoor areas. Here’s what CHRIS STEWART of Angels Hotel, Uddingston, had to say.
Six months into the role as GM at Angels Hotel, Chris Stewart, 43, is still finding his feet in a
pub with a fabulous outdoor area that has a capacity of 40 seated and 100 standing. It also has its own bar and big screen showing sports, plus a newly-launched ‘garden
menu.’
He said, “Putting your own stamp on things without changing the dynamic or compromising the business, and trying to communicate and implement new policy to a team of 100, has its challenges. We have high staff retention and I want to maintain that, so it’s a case of easy does it.”
It’s also a busy place. “With about 400 covers a day, it’s difficult to maintain that personal touch,” he added.
Chris thinks that there are certain qualities that every GM must have in order to make a success of their team and venue. He explained, “You have to be hard working, make personal sacrifice and be loyal. It’s no good jumping from place to place. You must nurture a team by sticking at it.”
Chris also worked in Glasgow nightclubs and some of his former customers have literally followed him to Angels. He explained, “Angels is like a city centre venue in a suburb and there’s so much loyalty from locals, plus I also recognise a lot of faces from my Glasgow
nightclub past.”
Seeing as it’s summer, we decided to spotlight seven GMs of venues renowned for their excellent outdoor areas. Here’s what DENNIS FORSYTH of Cheers, Fraserburgh, had to say.
Dennis Forsyth is the big personality behind Fraserburgh’s Cheers Cafe Bar, which has been in business for some 40 years. Dennis took over the reins as owner-manager in 2005 and
the pub’s gem of an outdoor area is a real credit to him – it has to be one of Scotland’s absolute best.
As a previous winner of best outdoor area at the Scottish Bar & Pub Awards, he’s made the beer garden an attractive proposition to his customers, as well as picking up a host of other awards along the way.
Part of the outdoor area is one huge conservatory, plus there’s also another area that is roofed and open at the sides so that Dennis can offer his customers a shot of vitamin D from the sun even if it’s one of those four-seasons-in-one-day type of days.
Said Dennis, “We’re always keeping it looking smart because, with 60 covers, it’s an integral part of the business. The conservatory doors open concertina-style onto the outdoor area, which is also served by its own bar and toilets. We’ve also installed a ramp for disabled access and a disabled toilet that can accommodate mobility vehicles.” He continued,
“Work begins on our new development next year when we’ll add an extension to the beer garden including a stage area, outdoor bbq and seating area.
“We own an adjacent building and we will be joining its backdoor area to ours. Quite a big project.”
Dennis stocks over 1100 spirits, as well as producing their own gin and vodka liqueurs.
Bob Taylor (Aka Uncle Bob, pictured above) has done it again. He and his merry band of cyclists have just cycled from the BEN’s Pitlochry estate to the Blair Athol Distillery – some 80 miles. The day started at 9.30 with coffee and biscuits and throughout the day they stopped for refreshments. More than £6k was raised for the BEN.
Talking of raising money, the annual Donna Mortimer Ballantyne Ball took place last month and raised a phenomenal £330,000K for the Kilbryde Hospice. The surprise guest on
the night was Lulu. The committee, headed up by Lady Susan Haughey, did an amazing job. Well done to the Mortimer family and friends. I’m sure Donna would have very proud.
It still surprises me when drinks companies of fer promotions which of fer free drinks in Glasgow – quite simply, you can’t. This month, it was Innis & Gunn offering vouchers for free pints at their re-branded Brewery Taproom– it’s okay to do this in Edinburgh but in Glasgow it’s not allowed. It’s not a new law – it’s been around for a few years now. Please everyone tell your marketing and PR departments!
The promotion coincided with a new lager marketing campaign from the company called ‘Your Call’ in the city, started with #PeopleMakeGlassGo. They left an Innis & Gunn lorry full of glasses unattended outside Buchanan Galleries and the people of Glasgow managed to pinch 2000 in 24 minutes, 19 seconds. Of course, as you imagine, some of the brewer’s competitors got quite mischievous.
GMB Scotland has been targeting the licensed trade for a while now. No doubt because their traditional areas of manufacturing have been declining and the union has had
some success. It has just signed a recognition deal with Lap-dancing venue Seventh Heaven. The agreement formalises the presence of a recognised trade union within the industry
for the first time in Scotland and will cover all aspects of the employment contract, including annual pay negotiations, disciplinary and grievance procedures and health and safety
at work.
It’s an important milestone in the union’s organising efforts of workers across Glasgow’s lap dancing bars and wider adult entertainment sector, and at time when Glasgow City Council has launched a public consultation over the future licensing regulations of the city’s lap dancing venues.
This month a Glasgow company has offered to let me try what they say is “the UK’s first after-alcohol revival drink.” Called Bounce Back, it has been created by two biotechnologists in Glasgow. Bounce Back is specifically designed for people who are busy and can’t af ford to have a down day, that would be me then! Mind you, never mind my body recovering after alcohol, I need to recover at the end of every day! It contains 16 carefully selected components including; choline to support liver function, Vitamin B12 to zap tiredness, Vitamin C + E, zinc and selenium to boost your immune system. I hate to tell them but I already partake of this in a multi-vitamin! But, hey, it’s always worth a try!
Congratulations to Fallow Cowley. She has just opened a luxury interiors shop, Viano, in Clarkston, with her friend Vivien Smith. Fallon, as many of you will know, worked with Uncle Steve Graham at Manorview for more than a decade before leaving earlier this year. There’s no holding this girl back. Apparently the idea was hatched over an Espresso Martini in a roof top bar where the idea of a luxury interiors shop was discussed. As you know, the best laid plans and ideas always happen over a drink or two.
Meanwhile it’s all change at Manorview on the management front. David Taylor has been appointed Managing Director with founder Steve Graham planning on concentrating on developing the business. At the same time Finance Director, Kenny Barclay, is moving on.
I headed to Islay for the Islay Whisky Festival with the Distell team and a few others. What a great trip. It may have rained, but the company and the experience I wouldn’t change for a
minute. Bunnahabhain pushed the boat out ,literally, and we had a fabulous tasting from
Dr Kirsty McCallum, and got to sample some remarkable whiskies. We also got to have some of David Graham’s (of Ballygrant Inn fame) famous curry.
Seeing as it’s summer, we decided to spotlight seven GMs of venues renowned for their excellent outdoor areas. Here’s what AMY RICKARD of The Drift Inn, Isle of Arran, had to say.
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Overlooking the Holy Isle and Lamlash Bay, the beer garden at the Drift Inn on the isle of Arran arguably commands one of the most outstanding views of any beer garden anywhere. And the GM that heads up the team of 10 is Canadian Amy Rickard – who together with husband, Euan (from Fife), took over in 2013. She describes her management style as “mucking in with rest of the team.”
With the view being the star of the show, naturally the beer garden itself is relatively simple – it consists of wooden picnic benches that are painted blue, and each comes with its own parasol, all sitting on a lovely manicured lawn, surrounded by a wee picket fence that Amy
and Euan added. But they are making some more changes.
Said Amy, “We are expanding our garden which now includes herb and vegetable patches, plus a wee apple tree and, who
knows, it might even grow apples one day.”
Seeing as it’s summer, we decided to spotlight seven GMs of venues renowned for their excellent outdoor areas. Here’s what BRUCE SHERIDAN of Forbes of Kingennie in Broughty Ferry had to say.
Forbes of Kingennie has a stunning outdoor area, which dog friendly too. It looks out over the businesses fishing lake. Managed by Bruce Sheridan The resort also combines a restaurant, bar, function facilities, nine-hole golf course and 14 lodges, all held together by a team of 53 staff.
The resort’s outdoor area overlooks the fishing pond and will have a glass canopy as part of a planned refurbishment next year. Bruce comes
from a family of hoteliers. His parents ran the Torrhouse Hotel in Elgin, but he had no interest in carrying on the family legacy. “I decided to go down the branded route instead by working for brewers like the former S&N and Belhaven, and came back to the industry to work for the Forbes family,” explained Bruce.
He continued, “You’ve got to be organised in this role. And be able to delegate. But I’m also pretty easy-going and try not to get bogged down in the minute detail of stuff. To motivate my staff I engage with them and provide them with all the knowledge they need to drive the business
forward.” As a former Training Support Manager for the Spirit Group, Bruce is also hands-on with the on-site training and coaching.
Seeing as it’s summer, we decided to spotlight seven GMs of venues renowned for their excellent outdoor areas. Here’s what Lewis Malecki of Edinburgh’s Indigo Yard had to say.
Indigo Yard’s popular outdoor area boasts picnic tables complete with patio umbrellas,
wall-mounted planters and has a total capacity of 100, seating and standing which
gives the busy bar much need capacity. GM, Lewis Malecki, has worked for Indigo
Yard, part of the Montpeliers’ group, for seven years and there’s no sign of an itch
because he’s still loving the job and works with what he describes as “great people.”
Said Lewis, “I’m a hands-on manager that leads by example and from the front. This
is our customer’s social time that we are in the job of enriching, so it’s important
to me that my staff also enjoy themselves. It just makes sense.” Lewis manages a
total of 28 staff who all meet once a month to air their thoughts and for stuff to be
communicated.”
“The biggest change, of course, has been the rise of social media and customers,
therefore, having more ways to feed stuff back. I make sure that I answer everything
personally.”
As for his future careers aspirations, Lewis wouldn’t rule out taking his
to the next level. He explained, “Becoming an owner-operator in my own right isn’t
something I’d rule out for the future, but I’m really happy with Montpeliers right now.”
Seeing as it’s summer, we decided to spotlight seven GMs of venues renowned for their excellent outdoor areas. Here’s what Alice Silverwood of The Old Mill had to say.
Alice, 40, is owner-manager of The Old Mill, Killearn, boasting a beer garden, vegetable garden and a yurt, which she runs with husband, Mark.
Originally from Brighton, they fell in love with Scotland when they helped friends out running the Loch Venachar Lochside Restaurant, moving here shortly afterwards, in 2012. They ran the Inn at Kippen from 2014 until acquiring The Old Mill a-year-and-a-half ago.
The restaurant has 50 covers, with an extra 20 in the yurt and the same in the bar. Alice looks after a total of 12 staff and her recipe for motivation is simple. She said, “We all get on really well, but the job still needs to get done and rather than setting random tasks for the staff, I get stuck in and clean the bin shed if needed. Equally, when the staff sees me on my laptop they know that I’m busy with admin stuff because we work closely as a team and each understands the way we all work.”
Alice is always striving to go beyond the bog standard in terms of the food and drinks offering. She explained, “We don’t serve any old bottle of plonk. We want to encourage repeat business, whether that’s locals or customers who are travelling. Freshly made food is expensive and this is not the easiest path, granted, but we are working our benefit because it’s the taste that they love.”
And speaking of taste, Mark’s been busy tending to the vegetable garden and the good news is that’s now bursting with raspberries, gooseberries and rose beds. It also has an indoor-outdoor area as well as the yurt of course, so, as Alice put it, “that the Scottish weather doesn’t get the better of us.”
Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Rye has announced the ten finalists of the Scottish Edition of its Tennessee Rivals cocktail competition that takes place at SWG3’s Acid Bar, Glasgow, on 8th July.
Having initially submitted their Rye twist on a classic highball serve at the regional competition in Manchester in March, each finalist now has the job of promoting their acclaimed cocktail in the lead up to the final – supporting the wider consumer education piece around Rye and its key serves.
Those shortlisted will be offered free training sessions with UK Brand Ambassador, Cam Dawson, as they perfect their second serve in the lead up to the final. At the final itself, each bartender will present their cocktail to the three judges – Cam Dawson, Mike McGinty Bacardi Brown Forman Trade Ambassador Scotland – and Becky Maddison – Brown Forman Super Premium Whiskies Senior Brand Manager – showcasing their creativity and skill through a maximum of six ingredients and minimum 25ml.
The winner will be awarded with a trip for two to Nashville Tennessee, including a tour of the Jack Daniel Distillery where they will learn first-hand how this very special liquid is made.
Commenting on the forthcoming final, Becky Maddison said, “Scotland’s bar scene is one of the most exciting in the country, and we anticipate the Scottish Final being a close contest! We’re looking forward to seeing how these talented finalists use their imagination to help bolster the Rye category, with standout cocktails.”
The Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Rye Competition 2019 Finalists:
Seeing as it’s summer, we decided to spotlight seven GMs of venues renowned for their excellent outdoor areas. Here’s what Ruth Martin of Glasgow’s Brel had to say
RUTH MARTIN Brel Glasgow
Ruth Martin celebrates four years steering the ship at Glasgow’s Brel this month and she puts her continued success down to her colleagues. “I’m fortunate to work with a great team in a great building,” said the 34-year-old.
Prior to this she was “part of the bricks” at The Arches where she spent 13 years, eventually working her way up to Bars and Catering Manager, followed by a stint at Glasgow’s Blue Dog.
What does Ruth attribute her success at Brel to?
She said, “The quality of the food and drink offering at Brel makes it a great place for staff and customers alike because of its terrific reputation. Plus our outdoor area has
enhanced the business all year round. We upgrade it 18 months ago from a muddy hill to landscaped and the fairy lights in winter give it a whole different feel to summer, for example.”
And Ruth is absolutely customer focused. She said, “Customers are now more price-aware and so you have to make sure that you’re responding to their needs by continually improving and running a happy ship of staff that feel listened to.”
It was touch and go as to whether Michael Woods and I would ever meet to do this interview. After two failed attempts it was third time lucky in fact, but he had a 24-carat reason – he’s just had a baby boy called Jett Harris Woods. Mum Sonya and baby are doing just fine, and Michael, 38, is taking to being a first-time father like water off a rubber duck, all the while remaining on top of his two pub businesses, albeit through bleary eyes.
He set aside an hour of his time to meet with me in his newest Glasgow acquisition, The Amsterdam, aka The Dam, formerly The Brunswick Bar on the street of the same name to chew the cud about how he’s shaped his businesses thus far. He’s the director of
MTW Leisure Ltd., the company behind The Dam, and The Winged Ox Ltd. which is of course concerned with his very first outlet, St Luke’s and The Winged Ox, on Bain Street, just off the city’s Gallowgate in the Calton, which opened in 2016. Between the two businesses he employs 40 staff.
Michael comes from a construction background and St Luke’s and The Winged Ox was his very first crack at the trade whip, which immediately begged the question: How did he make the leap and with no experience in this industry?
He said, “I landed in the trade by accident. My brother Anthony and I purchased the building without knowing what to do with it. We had a feeling that it would make a good music venue so we invited all the big music promoters in Scotland along to a party as a test run to see if they rated it as a potential music venue. They loved it, so we thought let’s do it.”
He continued, “Becoming an operator was, therefore, a baptism of fire because I had absolutely no industry experience and so I surrounded myself with a fantastic team. I also got loads of good advice from friends in the trade, like Colin Barr.”
Earlier this year a little bird told him that the former Brunswick Bar was looking for an operator to take on the lease, so he answered the call.
Said Michael, “The Brunswick Hotel next door had been purchased by Khurshied Alam and his son, Imran, from Michael Johnson and Stephen Flannery and is now an entirely separate business to the bar. It was Imran that gave me the nod about the lease at Brunswick Bar being up for grabs. It’s a place that has always been close to my heart because it’s my local, plus I drank in it for many years during the times when Stephen and Michael made this one of the coolest bars in Glasgow. I took on the lease in a heartbeat without even thinking about it.”
Of all the themes in all the world, I wanted to know why Michael decided to go with ‘Amsterdam’ as the inspiration for this bar, because it’s such a departure from what it used to be, which is perhaps reason enough of course. And he really has gone to town with it. The basement space, named The Red Light District, has now been completely turned over to live music and remains pretty much unaltered to how it was before, save for a ceiling plastered in live music posters showcasing its sister venue’s triumphs. Upstairs, however, is now a shrine to the city, with wall-mounted bikes, pictures of Rembrandt and a huge statement chandelier made from Grolsch bottles being just a few big nods to this party city.
He explained, “My wife is Canadian and I drank in a bar there called The Amsterdam in a place called Whistler. That’s where I met Sonya – she was running the bar and did so for 15 years. She’s never worked with me in our venues, although this is a family business of
course, so she has leant her expertise to The Dam. ”
He continued, “I also have family in Holland and visit maybe three or four times a year. I love the vibe of the bars over there. They are relaxed but offer good food, and my bar has loads of tongue-in-cheek references to all of this.”
Michael was keen to emphasise that The Dam is still very much a work in progress. He said, “The place is still very much evolving and I have loads more touches that I want to make to it. We’ve just installed new bi-folding doors that open out onto the pavement at the front of the bar, and we’re also going to be adding canopies for winter to give it that European café culture feel, which I absolutely love and want to promote in Glasgow. I’m also in talks with a spray painter to do a collage on the wall just next to the kitchen servery.”
Training is also a subject that’s close to his heart. He explained, “We have our own in-house training program. Each new recruit gets a booklet outlining all the company values and then we put them through an intensive training process. This includes product awareness training
at breweries and distilleries.”
Dutch citizens are being urged to follow a plant based diet as the government aims to become a world leader in sustainability by 2023, but is Michael embracing the whole vegan explosion in The Dam, or St Luke’s for that matter? “Not really,” he said. “If they want that they can go to a vegan restaurant. There are plenty of them around. People come to my venues for the burgers, amongst other things, so I’ve no desire to follow the herd on this one.”
I had to compliment him on the burgers at The Dam. They’re something else. Likewise the boneless chicken wings at St Luke’s and The winged Ox. “I got the idea for them from Hooters in NYC (it was a stag do!) because they were the best chicken wings that I’d ever tasted,” he said.
I asked Michael if there were any other operators that he ranked as highly as Stephen and Michael, say, as well as for his view on how licensees are finding with the current business climate. He said, “I admire everyone in this business. It’s tough at the moment and I honesty don’t think that people realise just how hard it is to makes ends meet, what with rates, rising tax bills, drink prices going up and up etc. I feel that it is unfair to pass all of this onto the customer, especially with everybody competing for customer loyalty more than ever. Rates have got to be the biggest killer for all licensees though.
“It seems to me that you need to give people a reason to come out more and more other than your basic offering. If St Luke’s and the Winged Ox were just a bar it would struggle massively. We have 200 gigs this year and 40 weddings confirmed for this year.”
And speaking of St Luke’s and The Winged Ox, I asked Michael how that all came about, and in light of Norrie Innes’ new bar, 226 Gallowgate, and Andy Gemmell opening a bar over the road called The Gate, next to Bar 67, if he sees himself as a bit of a trendsetter by encouraging other operators to take a chance on this area. He said, “100 per cent. I was the first person to set up shop here and as far as I know, nobody else was prepared to take the leap.
“It wasn’t the venue alone that I was sold on. It was also the area. I’ve got an affinity with Glasgow’s east end. My grandfather was from Garngad (Royston) and my dad ran a plumbing business round the corner from St. Luke’s for years, so it was a kind of natural
progression in many ways.”
And it’s been such a success story considering this was his first foray into the trade. He said, “It all started in 2014. The building was a Church of Scotland daycare centre, and before that a working church, and we got some investment from Glasgow Heritage Trust and Glasgow City council to the tune of £300k, plus a loan from Tennent’s. I sat on the whole project for a while before we came up with the business plan to make it a music venue. With total project
costs of £1.8m, it was a massive gamble that payed off.”
So what’s the deal with the name? “Luke is one of the four evangelists and each one has a winged animal and it so happens that St Luke has a winged ox,” he explained.
The whole project was three years in the making and the attention to detail was something that Michael continued to bang the drum for throughout. He said, “We worked with the architect Tom Hamilton, all the stonework was replaced, a whole new roof added, and each of the stained glass windows were repaired, costing £90k each. They date back to 1870. He said that they were the best that he’d ever worked on and the details like the gold leaf are just phenomenal up close.”
On top of everything else Michael has a Hungarian Vizsla that he obviously adores. Sadly his former dog Sonny has passed away but his memory lives on in the dog menu at St Luke’s. Said Michael, “Sonny’s Suppers is named in his honour and I was, I believe, the first person to offer a dog menu in Glasgow.”
He’s also the proud owner of a piano that Einstein played during a visit to Glasgow University (who knew?).
Michael and Sonya were married at St. Luke’s last year in a ceremony that was unashamedly their own because it was alive with live music and they did things the “wrong way around, reception first, wedding second.”
New baby permitting, he’s mainly focussed on his newest acquisition right now. “I live near to The Dam and I’m here every day. I’m quite hands-on and help out behind the bar occasionally, but there’s no need for me to do more than that. We pay more than the minimum wage and this has helped us attract good staff. It works. It can be hard to find good chefs and everybody knows that it’s a tough environment to work in. I have a great one right now in the shape of Jay Ward,” said Michael.
Will we be seeing a third venue from Michael anytime soon? “I’m not really thinking about it. I’ve got enough on my plate at the moment, plus I don’t like to put myself under pressure, but if I did do something I guarantee that it would be a completely different from my other two venues.”
He used to golf, but still manages to indulge his passion for snowboarding when he’s not working. I left him to the rest of his day that involved two more meetings, fatherly duties and walking the dog.
Amber Beverage Group (ABG) has acquired 100% of drinks distributor Cellar Trends. Geoff Watts will remain as managing director of Cellar Trends and the rest of the team ‘will not experience any significant changes,’ according to the new owner.
Luxembourg-based ABG first acquired a stake in Cellar Trends in May 2017. Later in 2018 the company increased its ownership to 70%.
Said Seymour Ferreira (pictured), CEO of Amber Beverage Group, “By adding Cellar Trends to our powerful team, we are not only gaining their experience of serving all sectors of the UK drinks trade but also diversifying our corporate DNA. Adding Cellar Trends to ABG will help us grow into a truly global beverage company.
“We are constantly seeking growth and with Cellar Trends on board we will be able to build an even more effective UK team with an ambitious, high performance culture.”
Geoff Watts, managing director of the Cellar Trends, added, “The ownership by ABG has helped to grow the business through the distribution of new and well-known brands, for example, adding Stolichnaya has taken our business to the next level and, importantly, added stability to the benefit of the whole portfolio.”
Established in 1999, Cellar Trends serves all sectors of the UK drinks trade in both on and off trade categories, representing the brands of 20 international drinks companies.
Amber Beverage Group is a producer, distributor, logistics provider and retailer of beverages. It operates internationally from its head office in Luxembourg and through its production and distribution companies in Russia, Mexico, the UK, Australia and the Baltics, its historical home.
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