Hot stuff in the Highlands
A HIGHLAND entrepreneur is following in his late mother’s footsteps by launching a hot beverage venture in Fort Augustus.
Ronald Mackenzie, owner of Cruise Loch Ness, has invested £30,000 in a retro coffee van.
It comes 40 years after his mother, Effie, opened the first tearoom in the village.
Ronald said: “I’ve always been a strong coffee lover and passionate about the right espresso. After my mother opening the first tearoom in the village – it seems like a natural progression for me. I was basically brought up in a tearoom and on a boat!”
Dry days are gone
IN liquor licensing circles, East Renfrewshire was traditionally known as the “driest” area in Scotland. Now one of its biggest towns is preparing to host its popular beer festival again.
The Giffnock Beer Festival will take place in the grounds of rugby club Glasgow Hutchesons’ Aloysians on August 27, promising patrons libations from a host of leading brewers.
The event is being sponsored by JW Filshill’s Craft Beer Clan of Scotland, with beers from the likes of WEST, Drygate, Jaw Brew, Edinburgh Beer Factory, Tempest Brewing Co and the Clockwork Beer Company set to feature.
The dry days would seem to long gone from this leafy suburban town.
A glass act
IT is perhaps no surprise to learn where the idea for Brewgooder, the social enterprise which uses the profits from craft beer sales to support clean water projects in the developing world, was hatched.
Co-founder Alan Mahon spilled the beans as he addressed the launch of the 2016 Scottish Crowdfunding Report in Glasgow recently.
“Our journey started in a pub,” Mr Mahon said.
“I don’t know about you guys – I get my best ideas when I’m drinking!”
Mr Mahon, who runs Brewgooder with Josh Littlejohn, said customers can also consume its ales with a clear conscience.
“It turns drinking on a Friday and Saturday night into a charitable act,” he added.
A sporting surprise
RUNNING a crowdfunding campaign put the founders of Find a Player, the smartphone app that makes it easier for people to find a play sport, in the global spotlight.
The Scottish business grabbed the imagination of Ian Nolan, head of sport at Yahoo, who declared the app could be the next tech “unicorn” to come out of Scotland.
The attention certainly caught founder Jim Law by surprise. “I nearly choked on my Subway!” he told guests at the Crowdfunding Report launch.
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