Our Stories

A Gamble worth Taking

A pair of young bartenders with ideas that far outpaced their budget, Richard and David Haigh had comfortably spent the last decade working their way through just about every type of venue imaginable in the city centre of Edinburgh before they decided that they wanted to do things their own way.

They found a site. The only problem? ‘Trouble’ was this places middle name.

17 Albert Place had been through many incarnations and reinventions over the last two decades, each more troublesome to the local licensing board than the last. It was the kind of place you crossed the road to avoid. The kind of place where a request for a bowl of olives would be met with a blank stare and, if you were lucky, the chance to leave with your teeth still comfortably resting in your mouth.

Leith was changing though. Young professionals and students were flocking to the area and they wanted more than this from their watering holes. Richard and David saw the sites potential and transformed it from a dark and foreboding hole in the wall to a bright and stylish cocktail bar. Getting rid of the old regulars took a little time but soon, cautiously at first, locals began to venture into their well-lit, oak interior to find a buffet of speakeasy cocktails and delicious burgers waiting for them. They kept coming back.

The only problem the boys have now is deciding where to open their next one.

The Avenue Story

The Avenue opened in 2013 with the vision of bringing a city centre vibe to a local bar. The venue had several names and operators over the previous few years with little success. I live and own a children’s soft play area locally and felt there was a need for a family and female friendly bar.

We concentrated on providing fresh, quality food and premium drinks offer. We put an emphasis on wine and cocktails to appeal to females as the only other bars in the area are male orientated focussing on sport.

With food sales continually growing, we took the decision to convert what was previously a function room, into a restaurant to create a more suitable dining space. This has proved to be a huge success and increased sales by around 40%. This investment was made easier by the help of Iona, who helped with everything from design, drawings, upfront costs and providing the skilled workers to ensure work was completed to high standard.

I would say the key to our success has been a combination of hard work, a dedicated team, good local knowledge and continually striving to improve standards.