Article Tag: Scotland

It’s complicated. We love to hate them.” Just two of the views expressed by hoteliers I spoke to when describing their relationship with OTAs (online travel agencies) – the companies that exist to sell your rooms by offering a bigger shop window.

The fear of rising costs – caused by inflation, business rates, staffing and online travel agency (OTA) fees – is the biggest threat facing the hotel sector in Scotland according to industry experts.   Just under half of those surveyed at […]

More G&T, Vickers? Lanarkshire-born Angela Vickers is Apex Hotels’ CEO. She joined Apex as Financial Director in 2004 when the company had five hotels and a £14m turnover. Today, Apex owns ten hotels and has a turnover of £65m. She recently […]

How can hoteliers encourage their chefs to be more creative? That’s the question we posed to a food and drink consultant, a hotel group’s cluster head chef, as well as some hoteliers of course…Here’s what they had to say. By Jason […]

In among the distinct lack of April showers came the sunshine news that Scottish hotels outperformed the rest of the UK in 2017, and there are plenty more reasons for Scottish hoteliers to be optimistic in 2018 other than the sunnier […]

Jason Caddy met with Stephen Leckie, CEO at Crieff Hydro, and they talked business, tourism, misconceptions, broken ribs and Kit-Kats. A two-hour chat with Crieff Hydro CEO Stephen Leckie is like being sucker punched by a force of nature. On stilts. […]

Queensferry Hotels invest in Scotland

When Finance Minister Derek Mackay announced his 12.5% cap on business rates for the hospitality sector back in February, it was certainly welcome news. The move offered a bit of breathing space to those facing major hikes and the prospect of […]

Ken McCulloch is not only a great ‘von viveur’, but he is one of the most respected hoteliers in the industry. A fact recognised when he won Hotelier of the Year from his peers in 2008. He was also a founding […]

Husband and wife team Robert and Vivien Kyle are hairdressers to trade. They met at 19 and opened their own salon a year later, before moving into the licensed trade in 1991, when they bought The Sun Inn in Cumnock, Ayrshire, […]

As a fifth generation hotelier, it’s hard to think of Stephen Leckie doing anything other than working in hospitality. Not only does he have a family bond with the property – as great-great-great-grandnephew of Dr Thomas Meikle who founded the alcohol-free, […]

INDEPENDENT HOTELIERS IN SCOTLAND ARE GROWING THEIR BUSINESSES, COLLECTIVELY EMPLOYING THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE, AND INVESTING IN THEIR BUSINESSES DESPITE THE ECONOMIC UNCERTAINTIES. THIS MONTH WE TAKE A LOOK AT JUST SOME OF THE COMPANIES AND PEOPLE MAKING THEIR MARK. ANNABELLE LOVE […]