Anna Christopherson of Edinburgh-based Boda Bar Group was the very first person to sign up to the Swurf app that launched in May to help businesses to promote their space during quiet times for anybody that is working remotely through the pandemic and that is looking for a change of scene from home-working. McLarens on the Corner, The Ox and Le Monde in Edinburgh, The Marine Bar in Troon, The Crown Plaza in Glasgow, various Chaophraya restaurants, and The Aberdeen Altens Hotel are among 45 businesses that have since signed up.
Swurf founder and director Nikki Gibson told DRAM, “Swurf has gained significant traction since our launch and Anna was our very first sign up and supporter.
“My background is hospitality, working in hotels before moving to events where I owned and operated my own company, Naked Events, for the last 11 years, and so have experienced first hand the devastation of Covid, and that’s the motivation behind Swurf.
“Our sector always finds a way of adapting and reinventing itself and I think there are a lot of exciting opportunities in the future, for those that embrace them at least, and lead the way.”
Said Anna Christopherson, “Boda Bars joined because we are well aware the landscape is changing for bars. We need to invite people in on the quiet times. At the same time lots of companies are cancelling their office space and asking people to work from home. But let’s face it, working from home does not suit everybody. “
Edinburgh startup Pour aims to help Scotland’s hospitality industry get back on its feet. It has created a new app based mobile ordering platform that enables users to order and pay through their smartphone in the pub, bar, restaurant or café they are in, without a break in their conversation.
Created by two Scottish entrepreneurs, Ian Martin and Paul Kirkland, Pour allows businesses to replicate their food and drinks menu and take contact free orders through their own branded hub in the app, which automatically sends the orders directly to the bar, restaurant or café to be prepared and served by the establishment’s staff, to the customers table or takeaway collection point.
Says Ian Martin, “We can help pubs, bars, restaurants and cafes get back on their feet by facilitating contact free table service, takeaway collection and local delivery” explains Ian. “and we’re waiving all platform fees for the foreseeable future to support businesses in this sector as they reopen.”
Grant funding support from the UK’s innovation agency, Innovate UK has helped pour accelerate platform development and launch initially in Scotland, before rolling out nationally thereafter.
Executive Chair, Innovate UK, Dr Ian Campbell, said: “Businesses from all over the UK have answered our call rapidly to meet the challenges we face today and in the future through the power of innovation. The ideas we have seen can truly make a significant impact on society, improve the lives of individuals, especially those in vulnerable groups and enable businesses to prosper in challenging circumstances.”
Workers and students in hospitality can now utilise a new free learning App from HIT Scotland which aims to help with their self-development during lockdown.
The App has been developed by HIT, and it utilises the technology from HIT sponsor Criton and its aim is to support individuals motivated to update their skills and knowledge at a time when options to learn in the workplace, or at college, have been removed or significantly reduced.
The app can be downloaded from the Criton store, to a mobile, and it contains a collection of self-development links and activities on inspirational topics from people management to meditation. The plan is that the content will be updated regularly with material provided from members of the hospitality sector.
HIT Chief Executive, David Cochrane, said, “In these different and challenging times when we would normally be getting the industry together at our events around the country, plus delivering scholarships locally, nationally and internationally, we all find ourselves in a unique situation which is having a major impact on our industry globally.
“The App will allow our sector to access self-development tools and information that enable those who wish to do so to learn during lockdown.
“As with all HIT initiatives, this project has been possible thanks to the efforts of the industry and its support organisations working together for the benefit and advancement of our sector. It is heartening to see this generosity of spirit continuing in such challenging times.”
Visitors to Dewar’s Aberfeldy Distillery in Perthshire can now utilise a specially created app to bring the historic archives of the distiller to life.
The creation of the experience, the first of its type for a Scotch whisky distillery, was inspired by similar innovations in some of the world’s leading museums and art galleries. Visitors to the distillery’s heritage exhibition can now use iPads to utilise the app which allows them to build their own experience rather than listen to the audio tour previously offered. Users are also able to view items that, due to their fragility, are not currently on display to the public.
The app uses the latest technology to recognise visual ‘trigger points’, accessing additional information, imagery, sound and video when held over them. Provided in 11 languages, the app also enhances the experience for the distillery’s many overseas visitors.
Jonathan Wilson, Visitor Operations Manager, comments, “It’s exciting to see our historical archives presented in such a contemporary way. Whilst an iPad can never replace the personal interaction provided by our distillery tours, the new experience is a wonderful added bonus that allows whisky lovers, visitors and locals alike to delve deeper into the Dewar’s story.”
Developed by Glasgow creative branding and digital agency Contagious, the app uses a simple interface with icons on screen to access specific room-based content throughout heritage exhibition. Access to the heritage exhibition and use of an iPad is included in all the distillery’s tour options, which also offer a guided tour through whisky production and the atmospheric warehouse, before a whisky tasting. http://www.dewars.com
A £7m proposal to erect a 65 bedroom Premier Inn hotel on the site of a former abattoir in St Andrews has been given the go-ahead from planners. The site at Largo Road will also include a restaurant. Work is expected to start straight away.
Meanwhile Whitbread is to build a twin hotel development in Edinburgh’s Old Town. A 127 room Premier Inn and a 130 room Hub by Premier Inn will be built on the Caltongate site. The latter is the first Hub by Premier Inn outside of London. This compact hotel has rooms which only measure 11.4sq.m and it will be the first hotel to allow guests to control temperature, lighting and TV from their smart phones using an app.