Milngavie venue triumphs in Scottish Bar & Pub Awards

Billy Milligan of Finsbay in the village, scooped the Sea Change Evolution Award at the prestigious event.

He also narrowly missed out the Community Bar of the Year.

The evolution award recognised the efforts Finsbay staff and management put in to helping the environment, from recycling to staff walking to work and stocking eco-friendly wines.

Billy said he was delighted to receive the award and also praised local customers for their support during the pandemic.

Hundreds of industry operators, staff, and for the first time members of the public tuned in live to gather on a virtual red carpet, before taking their seats at virtual tables to watch the ceremony, rounding off the evening with entertainment in several other rooms.

A record 9,000 people voted this year with a total of 20 awards handed out to unsuspecting recipients surprised by a knock at the door and a socially distanced congratulations from one of the awards team.

Scotland’s longest-running industry ‘Oscars’ are organised by publishers of DRAM magazine who said this one was determined to honour the fighting spirit and resilience of the people that make up Scotland’s hospitality industry during this heavy Covid weather as well as their all-round excellence as they usually do.

Said organiser and DRAM publisher Susan Young, “If you’d have told me all those years ago that we would be celebrating our 25th anniversary virtually and with no physical venue or audience, I’d have said there’s more chance of us doing it on the moon. But here we are 25 years on and what a year it’s been and we couldn’t have hoped for a more action-packed and energised live virtual event.

“I take my hat off to everybody in this industry who has worked night and day to keep pubs and restaurants open safely and responsibly and people in jobs despite the day-to-day challenges of Covid.

“I wanted these awards to not only honour the finalists and the winners but everybody in Scottish hospitality that makes it such a great industry be part of and support – and that is what happened. It was the shot in the arm our industry badly needed. Here’s to the next 25 years.”