OTS p14-15 profile Jun09.qxp 28/05/2009 15:04 Page 15
profile · business building
wouldn’t expect people to come to a club
every day so we have to change it. Not
everyone is going to like it but we’re looking
for the people who are looking for something
a bit different and who don’t mind paying a
bit more for their drink to get it.”
Getting the drinks offering right is just as
important as the music and with the
passionate Gomes and Sarah taking charge of
this area, the range of spirits on offer is strong,
with premium bottles aplenty on the gantry.
Cocktails too are important and the list has
recently been trimmed from 30. Amanda
explains: “We wanted to offer a paired down
list that was really good and made really well.
Sanfu has retained its leather couches to
When you take on new staff they don’t always keep the chill out area as relaxing as possible.
know how to make cocktails so we want to
instil a bit of passion into them so they can less than the £160,000 we paid for it, but at could close us down. It also sends the wrong
pass on product knowledge to customers. the time we just couldn’t do it.” message about Aberdeen. It says we’ve got a
Training is really important.” There is the potential to link the two problem and we’ve not,” he says.
In fact, Snafu occasionally holds employee venues with a staircase but that’s not part of Casinos are exempt from the curfew so as
only nights for anyone working in a bar in the plan yet. Before then major changes will Steven says anyone in the Snafu queue who
Aberdeen. These are sponsored events where need to take place at Five – including a full doesn’t get in in time, can simply go to the
a brand will do a tasting and training session. refurbishment and a change of name. That casino across the road. Worst still, Steven says
On Sunday nights when the club closes for will revert to The Atheneum, the old name of it will change the way Snafu operates. “We
‘housework’ it’s not uncommon to find the the building, and work should hopefully begin spend a lot of money on DJs and it’s not all
Snafu staff mixing and experimenting to their in earnest this month to get it operating as ticket sales. We rely on our door sales and if
hearts content. This is encouraged as it makes they want it. “We’ve made a wee bit of a start no one is allowed in after 12.30am we’ll not
for better bartenders. In fact, one employee, now, such as sanding down tables one at a be able to take the chance on paying £5,000
Aimee Constance Leither-Bishop, who hadn’t time. It’s not been as easy as I thought. We for a DJ. Promoters will pull out and it will hurt
previously had any experience in this area had have to be careful, as it’s got a good the city.”
one of her creations shortlisted in OTS’ recent established lunchtime trade. That’s a market Snafu refused to tick the box for agreeing
cocktail competition. The team has also been we don’t know because we know the club to refuse entry after 12.30am on its premises
taken on distillery visits to learn more about market,” says Amanda, with Steven adding: licence application so was duly summoned to
whisky. “The refit will be difficult as we need to a board hearing. It has since conformed but
Despite, or perhaps because of, the accommodate lunchtime so don’t want it too the political gesture was something Amanda
ongoing success of Snafu, Steven and much like a bar, but for the night crowd, we says they had to do following their campaign
Amanda’s minds had begun to wander into don’t want it to look too much like a to reverse the decision, which saw over 4,000
the realms of daytime trading and when Five, restaurant.” people sign an online petition. Aberdeen’s
the outlet above Snafu, became available late Then there’s the business of the proposed council met last month following a motion
last year, they couldn’t say no. “There was no 12.30am curfew, which is set to be submitted by Liberal Democrat councillor John
drive and direction behind it at the time,” says introduced on 1 September. Something Stewart and voted against the curfew by 17
Amanda. “We were looking to get something Steven says could close the business within votes to four, a crushing defeat for the plans.
else and then this came up. It was available six months. “It could take six months for This vote does not affect the plans to
two years ago and we’d have got it for a lot people to adjust to it, and that six months introduce a curfew but it is thought that with
the council itself against the move, the
licensing board will have to reconsider.
Scrapping the curfew, or moving it to 2am
would be be welcomed by all, and as Steven
says: “A curfew won’t do anything for binge
drinking. I think the licensing board has gone
track mind. It’s free to do so instead of looking
at some initiatives that could cost money they
just looked at a curfew that wouldn’t cost
them anything and that the trade would have
to police for them.”
Curfew or not, the team at Sanfu will
continue to get on with building their
business. The passion and dedication shown
by the directors at Snafu has led to a venue
A new bar was installed as part of Snafu’s refit, with
that genuinely offers a city something
some ingenuity coming into play with the bar top involving
a few bags of a cement and a mould.
different, and has proven to be hugely
successful as a result.
www.55north.com · june 2009 · ots · 15 ·
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