Popular Cambuslang bar given £152,000 makeover

Finlays, in Cambuslang, is already attracting new customers after it was brought bang up-to-date with a full interior and exterior refurbishment.

Facelift

Manager Liz Maclean, who has run the Main Street bar for six years, said customers old and new have been impressed by the facelift: “They thinks it’s stunning,” she said, “and love the way it’s been completely modernised.

Liz, who has help from six staff, added: “Since we reopened in December, we’ve noticed a different type of customer coming through the doors, too. We now have a lot more couples and groups of older girls, with many of them living in new homes that have been built nearby.

“This is in addition to our traditional Monday to Friday daytime passing and older trade, including people going to and from the railway station next door, so we’re really catering to lots of different customers now, while retaining that all-important community feel.”

Liz, who continued to host her regulars at a local venue while Finlays was being refurbished, said popular Wednesday afternoon bingo and karaoke sessions remain a feature, along with Friday and Saturday night live entertainment, including live music. There is also a pool table and a big screen showing sport, and customers are able to sit at the bar once more with the lifting of some Covid restrictions.

“They seem to like doing that,” said Liz, “and new seating at the back of the pub has become a prime spot, where before it was just wasted space. The bar really does look stunning now, and people are very impressed with it.”

Brought into the 21st century

Matthew Gurney, operations director, Proper Pubs, said: “There’s no doubt that Finlays needed bringing into the 21st century, and we’ve done that and then some. It looks superb, and the feedback Liz and her team have had in the couple of months since the bar reopened has all been very positive.

“Liz is an experienced operator, and as a true community hero, knows how to generate and maintain a great community spirit at Finlays, and we’ll provide her with all the support she needs to make it into an even more popular venue at the heart of an area that’s now thriving.”