Award would help celebrate MacGochans comeback
A popular Mull pub, back pulling pints after a devastating fire, is touting for votes to win it a best of Scottish bars award.
People have until tomorrow September 4 to make their votes count and bring The Scottish Pub and Bar Award accolade to Tobermory.
To vote for MacGochans bar and restaurant go to scottishbarandpubawards.com
The winners will be announced in October and MacGochans hopes to be among the lucky finalists in the longest-running Scottish licensed trade awards, now in its 25th year.
Since the fire at MacGochans on May 24 last year, the business has been completely refurbished inside and out. A big balcony has also been added to take in the view across the picture postcard bay.
Owner Neil Morrison says bringing home a best Scottish pub award would make the comeback even more of a celebration.
‘We’d love to bring back an award. We’ve won about nine in the past but this would really top it off for us. The fire meant we had to do a complete rip out job of the whole place, right back to the stone walls but we’ve made it bigger and even better than before, moving into old kitchen and cellar space.
‘We’ve been massively missed while we’ve been away. Even our rivals have been sending us messages telling us to hurry up and open again. We’ve got plenty of room for huge footfall and we were ready in time for the Covid restrictions lifting.
‘We’re still taking on staff to keep up with the demand and so far everything is going well and business is strong. We’re hoping to keep the season going as long as we can. It’s just great to be back,’ he said.
News of last year’s fire shocked islanders and visitors alike. Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus had to tackle the blaze when it broke out, at its peak seven high-powered hoses had to be used with four engines at the scene. Fortunately no one was hurt in the incident that had started in the early hours.