Award Winning Opinion – Liam Reid, Scotch & Rye
Liam Reid is the general manager of Scotch & Rye, a cocktail bar and kitchen in the heart of Inverness. They specialise in selling American inspired burgers and home cooking, accompanied by a selection of craft beers, cocktails and a wide range of other drinks.
Scotch & Rye won the national award for Best Independent Pub 2022.
We asked Liam to share some of his personal experiences of working in the hospitality trade.
My advice to other licensed venues thinking about joining Best Bar None is simple, 100% get involved……….
I started at the tender ages of 14 working as a kitchen porter climbing into my first management role at 18. After a stint off-shore and in the NHS, I returned to hospitality in December of 2022 as the General Manager in Scotch & Rye.
As the dad of two young children I returned to the hospitality sector for the flexibility it offers me, for some people the routine of Monday to Friday eight till five suits, for me it doesn’t.
I have very much learned the trade from the ground up, along with my experiences in other sectors I have learned a strong work ethic and developed skills I thought I never had, like maths, I hated it at school, now it’s part of my daily job and I really enjoy it.
I love the public facing nature of the job and being there for a lot of big moments, birthday’s anniversary and engagements, we are also a friendly face to people who might seldom get out or have other social issues.
Over and above our day jobs we do loads of stuff to support our wider community. This month for example the team are trying to walk a million steps for Mikeysline. Mikey was a school friend who sadly took his own life. In his memory some friends set up the charity, which supports people who are struggling with their mental health. They do this through counselling, advice and a drop in centre. If we achieve a million steps our parent company has pledged a large donation to the charity.
Our parent company also provides all team members with a training app which gives us access to 40 SQA recognised courses. As such we all go through a mental health awareness course, drug awareness and conflict management training. This benefits our personal development and enables us to support people better.
Scotch & Rye joined Best Bar None as we feel it reflects our company principals. It offered us the chance to prove that we are a responsible, forward thinking venue that does everything possible to create a safe and comfortable environment for all our customers.
We feel the Best Bar None brand is a recognisable symbol that gives our customers confidence in our values. I think it also shows the team how seriously we take not only the customers safety, but theirs as well.
…….My advice to other licensed venues thinking about joining Best Bar None is simple, 100% get involved.
Best Bar None - Best Independent Pub
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