Chapter Twenty Six

Around the same time I also joined the board of the newly created DMO (Destination Management Organisation) these were very much all the rage back then, regions all over the country had DMO’s trying to co-ordinate their tourism strategies especially in Scotland as the local tourist boards had disappeared and tourism in Scotland at least, had been taken over by Visit Scotland, their brief was to bring tourists into Scotland as a country but with little emphasis on specific areas, these local areas quickly became the responsibility of local DMO’s made up of local businesses, and funded predominantly by local council and membership. A group I was glad I joined as I met a whole new group of people, all involved in tourism, all in the same region, and made some good contacts and good friends too, not least Fred & Maggie! Fred and I remained as directors of what became known as Destination Dumfries and Galloway for some years until it became obvious that we were not as independent or autonomous as we had hoped we could be. At the same time, I was also involved with ADGAP (association of Dumfries and Galloway Accommodation Providers), a catchy name don’t you think!  Another group but this time solely concerned with accommodation providers, although not that many were hoteliers, lots of B&B’s Guest Houses, Caravan Parks and Self-Catering properties but not that many hoteliers as I say. Again, I became a director of this group too, we were independent, especially as we were not getting government funding of any sort but it also meant that there was very little money to go towards anything meaningful sadly, but we did our bit promoting the area and the businesses in it.

As you recall I mentioned that it wasn’t until 2010 that we really started to feel the effects of the recession the banks had caused but feel it we did. I was still looking for finance as the bank had refused us but we needed to refurbish the hotel or not move forward at all. I’d found someone when things went bad with David. Michelin had visited and said “until you get your rooms up to the level one would expect for Michelin Starred food then you will never get one”, so much for it all being about the food! This is how came across Russell. He was involved with a business angels’ operation as well as offering financial advice. We met and we got on really well together. He got me in front of the angels but sadly nothing came of that, except having Russell as a confidant and a friend.

I had a call from the bank one day saying that two of their managers from head office were coming down to see me, I did not like the sound of that, given that the banks at the time were calling in loans left, right and centre to minimise their debts I was naturally dubious, so I called Russell and he offered to come up and sit in on the meeting. These two suited “gentlemen” duly arrived and immediately started on me saying that they couldn’t see how we are ever going to be profitable, they didn’t understand how we were still in business, and were convinced we wouldn’t be for much longer. 

The conversation was taking the path I had feared it would, they were basically issuing an ultimatum, then Russell chipped in. He said “sorry but we have not been properly introduced, Ian is a good friend of mine, and I have been in your position, I’ve walked in your shoes and had these conversations (then rattled off some of his CV, especially the parts where he had been a bank manager of some standing) and I know what you are trying to do here and I advise you to stop right now”. “Has Mr McAndrew ever reneged on his loan? NO! has his account always been in credit? YES! Then what makes you think he may breach his loan conditions? You have no reasons to doubt that this is a good business and a good operator, therefore you have no basis and no right to even consider calling the loan in, have you?”

They then said they were not there to call in the loan but to tell me they were putting me into what they called “special measures”, then left soon afterwards with their tails between their legs. As Russell explained later, they would have called the loan in had he not been there but putting me into special measures was the next best thing as far as they were concerned, it meant that they would put our account under close scrutiny for the rest of the term of the loan as it was very unusual for business to come out of that “special” category! Thanks to Russell we did manage to get some loans from elsewhere which saw us through.

In 2010 I started offering our Chef for a Day course. I only took one person per day (normally) but it was mostly good fun, but of course there’s always one isn’t there! The “pupil” would arrive around 9.30am ready for 10am. They would then sit with the team and we would write the menu for that day. did I mention I changed the menu every day? Once written and the list of jobs drawn up I would then work one on one with the pupil during mis en place time, normally starting by making the bread for that evening. Around 2pm I would get them to make a dish for their lunch, nothing too dramatic, often a risotto with a piece of fish. They would then have their lunch, with a nice glass of wine, and retire for the afternoon returning again for 6pm to do the evening service with us. If they were then staying the night they would head off to the restaurant at about 8.30 for dinner having first seen most of the dishes go out over the course of the evening. I charged £150 per person and it sold really well boosting our takings nicely, especially if I was also getting a night’s accommodation and dinner out of them too.

We had a wide variety of people come for Chef for a Day, as already mentioned I used to only take one person at a time, as it was one on one, more was too difficult and the kitchen a tad too small for more. Mostly it would be people buying it as a present for a family member, a partner or a friend, often it was given as a retirement present too. There was one time my Chef for a Day was a gynaecologist, nothing to strange with that, he was retiring from the local hospital and the staff had bought this as a leaving present. I am glad that I’m not a woman and that he was not there to operate on me as he couldn’t hold a knife! He had no idea not only of how to hold one but also had no idea of how to use one either! Okay he would be more used to a scalpel but even so!

Then there was this married couple who insisted they came as a couple, never again! I was showing them how to make something, they were working alongside me copying what I was doing. I said, right now we season it, “No” “what?” say’s I she said “no we don’t use salt in our house”. “That may be so but you’re in my house now and we use salt here, now season it”! She did.

Over the years I’ve had a lot of policemen, NHS staff, retirees, celebrities, even a father & son, some really lovely people and ones that became good customers & friends, I eventually hired someone as a chef who had come to me on  Chef for a Day, but I will never forget that married couple!

One morning in July 2011 a couple of police officers turned up asking for Jane. They had brought the shocking news that her mum had been found dead in her bedroom at home. It must have been really quick as it seems she was in the process of getting up one morning and never made it.  A real shock as we understood she was in good health.