Blantyre-based Dunns Food and Drinks has teamed up with local producers in Scotland, like Ramsay of Carluke and the St Andrews Farmhouse Cheese Company, in a bid to help them drive sales, which they hope will then boost the local economy. Local produce will be showcased to top restaurants and bars in a high quality [...]

Figures obtained by the DRAM from each one of Scotland’s licensing boards reveal a massive drop in on-trade licences from 13,003 (inclusive of registered clubs) in 2007 to 7,383 today. But before everyone jumps to the assumption that the number of pubs have almost halved in the last five years, licensing lawyers say the original [...]

Business partners Adrian Gomes and Andrew Sanways have taken on the lease at the former Belmont Bar in Aberdeen. The Belmont Street bar will re-open in August with a new name, The Tippling House. Gomes, who currently runs Aberdeen mobile catering company Ten Dollar Shake, told DRAM, “The name is what 18th Century Jamaican underground [...]

When it comes to hotel occupancy Scotland leads the way in Europe. Five Scottish cities have ranked in the top 10 European cities with the highest hotel occupany rates. No other country in Europe has five cities in the top 10. Edinburgh had the second highest occupancy rate (80.1 percent) in Europe during the past [...]

The £8m Hotel Indigo Edinburgh opened its doors this month, marking the first Hotel Indigo property for Sojourn Hotels LLP. The company acquired the property four years ago, and the refurbishment took a total of 14 months. The 60-room hotel is on York Place, on the site of the former Osborne Hotel, and in keeping [...]

Bennets, Glasgow’s oldest gay club, has now vanished, and has been replaced by AXM. The original AXM is one of Manchester’s favourite gay clubs, and this is the company’s first foray into the Scottish market. Its Manchester club was named best bar for the North of England 2012 by Boyz magazine, and has also received [...]

Business partners Richard Dubupet, Norbert Cheron and Chef Andrew Stott, trading as Artno Ltd, have taken over the lease at the former MIO on Glasgow’s Hope Street, now called Le Bistro Beaumartin. This marks the first leasehold for the three men, and the 69-cover restaurant also incorporates a separate lounge/bar area, with original bistro tables [...]

Richard Paterson master blender extraodinaire… made the trip to Campbeltown recently to help Flora Grant and Marion MacKinnon of The Ardsheil Hotel celebrate the upgrading of the Ardshiel Whisky Bar, which apparently has been the talk of the town. Richard provided a master class to over 120 local Campbeltown people who have impressed with the [...]

Just after we went to press last month, Tennent Caledonian and Maclay Inns announced that they have linked up in a deal which sees Tennent’s become the group’s main beer supplier. The transaction also sees Tennent’s taking a small stake in Maclays which will allow them to continue to grow their on-trade presence. Maclay Group’s [...]

The gin category is certainly alive and kicking. Jason Caddy reports. Scotland continues to provide fertile ground for all kinds of new gin products, and in the last few years there has been an explosion in homegrown brands. Inver House Distillers launched its own Celtic Botanicals gin, the Bruichladdich Distillery on Islay launched the island’s [...]