Scottish catering and hospitality news in Scotland

Scotland's Hotel & Leisure Club has donated £20,000 to the National Youth Orchestras of Scotland. The donation will benefit three NYOS projects, including assisting in the funding of The National Youth Jazz Orchestra of Scotland, and music workshops for both primary and nursery children.

Geraldine Mackay, General Manager of Scotland's Hotel & Leisure Club, joined the senior members of NYOS for rehearsal at Perth Concert Hall. The 37-strong orchestra was practising for the final concert which will mark the end of its summer tour of Provence and Scotland:
'Hearing first-hand the talent demonstrated by the senior members of NYOS really reinforced how important it is to invest in up-and-coming musicians,' said Geraldine.

Scotland's Hotel & Leisure Club is one of eight hand-picked properties based around Scotland and England. Crerar Hotels is part of the North British Trust Group which donates a significant amount of money each year to a variety of charitable organisations within the vicinity of each of the hotels.

Photo shows: L-R, back row: Geraldine Mackay, General Manager of Scotland's Hotel & Leisure Club, and Richard Chester, Director of NYOS
Front Row: Members of NYOS Chamber Orchestra: Sarah Cruickshank, Katie Stone, Iona Garvie, Yvonne Paterson, Mandy Murphy and Kate McDermott.

The shortlist for this year's Highlands & Islands Food & Drinks Awards has just been announced.

The judging panel for this year's Awards comprises Wendy Barrie, Alan Craigie, Grant MacNicol, Alan Topping and Mark Georgeson, and is chaired by Gary Williamson of Williamson Foodservice.

'As we can see from the shortlist, there's development right across the board - from smoked mussels to rhubarb vodka, from large international companies to small one-person businesses and from Bute to Shetland and all places in between,' says Shona MacLennan, Highlands & Islands Food & Drinks Forum co-ordinator. 'This reflects the diversity of the area and the local food and drink economy. But what I'm particularly looking forward to is seeing all the folk at the Awards Ceremony, receiving recognition for their continued hard work and being an inspiration to others to succeed in the same way.'

The winners of this year's awards will be announced at a dinner in the Drumossie Hotel, Inverness, on 14 September.
For tickets Tel: 01599 534999 or email: shona@solas-biz.co.uk.

Scotland's hotel sector continued to outperform the rest of the UK in terms of occupancy and rooms yield, according to the latest monthly survey by PKF accountants.

Scotland had an increase of 9.6% in rooms yield in June, compared to a UK average of 6.3%, and experienced an increase of 3.6% in occupancy compared to an increase of 1.8% for the whole of the UK.

Glasgow continued to lead the way with 23.8% increase in rooms yield and a 9.3% increase in occupancy compared to the same period last year. Aberdeen saw a 10.6% rise in rooms yield against a 0.9% fall in occupancy levels, while Edinburgh saw rooms yield increase by 5.8% and occupancy rise by 1.3%. Edinburgh achieved the highest rooms yield figure, £85.86, outside London and an occupancy level of 89.2% which is the second highest in the UK after Gatwick.

The year to date figures show the increase in Scotland's rooms yield running at almost twice that of the rest of the UK at 8.4% compared to 4.4%, whilst occupancy shows an increase of 2.6% compared to 0.9% for the rest of the UK.

'The sector is managing to successfully improve rooms yield even when occupancy levels seem to have stalled somewhat, albeit at a very high level,' says Alastair Rae, partner for hotel consultancy services at PKF. 'Even the weather, which few would say has been welcoming this year, has not dampened the success of the sector and so it appears that the overall summer figures for Scotland will be worth celebrating. The June figures indicate that the Scottish hotel sector seems to be unaffected by interest rate rises, the strength of the pound or concerns over terrorism.'

An experienced caterer is required for the tearoom at East Links Family Park, a award-winning Scottish visitor attraction. A two-year licence is offered, which runs from 20th October 2007.

Applicants who are knowledgeable in maintaining high standards of quality and presentation in a high-volume outlet may apply to the M.D at the address below, or by emailing grant@eastlinks.co.uk


Applicants shouls apply in writing to:

East Links Family Park
Dunbar, East Lothian, EH42 1XF

For more information, visit the East Links Family Park website.

Tom Kitchin, who attended catering classes at Perth College before opening up his own award-winning restaurant in Edinburgh last year, has presented his former college with a trophy to foster excellence in cooking.

The Kitchin Perpetual Challenge Trophy will be presented annually to the student who excels in the college's City & Guild Certificate in Professional Cookery.

The first winner of the trophy is Rory Lovie (pictured), who also received a set of professional kitchen knives and will have the opportunity to spend a week with Tom in his restaurant.

Tom, who won his Michelin star just seven months after opening his first restaurant, has previously held cooking demonstrations for classes at the college.

'Perth College is doing a lot of good work in the hospitality sector,' he says. 'I hope the trophy will help inspire students in the future to develop the same passion that I have always felt for good food and good cooking.'

Contract catering firm ARAMARK has signed up to become one of the main sponsors of this year's British Food Fortnight.

The event, now in its sixth year, runs from 22nd September to 7th October, and is the biggest national celebration British-produced food. ARAMARK's involvement will encourage caterers across its operations to buy British and to produce British-inspired menus.

This year's British Food Fortnight will also focus on increasing awareness among children about British food, educating on seasonality, provenance and how to cook a healthy British meal.

ARAMARK chefs will use the fortnight to spread their knowledge in primary and secondary schools across the country, which also coincides with the Harvest Festival celebrations. The chefs will talk to the children on the importance of using British produce, and will demonstrate how to cook up a seasonal feast using a selection of locally sourced vegetables, fruit, meat and seafood.

This is the second year we have backed British Food Fortnight in a bid to educate on the excellent foods available from across the British Isles,' says Frazer Rendell, ARAMARK's Retail Promotions Director. 'We hope our units enjoy being involved and that the school children benefit from our chef?s visits.'

Visit the British Food Fortnight website for more information.

Pride & Passion has announced six new locations for its 'Community Challenge' local tourism projects beginning in September. Orkney, Keith, Dufftown, Pitlochry, Balloch and Peebles were selected from over thirty applications received from communities throughout Scotland to take part in this 18-month programme.

The Community Challenge was set up to promote the economic benefit of businesses working together and making a collective commitment to create better experiences for visitors, customers and local people to achieve better sales and profits for individual businesses and communities.

Pride & Passion is providing the communities with the chance to tap into expertise from industry experts; business development and quality improvement tools; customer experience tours, and workshops to help them work out how best to maximise their local assets, amongst other resources. An important aspect of the scheme is that the input is bespoke to each community and groups are able to request the type of assistance they need to help them make the progress they aspire to. The successful community groups will also be attending an event at the Scottish Parliament to meet Jim Mather, the Minister with responsibility for tourism, later in the year.

'The community challenge highlights the great work that is being done across Scotland to boost tourism,' says Mather. 'It will help us to ensure tourism is fully contributing to our overarching aim to increase sustainable economic growth.

'Our decision to link VisitScotland ever more closely with our Enterprise Agencies is evidence that we believe that Tourism is one of Scotland?s major strengths. We need to work together, locally, nationally and globally to meet the challenges of an increasingly competitive world.
Our planned Tourism Industry Consultation session on the 27th August will further consolidate this approach.'

Visit The Pride and Passion website for more information.

Martin Wishart will host a food and wine cookery demonstration evening on 22nd August at the Clive Christian kitchen showrooms in Edinburgh, from 5.30pm to 7.00pm. Tickets are £75 per person. Call 0131 557 2529 for details.

In a bid to find an up-and-coming talented chef, Fenwicks Restaurant in Edinburgh is inviting Scottish chefs to its very own culinary challenge at Fenwicks Restaurant.

Between 6th and 10th August, Scottish chefs are being invited along by Fenwicks' owners Kim Walker and Frank Sweeney (Frank pictured on right), and Head Chef Will Pottinger (pictured left), to create original dishes in under 30 minutes.
The hopefuls will be given a box of ingredients and tasked with creating an original dish from scratch that showcases flair, creativity and a good understanding of culinary techniques.

At the end of the week-long cook-off, the chef that impresses the most will be appointed as Fenwick's Chef de Partie.

'The ideal chef will be someone with two to three years' experience in the kitchen,' says Kim. 'They need to be enthusiastic and keen to develop their career with our ambitious restaurant. We have big plans for Fenwicks, including a total refurbishment and we want someone who is excited and dedicated to taking the restaurant to even greater heights. We would ask anyone who is interested in taking part in our culinary challenge to contact us and send in their CV. Our ideal chef is out there somewhere!'

Head chef Will added: 'I'm looking forward to the challenge because it?ll be interesting to see what each chef comes up with and how their imagination works. We'll make it as real-life as possible, as being able to work under pressure and deliver top quality food to our customers is vital.'

Fenwicks Restaurant serves up locally sourced Scottish food with a French twist to around 65 covers. The menu changes every seven to ten days.

To find out more about Fenwicks Restaurant's culinary challenge, contact the restaurant direct on 0131 667 4265 and send CVs to: enquiries@fenwicks-restaurant.co.uk.

See Fenwicks' culinary challenge in full at the Catering in Scotland Jobs pages. (Click on Fenwicks Restaurant Edinburgh).

Crerar Hotels has bought the Eight Acres Hotel & Leisure Club in Elgin, Morayshire from independent hoteliers, Garry and Roy Dinnes, for an undisclosed sum. The 53-bedroom hotel has meeting and event facilities for up to 250 people, a restaurant, café-bar and leisure club.

'We plan to add a further 25 bedrooms and enhancing the excellent leisure club, 'says Paddy Crerar, Chief Executive of Crerar Hotels.

Host Contract Management has appointed Douglas Wood as Commercial Director with effect from 1st September.

Latterly Regional Operations Manager for the Compass Group, Wood replaces Neil Wightman, who is to move into the company's sales department. Wood's new remit will include operations, purchasing and merchandising.

'There is clear evidence that our clients are now looking for a mixture of traditional contract catering services, which we provide for the independent education and healthcare markets, coupled with more retail-oriented services,' says Host's Managing Director, Jerry Brand.

This appointment also supports the recent reorganisation of Host into four distinct regions: Scotland, North, Midlands and South.

Visit Host's website for more information.

The completion of a £1.8m refurbishment programme at the Queensferry Hotel near Edinburgh has been announced to provide a major boost for the Fife economy.

The refurbishment at the hotel in North Queensferry is part of a major investment programme by parent group Folio Hotels to upgrade its portfolio of four-star hotels throughout the UK.

The Queensferry Hotel's refurbishment includes a new, purpose-built business centre, incorporating four self-contained, air-conditioned meeting areas for up to 60 delegates.

According to Nicholas Crawley, Managing Director of Folio Hotels, the underlying aim behind the investment programme is to create a group of four-star hotels offering individual character in locations that suit both business and leisure guests.

'Our intention is to attract customers through high service levels in relaxed and contemporary surroundings,' he says.

The Alternative Hotel Group, which owns catering company, Searcy's, has appointed Duncan Ackery as Chief Executive to take over from John Nugent later this year.

Ackery, currently Food & Beverage Director with AHG, added: 'To be appointed as Searcy's Chief Executive is an outstanding opportunity. The new relationship with AHG will underpin the current business and allow us to drive into fresh markets.'

Searcy boasts a diverse client portfolio that spans business, industry, arts and cultural contracts, providing a range of services from restaurants, bars and cafés to banqueting and boardroom dining.

Commenting on the appointment, AHG'S Chairman, Richard Balfour-Lynn, stated: 'Duncan has a proven track record of developing and driving high end catering businesses. Having joined AHG from Tate Catering, his breadth of experience will be invaluable to Searcy's. This appointment, in confluence with AHG's depth of investment in the hospitality sector and Searcy's existing business reputation, sets the company up for an exciting future.'

The Alternative Hotel Group, established in 2005, is a joint venture with The Bank of Scotland and comprises De Vere Hotels and Village Hotels, which includes a total of 34 hotels and 26 conference venues throughout the UK.

Barnardo's, in association with Montpeliers, is hosting an evening of entertainment including a vintage fashion show, auction, live music, burlesque dancing, raffle prices and free bubbles on arrival.
Tickets are limited, so email courtney@montpeliers.co.uk or pop into Barnardo's Vintage Shop on the Grassmarket. Every penny raised from the event goes straight to Barnardo's.

Event Details:

Vintage Fashion Spectacular
Sunday 19th August from 7pm
Lulu, George Street, Edinburgh
Tickets: £20 (includes bubbles on arrival)

Loch Fyne Restaurants will be opening a new site in Edinburgh on 20 August at Newhaven Harbour. The 110-cover restaurant has a prime waterfront location with an extensive outside eating area overlooking the small harbour.

In a newly formed partnership, Macdonald Hotels will now stock Tullibardine Distillery's whisky at fifteen of their Scottish properties, while guests will receive a gift voucher to enjoy a free tour of the Perthshire distillery.

Tullibardine is a traditional distillery and bonded warehouse, providing visitors with an opportunity to learn about all aspects of whisky preparation, from malting to maturation. Finishing in the nosing and tasting room, guests are encouraged to sample various vintages.

The seventh annual Taste of Mull and Iona Food Festival takes place between 6th and 11th September, with activities staged at venues throughout the two islands. The Festival is a celebration of the islands' rich and diverse local produce and promotes the islands of Mull & Iona as quality food destinations.

There are several exciting new events on the menu this year in addition to the regulars.

New events for 2007 include:

Organic Barbecue & Ceilidh, Isle of Iona, Friday 7 September

Crofters' Feast, Pennyghael Community Hall, Saturday 8 September

Italian/Thai Fusion at the Med, Saturday 8 September

Slow Food Feast, Treshnish Estate, Sunday 9 September

East Meets Mull, Sunday 9 September

Isle of Mull Oysters Farm Tour & Tasting, Penmore, Near Dervaig, Tuesday 11 September

Far Eastern Night, Tuesday 11 September

Full details of these and all other Festival events can be found at the Wildisles website.

Hospitality Action's (HA) gala ball is set for 14th September at the Thistle Hotel, Glasgow, to raise awareness and funds for the charity in Scotland.

HA was set up in 1837 to provide support to current and former staff from the hospitality industry whose circumstances have altered significantly in recent times.
Current patrons include Jamie Oliver MBE, Gary Rhodes, Delia Smith and Anthony Worrall Thompson.

Tables of ten at the ball are £750 + VAT, which includes a four-course meal and a bottle of wine per couple.

Call 0141 353 5000 to reserve your table, to donate prizes or to make a donation to the charity.