By Ian McConnell
One of Scotland’s oldest pubs, The Griffin in Glasgow, has been bought by Isle of Skye Brewing Company owner Kenny Webster, signalling his first move into the licensed trade.
Mr Webster purchased the bar – which has operated on the corner of Bath Street and Elmbank Street since 1903 – from city publican and entrepreneur Oli Norman for an undisclosed sum.
The Griffin, which has lain empty since March 2020 after being forced to close during the lockdown, is due to reopen this week following a £40,000 refurbishment.
Mr Webster, who also owns the Black Wolf Brewery in Throsk, Stirlingshire, and North Coast Brewery in Kinloss, said it had been his intention to buy a bar for some time, but he was waiting for the right opportunity.
The businessman, who will employ 15 people, is targeting a turnover of £1 million in its first year of trading, doubling to £2m by the end of year three.
He said: “Being a brewer, it’s a natural fit to move into the licensed trade, but I wasn’t going to acquire any pub just for the sake of it.
“It had to be the right one and, when the Griffin became available, I knew that was it. It ticked all the boxes.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel