ENTREPRENEUR Garreth Wood, son of the Aberdeen-based oil billionaire Sir Ian Wood, plans to give away £1 million a year to charity by 2018 through his burger and cocktail bar chain.
The 37-year-old entrepreneur will cut short his participation in the 18th Gumball 3000 rally, which landed in Scotland yesterday, to open an enlarged Boozy Cow in Aberdeen on Wednesday.
Mr Wood, whose Aberdeen-
based Speratus Group runs the bar and eaterie, says every single penny of profit from each restaurant will go to charity.
He currently has two Boozy Cows, with the other in Edinburgh, and has bought premises for a new one in Stirling city centre, to open in the summer. There are also plans to secure premises in Dundee.  
The firm plans to open three new restaurants of this kind every year, over the next five years, in both Scotland and plans to go into England next year. 
All the £263,000 2014/15 profits from the Aberdeen and Edinburgh burger bars, has been given to five Scottish charities, says the firm. Children’s Hospice Association Scotland received £70,000, the STV Appeal got £40,000, the Archie Foundation was given £70,000, Voluntary Service Aberdeen £33,000 and Youth and Philanthropy Initiative Edinburgh collected £50,000.  
The Speratus Group is already the corporate sponsor of the 
Youth and Philanthropy Initiative in Edinburgh, which aims to encourage the next generation of philanthropists.
Mr Wood said: “We are expanding by a few restaurants every year. And we are looking to go national, down to England next year. I am very focussed on this.
“It’s the first time I have been able to take my business and my philanthropy and do something quite exciting.”
The Boozy Cow started life in Aberdeen in August 2014 with red chilli cheese burgers, mac ‘n’ cheese burgers, buffalo chicken wings and chilli dogs on the menu.
The American theme continued with frosted beers, Oreo cookie shakes, Coke floats and cocktails such as the “Boozy Mule”.
There was even a mighty challenge in which eaters are given 20 minutes to eat one chilli cheese burger, one chilli dog, one portion of chilli cheese fries and one Oreo milkshake.
Speratus said Boozy Cow was established as a “fresh twist” on the typical burger joint in an “edgy and urban environment”.
A spokesman said: “At Speratus, we are extremely proud of the Boozy Cow concept and clearly our customers agree. Their loyalty has enabled us to announce a healthy profit earlier this year from our two current burger bars and with the new larger Aberdeen Boozy Cow premises, and new venues in the pipeline, we hope to share more profits with local charities next year.”
Two years ago, when the Gumball Rally came to Scotland for the first time, Mr Wood and his wife Nicola, a former Miss Scotland and Miss UK, attempted to raise at least £100,000 for the charity When You Wish Upon A Star, to take about 100 children who have been diagnosed with life-threatening or terminal illnesses on a day trip to Lapland in December.
They gathered the funds by performing 50 random “acts of kindness”, which were to trigger donations by the Speratus Group. Examples en route included carrying another team’s luggage, washing a windscreen and buying chocolate for a child.
The idea to fundraise for the charity came after the death of their triplet daughters in 2013,  who were born prematurely.