Grays Inn finally replaces Scotsman
One of the most successful pubs in Aberdeen, Grays Inn, recently replaced its Scotsman ice machine for the first time in 22 years. And naturally it chose a new, larger Scotsman.
The old ice machine, an ACM125, was still giving good service and working perfectly. The need for replacement was caused by a dramatic increase in ice demand when the pub, part of the Spirit Group, recently adopted the group's 'Perfect Serve' drinks service initiative. In a world where equipment is quickly obsolete or superseded, William 'Bud' Kane - who manages Grays Inn with his wife Sandra - says his Scotsman ACM 125 was the ideal ice machine.
"It's served us very well over two decades" he comments. "It's given us perfect ice, it's been extremely reliable and when it's needed servicing we found it easy to get spares and to replace parts."
The Perfect Serve initiative highlights the importance of presenting drinks with quality ice. And that's led to increased demand for mixed drinks using the thimble-shaped 'Supercubes' exclusive to Scotsman.
Grays Inn now has a new Scotsman ACM 225, producing up to 140kg of Supercubes per day - nearly double the older machine's 75kg per day, and well up to meeting the demands of the pub's hundreds of customers.
So what's happened to the veteran Scotsman? A peaceful retirement? "Oh, no! We've passed it on to a smaller pub nearby, where it's still chugging out the cubes", says Bud. "They are also in the Spirit Group, so they are also doing Perfect Serve. And that means they are just as fussy as us about good ice. It's just fine for them - even though their 'new' ice machine will soon be 23 years old."
"Perfect Serve has been a fantastic success for us", he adds. "Customers really like the better presentation, beside the big increase in sales of mixed drinks."
Opened in 1961, Grays Inn is one of Aberdeen's largest community pubs, with food and entertainment a core part of its appeal. It was named after its first own, George Gray, although it's only had two owners in over forty years. Bud and Sandra have managed it for ten years and were only the second set of managers the 22-year-old Scotsman machine had seen.
It's precisely this stability in management that brought the old machine to the attention of Steve Burns, Hubbards Scottish Sales Manager. "There are many older Scotsman machines out there which are still working perfectly", he says. "More often they'll be in pubs with good managers, because they know how treat an ice machine properly - and the longer the manager stays there, the longer the ice machine does too."
