A SCOTTISH man is close to raising £150,000 to launch a chain of Scottish pubs to take on the Irish pubs scattered around the world.
Bruce MacGregor, who works as a musician and has performed in countless pubs over the years, is hoping that his idea will emulate the success of Irish pubs around the world.
“I’ve been gigging around the world with my band Blazin’ Fiddles for about 17 years now and no matter where I was, I always walked past or walked into an Irish pub,” he explains.
“They’re always packed and have a great atmosphere so I thought Scotland is so similar in many ways and why can’t we have that?
“So I suppose the idea was born out of jealousy, really!”
Mr MacGregor, 45, plans to use his pub to promote local brewers in Scotland.
“I want to show what is being produced in Scotland,” he told The Irish Post.
“We’ve got amazing whiskeys, some of the best gin in the world and excellent craft beers.”
His crowdfunding efforts kicked off just over a year ago, in September 2014, with the ambitious aim of raising £150,000.
And now, 14 months on,almost £125,000 has been raised to fund MacGregor’s Bars.
MacGregor plans to open his first pub in his native Inverness.
“The premises has been in the family for a long time,” he said.
“We’ll use this one in Inverness and hope to be up and running by next summer, maybe June or July.
“Then the aim would be to open one the following year in Glasgow or Edinburgh and after that it would be London.”
And MacGregor’s Bars will make use of Scottish history with some interesting takes on the food and drinks menus.
Mr MacGregor, whose great-grandmother was from Ireland, plans on making good use of the renowned Irish charm too.
“When you go into an Irish place you are greeted by the staff but sometimes us Scots can be a wee bit more shy and I’ll have to train the staff to be more like the Irish!” he said.
