Box and Fiddle
Year 36 No 05
January 2013
Price £2.70
44 Page Magazine
12 month subscription £29.70 + p&p £13.20 (UK)
Editor – Karin Ingram, Hawick
B&F Treasurer – Charlie Todd, Thankerton
The main features in the above issue were as follows (this is not a comprehensive detail of all it contained. The Club reports, in particular, are too time-consuming at this stage to retype).
Editorial
The eagle-eyed amongst you will have noticed that last month’s magazine was printed here in the Borders – at Jedburgh Press to be precise. Unfortunately Wm. Culross ceased trading, while the B&F was rolling off the presses. This meant a huge panic to find a printer who could offer the same quality, at the same price, in a ridiculously short timescale! Thankfully Kathryn and Rob at Jedburgh Press came up trumps and we’re delighted to announce that all future issues will be printed there. Our next problem was distribution. Thank you all for your patience while we attempted to get everything dispatched as quickly as we could. Particular thanks to Treasurer Charlie Todd, John McDonald of Windygates, John Crombie of Kelso, Ewan Galloway of Coldingham, Tom Riddell of Teviotdale and guest artistes John Morgan and James Coutts who all volunteered as temporary ‘postmen’. If anyone is within traveling distance of Jedburgh and would be willing to collect magazines for their local clubs to save the heavy postal charges, please let Charlie know.
Whew! After all that we deserve a holiday. Have a good one!
Best wishes.
Karin Ingram
63rd Perth All-Scotland Accordion & Fiddle Festival
by Nicol McLaren
27th October 2012 saw the 63rd All Scotland Accordion and Fiddle Festival take place, once again, in Perth – and what a day it turned out to be!
The event actually started on the Friday evening (26th) with a very well attended ceilidh and dance in The Salutation Hotel – the hub of the whole Festival – ably administered by Alasdair MacCuish and The Black Rose Ceilidh Band and supported by many of the visiting artistes. This has proved to be a great meeting and greeting event over the years, prior to the serious matter of ‘Competition Day’. Competitions started bright and early at 9am in three venues in the centre of Perth – The Salutation Hotel, the St John’s Episcopal Church Hall, and the Salvation Army Hall. This was truly a feat of organisation to have competitors, adjudicators and stewards in the right place at the right time (especially with competitors and adjudicators ‘multi tasking’) and ran pretty much to time. Competitions culminated in the ‘All Scotland Scottish Band Championship’ and the final of the ‘All Scotland Senior Traditional Accordion solo Championship’, which had started at 11am, taking place in the Main Ballroom of The Salutation Hotel with the six finalists having qualified from the initial 19 competitors. The atmosphere was tremendous as the audiences from all the other venues filled the seats – and the gangways – and any other available space to hear a diverse array of styles from the bands, with John Burns’ Band emerging as victors and Callum Cruickshank from Lumphanan (yes – the son of Jennifer and Brian Cruickshank) claiming the prize for the best rhythm section.
The six finalists in the Senior Scottish excelled both technically and stylistically and everyone I’ve spoken with agrees that it was the closest competition for many years. No one envied the adjudicators, John Carmichael and Graham Geddes, in having to select the ‘1,2,3’. We all had to wait until after the concert to find out who our new champion was to be. A repeated comment throughout the day was that of how high the standard of playing and musicianship was in all of the competitions – a great compliment to the teachers around the country who can bring out the best in their wards. Another observation was the size of the entry (and, again, the standard) in the fiddle sections. It’s great to see this after Perth struggled for numbers in these sections for many years. I must also mention here the contribution of adjudicator Marie Fielding. No disrespect to any other adjudicator but I was very impressed at the way Marie took time to give pointers to encourage the young players in particular, and also pass on wee tips and advice to all the players, explaining what SHE was looking for and how to achieve it. Perhaps time constraints don’t allow this all the time, but if more adjudicators did this, I’m sure it would help all competitors and, indeed, the listening audience, and alleviate much of the ‘debate’ when a result is announced.
During the afternoon, Festival goers and the Perth public were entertained in The Salutation Bar and The Greyfriars Bar by The Black Rose Ceilidh Band and Steven Carcary respectively, taking the message and the music to the wider audience. Both venues were ‘jumping’, but the mystery to me was why so many of the public, despite extensive local advertising asked, “What’s all this about?” Come on Perth, it’s only been going for 63 years!!! Well done to the musicians for keeping the enthusiasm going all afternoon.
And so to the final concert – the Grand Finale – held immediately after the Senior Scottish playoff whilst the adjudicators deliberated. And what a concert it was, opening with accordion legends Jack Emblow and Tony Compton. Their CV reads like the ultimate accordionists portfolio spanning almost 50 years (Sing Something Simple, Last of the Summer Wine, Allo’ Allo’ to name only a few of the shows Jack has been involved with) and they did not disappoint, enthralling the audience with jazz and swing classics including my personal favourite, ‘Musette for a Magpie’. A truly spellbinding performance throughout, which had the audience hollering for more. Come back soon boys!
How do you follow that? Well, the organizers came up trumps once again with the outstanding duetting fiddles of Marie Fielding and Alison Smith, ably assisted on piano by Tom Orr. The girls treated us to a first-rate, diverse, wonderfully musical spot featuring the differing, yet complimentary styles of each, producing a very, very pleasing sound.
Finally, to close the concert, and, indeed, the whole Festival we had Gordon Shand and his Scottish Dance Band – Gordon on lead accordion, Alison Smith on fiddle (no rest for the wicked!), Jim Lindsay on second box, Graham Berry on piano and Gordon Smith on drums – who took us through some fantastic sets of Scottish dance music, all with the “Gordon Shand twist” adding variety and interest as only Gordon can.
Just before Gordon played his last set, however, we had the small event of announcing the result of the Senior Scottish Accordion Championship. The adjudicators gave their crits and announced the results, with the winner being Leonard Brown from South Shields in Northumberland with an outstanding performance of tunes ll written by Cardenden’s Michael Philip. Well done Leonard! Actually, the 1st and 2nd placed players couldn’t have lived much further apart – Northumberland and Caithness!! – which shows how the Festival still attracts players, competitors and spectators from across the length and breadth of the country.
In conclusion, a great day had by all, in every way enhanced by the ‘behind the scenes’ organisation by the Perth Festival Committee who have taken over, where Bill Wilkie left off, and developed and grown the Festival into one of the highlights of the Accordion and Fiddle year.
Please note that due to problems with the venue, the 2013 Festival will be held on a different date, the first weekend in October (4th and 5th). Get it in the diaries now!
RESULTS
All Scotland Senior Traditional Accordion Solo (Jimmy Shand Shield)
1) Leonard Brown (South Shields)
2) Brandon McPhee (Castletown)
3) Liam Stewart (Galston)
Senior Accordion Solo for Traditional Pipe Music (Bill Black Challenge Cup)
1) Neil Angus MacNeil (Aberdeen)
2) Matthew MacLennan (Paisley)
3) John Burns (Kilsyth)
Senior Scottish Country Dance Band (Ronnie Cooper Memorial Trophy)
1) John Burns (Kilsyth)
2) Adam Gibb (Biggar)
3) Callum Cruickshank (Lumphanan)
Senior Scottish Country Dance Band – Best Rhythm Section (John Gibson Memorial Trophy)
Callum Cruickshank (Lumphanan)
Junior Scottish Country Dance Band (Alex MacArthur Memorial Quaich)
1)
2)
3)
Own Composition (Jimmy Blue Trophy)
1) Emma Dickson (Dolphinton)
2) Maggie Adamson (Fladdabister)
3) Michael Philip (Kirkcaldy)
Scottish Trio Championship (Perth Accordion & Fiddle Club Challenge Cup)
1) Maggie Adamson (Fladdabister)
2) Adam Gibb (Biggar)
3) John Burns (Kilsyth)
Open Button Key Traditional Accordion Solo (Duncan Campbell Memorial Trophy)
1) Brandon McPhee (Castletown)
2)
3)
Veterans’ Solo (40 and over) (Andrew Rankine Memorial Quaich)
1) Paul Capaldi (Galashiels)
2)
3)
Junior Traditional Accordion Solo (Under 16) (Angus Accordion College Challenge Shield)
1) Emma Dickson (Dolphinton)
2) Adam Gibb (Biggar)
3) Kyle Innes (Strathmiglo)
Junior Accordion Solo for Traditional Pipe Music (Under 16) (Charlie Cowie Memorial Cup)
1) Emma Dickson (Dolphinton)
2) Adam Gibb (Biggar)
3) Ewan Dowie (Kettlebridge)
Junior Traditional Accordion Solo (Under 12) (Black Isle Shield)
1) Ewan Dowie (Kettlebridge)
2) Kyle Rowan (Edinburgh)
3) Andrew Erskine (Biggar)
Senior Ladies Accordion Solo (Margaret Hendrie Silver Salver)
1) Susan MacFadyen (Wesy Kilbride)
2) Laura Crawford (Ladybank)
3) Claire Black (Biggar)
Junior Girls Traditional Accordion Solo (Under 16) (Jimmy Stephens Silver Salver)
1) Emma Dickson (Dolphinton)
2) Samantha Erskine (Biggar)
3)
Scottish Ceilidh Band (Bobby MacLeod Trophy)
1)
2)
3)
FIDDLE CLASSES
Senior Fiddle Solo (16 and over) (Ian Powrie Cup)
1) Anne Nichol (Inverurie)
2) Maggie Adamson (Fladdabister)
3) Graham MacKenzie (Inverness)
Senior Fiddle Solo Slow Air (16 and over) (Pibroch MacKenzie Memorial Quaich)
1) Maggie Adamson (Fladdabister)
2) Graham MacKenzie (Inverness)
3) George Davidson (Tillyhilt)
Junior Fiddle Solo (Under 16) (Albie Tedham Trophy)
1) Sean Allan (Carluke)
2) Eilidh Anderson (Tarland)
3) Ellie McLaren (Braemar)
Junior Fiddle Solo Slow Air (Under 16) (Shelagh Rankine Memorial Trophy)
1) Eilidh Anderson (Tarland)
2) Mark Green (Inverness)
3) Hannah Adamson (Cunningsburgh)
Junior Fiddle Solo (Under 12) (Jim Ritchie Challenge Cup)
1) Rachael Havlin (Ellon)
2) Rhiann Matthew (Tarland)
3=) Sorcha Gall (Huntly) & Iona Cruickshank (Lunphanan)
Junior Fiddle Under 12
1)
2)
3)
Junior Fiddle Under 16
1)
2)
3)
CLASSICAL CLASSES
Open Continental Musette Solo
1)
2)
3)
Open Continental Polka Solo
1)
2)
3)
Under 14 Continental Musette Solo
1) Alexander Girling (Glenfarg)
2) Fraser Hewitt (Quothquan)
3) Steven Stark (Auchtermuchty)
Under 14 Continental Polka Solo
1) Alexander Girling (Glenfarg)
2) Cameron Duncan (Glenrothes)
3) Ewan Dowie (Kettlebridge)
Senior Classical Accordion Championship (Accordion World Cup)
1) Paul Capaldi (Galashiels)
2) Sarah Alexander (Edinburgh)
3)
Junior Classical Accordion Championship (Accordion World Cup)
1) Emma Dickson (Dolphinton)
2) Alexander Girling (Glenfarg)
3)
Under 12 Classical Accordion Solo (Kool Accordions Sussex Cup)
1) Ewan Dowie (Kettlebridge)
2) India Islay Smith (Penicuik)
3) Zara Elliott (Galashiels)
Celtic Connections
by
…………..
Howie Did It
by Kenny Kemp
The following article is reproduced by kind permission of BQ, Business Quarter magazine Issue 5 Autumn 2011
The author, Kenny Kemp, plays fiddle with the Edinburgh Highland Strathspey and Reel Society. Photographs are by kind permission of Kevin Gibson of KG Photography. Many thanks to Kenny and Kevin.
Simon Howie is an iconic Scottish brand. While his fillet steaks and prime beef are well-known in supermarket chill cabinets, he is also a serial entrepreneur, immersed in a range of businesses, many connected to his farming roots. Kenny Kemp travelled to his base at Dunning in rural Perthshire to meet him.
In farming parlance, Simon Howie is best of breed across a number of classes. In his business life he is one of Scotland’s most prodigious business figures, but he’s also fiercely proud of his rural Perthshire family roots and is one of the country’s leading Scottish dance band musicians.
He is a tall, quietly-spoken Scotsman, who displays a certain reserve and seriousness when talking about his multiple business enterprises, but lightens up and relaxes more when talking about accordion music, and the great names of Scottish dance music such as Mickey Ainsworth, Jim Johnstone, Ian Powrie, Jimmy Blue, Bobby McLeod and Jimmy Shand. But while dance music is his passion with its myriad of jigs, reels, marches and waltzes, Simon Howie is far better known as an award-winning Scottish entrepreneur who is – if you excuse the awful pun – outstanding in his field.
The picturesque Perthshire village of Dunning has just celebrated its 500th anniversary as a Scottish Burgh of Barony. Nine miles from Perth and five miles from Gleneagles Hotel, it is a tight-knit and prosperous community steeped in its history and its symbiotic connection to farming, trading and the land.
This ingrained sense of place might explain something about the success of Simon Howie, whose immaculate home farm at Findony- with his personal helicopter in a fallow field - is on the outskirts of town. Simon was born in neighbouring Millhouse farm, a smaller 130-acre mixed farm run by his father, Angus Howie.
In December 1986, 19-year-old Simon was learning his trade in Rattray & Son shop in Perth. “I was working as an apprentice butcher and decided that I wanted to start my own business. So I got cracking with that. I bought a small old Co-operative shop in Dunning and set up a shop.”
The shop cost £2,400 and he kitted out with £2,000 that he had saved in the bank.
Then Simon uses one of his catch phrases: “And away I went.”
He was given a week’s credit from a meat wholesaler, which he paid the following Monday, and got some more meat. “That’s how Simon Howie the Scottish Butcher started.”
Today his various business interests have a combined turnover of around £40 million.
His first employee, Jim Park, who started in May 1987, is still with the company today, a fact of which he remains very proud, and the tiny butcher’s shop started to supplying hotels and restaurants. However, the holy grail locally was getting a foothold into the internationally renowned Gleneagles Hotel.
“I knocked on their door many, many times, but I was always turned away. They didn’t see the need for a ‘local yokel’’. One night I was going back home to my folks' farm and there was a guy trying to get his wheel off his car.”
Simon Howie, now 44, is a practical, sleeves-rolled up kind of person. So he stopped and offered to help and went back to the farm to and got the right tools.
“I got his wheel off and the chap was very grateful. It turned out he was Colin Bussey, the Head Chef at Gleneagles." A few days later he went and knocked on his door again. The result; for the next 23 years he supplied Gleneagles with all their meat. It was this fortuitous meeting because Colin eventually worked with Simon helping to change the way luxury hotels sourced their cuts of meat.
“That’s how we got in the door. As the chefs at Gleneagles moved around I picked up other hotels such as the Old Course in St Andrews and the Turnberry. Away we went!”
The village shop model was working well, so he bought another shop in Auchterarder and one in Dunkeld, and eventually had four shops which he described as ‘concentric’ growth, with the shop supplying the local hotels and restaurants. But the Simon Howie story is all about grabbing relevant opportunities when they present themselves, so he bought a laminated panels business in 1991 which undertook shop-fitting.
“I was buying panels for my shops and I felt better if I could make them myself. So I started a company called Shore Laminates.”
The fledgling company rented a dingy old factory in Perth, near the Friarton Bridge, and kitted it out. “Away we went! Business went from strength to strength. We have about 50 people working there now.”
There was a lot of rebuilding work in the 1990s. The Scottish Office in Leith, the refurbishment of international terminals at Glasgow and Edinburgh Airport, new offices at Scottish Provident and Standard Life. All these companies required fit-outs and Shore was well placed. The laminated products were sold to companies doing the fit-out.
“We were fabricators of the product and companies, such as Havelock Europa, or Thomas Johnston would buy from us. It was the same way as a baker makes pies.”
The laminated business was split into commercial – with schools, hospital and hotels – and domestic – which is bathrooms wall panelling, under two brands. It would remain an important part of the Howie business empire.
In 1995, Simon bought Rattray & Co in Perth, where he began as an apprentice. It went on to become the top butchers in Scotland for three years running, then the best in Britain. According to Simon, the key to this was one special individual called Gary Conacher. “He is absolutely brilliant. There is a common thread through my whole business career there are certain individuals and events that have happened. They have completely and utterly changed the course of my business. Gary came to my food business and took it by storm. He’s helped me grow the business to where it is today. He’s a brilliant individual and a great motivator.”
Scotland’s top-class hotels were building their international reputations for the quality of their food, and this brought an interesting change in the chefs' ways of working. Instead of spending hours preparing cuts of meat, they were spending more time cooking. This presented Simon Howie with a new opportunity.
“We looked further down the value chain and decided to concentrate our efforts on to pre-prepared, chef-ready products, rather than selling them whole chunks of meat that they would prepare themselves in-house.”
This gave top chefs far more time and attention to improve the quality of their menus. For Simon Howie – now supplying 200 hotels and restaurants on a daily basis - the ready-to-eat, ready-to-cook range of products became a significant part of the story.
In 1995, he bought the 400-acre Findony Farm in Dunning, knocked down the old steading and built a factory for state-of-the-art meat production. The carcases arrived from selected abattoirs around Scotland, and they are cut, trimmed and every part of the animal is used for consumption. He increased the factory size to 60,000sq ft where there were two divisions: chef-prepared products and red meat.
“We asked: how do we leverage this. We have this factory based in this very nice rural location. How do we ramp that up and make it really stand out from just another run-of-the-mill food preparation company?” he explains.
“During the process of building the new factory I started up a company called Rossco Properties and Greenfield Homes, one to do commercial property and the other housebuilding. All the money I was making in my laminate business and food production I was ploughing back into buying brown-field sites. They were pretty poor sub-prime sites where I could build bog-standard basic sheds. I didn’t have the money to go out and buy existing ‘investment’ property. I was buying land that I could invest in once I’d bought it.”
Again Simon’s hunch worked. He found a niche in the market for smaller businesses who wanted cheap property at £3-5 a square foot workspace that was to basically something to keep the rain off. He now has 1.5 million square feet of basic, low-rental leased space across the UK, including Manchester and the North-West of England, including 300,000 sq ft at Grangemouth docks, which is used as a whisky bond. “We’re debt free on this.”
But Greenfield Homes built over 100 houses before Simon made the decision that house building wasn’t going to be part of his continuing portfolio. He admits he found it too much of a hassle. “We built a lot of nice houses but it’s definitely not for me. In the same way that commercial vehicle dealers don’t sell cars, customers are very fickle. They complained about things that weren’t important to me and I felt I wasn’t on the same page as the customer. I made a decision to work with commercial users, rather than domestic home owners.”
Back on the food front, a major breakthrough came in 1999 when Sainsbury’s ran a supplier development programme with a dinner in Edinburgh on the final day. By chance, Simon ended up sitting next to the chief executive Peter Davis and alongside his deputy Stuart Mitchell, who later became managing director, of the supermarket chain. Simon grabbed his opportunity.
“Your meat counters are not as good as they should be for such a leading supermarket group,” he told the pair. They nodded their heads in agreement but said they were struggling to know what exactly to do with it. Simon invited them to see his shops.
“I said, ‘If you give me the meat counters to run, I’ll make them better - by a long shot’. Fair play to them. The following Saturday, they flew up from their Holborn HQ and I picked them up at the airport. Within 15 minutes of seeing our shops they said ‘Go ahead and take your Simon Howie brand into all of our Scottish stores.’ There was no real contract: just a handshake.”
This was a watershed deal for the business and he recalls hearing of the World Trade Centre attacks on September 11, 2001, while arranging the cuts of sirloin as he set up the ‘Simon Howie’ branded butcher’s counter in Blackhall in Edinburgh.
“We doubled the meat turnover overnight, supplying all the meat products over the counter. It let Sainsbury’s and ourselves realise how big a prize there was in this sector. We worked well together. Sainsbury’s were very entrepreneurial and eventually they said, ‘Thanks a lot, we can do this on our own now’. I moved on too.’”
For Simon Howie the brand, it raised the profile among the competing supermarkets who realised they too had to improve their presentation and display at the meat counters. Now Simon could engage with Tesco, Asda and Morrisons and they knew and understood what he was doing.
“It took us into a different league. We realised that the way to sell food in the UK to the masses was to pre-pack and get it on the shelves. Getting onto Sainsbury’s counters allowed us to get into this market – without that we would not be where we are today as a food company.”
For Simon Howie it was all about relationships with multiple retailers who had heavy footfall and building a brand, which was developed in-house by marketing graduate Emma Loftus, still with Simon. The brand tools were: tone of voice, the look and feel of the product and the colour scheme for packaging.
“We worked very hard to get this right. We built a perception that the business was perhaps an artisan small food producer, with a 100-year old heritage that stretched back to my grand-father, who started it all. Actually, we are none of those.”
This brand building was transferable and Simon turned his attention back to the laminate business. “We wanted to push this so that other people could sell our products in either specialist bathroom showrooms or in the mainstream DIY chains, such and B&Q. While you give some of the margin away, the opportunity to grow the business is bigger.”
WetWall – the biggest selling shower panelling product in the UK - and Splashwall, while essentially the same product, were both created to serve the different segments of the bathroom market. Recently Mermaid Panels, where Simon is chairman, invested a further £1.5 million in production line technology for waterproof wall panels.
When he pulled out of house building in 2001, he created Shore Recycling. It was a chance meeting with his fridge engineer who told him he needed to do something about CFC gases in the fridges because there would be a problem getting rid of them.
“The fridge engineers keep my fridges going in the factory. I asked what was going to be done about domestic fridges and he said: ‘No-one really knows.’ I looked into it and found that the UK government had signed up for an EU directive to prevent CFC gases going to landfill. But found out there was no solution.”
Simon Howie went to Leipzig, Berlin and Munich searching for a recycling machine that could deal with the gases. He found one, ordered it and started speaking to Scotland’s local authorities, signing up 31 of the 32 councils into long-term contracts. The fridges started to arrive en masse. By the time the machine arrived from Germany, he had the machine paid off and £600,000 in the bank.
“It was like winning the lottery. We had 50 people working in the plant in Perth.”
Two key individuals arrived: Tom Liddell and Malcolm Todd, a former marketing director from Glenmorangie who became the managing director and ran it like a marketing business.
“I decided that the business was making £3 million a year profit in the second year. I wanted to sell the business but there was no appetite to buy the business. So I got RBS to help Tom and Malcolm buy a good slice of the business. Over the period of the next four years, the guys paid down the debt and we ended up with the company debt-free.”
A fire was a major setback but the insurance pay-out helped rebuild one of the best recycling plants for fridges and televisions (taking in 10,000 monitors a month) in Europe. More stringent EU directives meant anything with a plug and battery had to be recycled which turned waste into a lucrative business. It all went into a massive food-type blender which separated the parts and turned the raw materials into a mulch. Shore Recycling was eventually sold to Viridor Waste Management, part of the Pennon Group, for £23 million in March 2008.
“There were a number of reasons why it was good to sell. We were all in the mood for a sale at that point. It had been a very intense and tricky five years, but enjoyable. Viridor have gone on from strength to strength, so it was a good buy for them.”
Simon then bought two more laminate businesses, who were the major competitors at the time, and purchased Calport, a shipping and handling stevedoring business at Perth harbour, which he runs with brother Angus, who runs the local haulage and distribution company.
“We bring in bulk cargoes and store them, including animal feed, fertilisers and salts. We take timber in from Scandinavia. There are not many inland ports like Perth so it is an opportunity to bring goods in.”
He also bought a 500-acre farm in Tain which also helped in the supply of animals for premium beef. With such success, did he ever consider taking on bank debt to grow the business?
“If I took the truth drug, there was the chance that I could have geared up and done a bigger deal during the good times. And I might have been sitting here saying, ‘Why did I do that?’
In 2008, Simon also created Shore Energy with three sites going through local planning, turning waste into energy. At times, this has been contentious for Simon in places such as Monklands. “It’s a process of stripping the waste and taking the bio-mass out and converting the bio-mass to energy. It’s a pyroliser which turns the waste into a gas. There is no combustion. It is not an incinerator, as some campaigners have claimed. It’s a clean, proven process called gasification.”
His wife and family are an integral aspect of his life in Perthshire. Simon’s grandfather was one of a family of 13, born in 1886, and went off to Canada and worked on the Hudson’s Bay trading company and made enough money to come back and buy the farm. Simon’s father and mother, Dorothy, instilled in him a conservative work ethic, although they were entrepreneurial.
“I was lucky to have parents who spoke to us. I have two brothers, Angus and Norman, and we are a good working unit. They have their own careers and I’ve done my own thing from an early age. But our parents, crucially, spoke to us and told us about the workings of a business as well as life in general. We watched how they went about their lives in terms of speaking to people. How they treated staff and colleagues. How they dealt with finance. Their reluctance to take on debt. They didn’t waste money. All of these things are inherent good business principles.”
Simon’s mother was a nursing sister and the family had some holiday cottages in the village and they would be run during the summer for visitors. “She would finish her work and then in the evening go and clean and tidy the houses for the holiday lets. She would spend the evenings writing confirmation letters to Holland and Belgium for the guests. In one year she was able to earn enough to buy a brand-new baler for the farm!”
Farming was Simon’s love, but it was obvious three brothers were not going to get a living out of a 130-acre farm. “The adage was; if you’re not going to be a lawyer or a doctor, go and get a trade. The meat trade suited me and it was easy for me to be a butcher.”
“What I remember about my training was the camaraderie and the fun I had as an apprentice in a shop with 15 people. It was a fantastic part of my early life; I was the young lad in the shop. I was well looked after.”
It would be remiss not to come back to his music. In the early years he made 50% of his income as a Scottish dance band leader, playing ceilidhs, weddings all over Scotland, and appearing on the BBC Scotland’s Take the Floor radio show. He has family connections with the legendary Ian Powrie, who now lives in Australia and is in his 80s.[the article appeared before Ian's death] “He was the Govn’r in my eyes. He took the music by storm in the 1960s. I played the accordion from an early age. It wasn’t just for fun. I take it very seriously. I was making a living from it. But I was also going into hotels and meeting new people. I was travelling the country and getting a broader appreciation of what was going on. I travelled abroad too – including 15 times to South Korea. It gave me more of a rounded-approach to my business.”
For Simon it has been a journey along a number of paths. “I didn’t have it all mapped out. My thinking is: where am I now, and how do I progress.”
He says it was about being in the right place and often appearing bigger than he actually was in the early days. In the early days, he started-up companies because he didn’t have the cash to buy them. He acknowledges he’s had a lot of advice and informal mentoring, and his involvement with the Entrepreneurial Exchange has given him access to some of Scotland’s best business brains. He’s also keen to help others who are starting out.
“I’ve had 25 years’ experience, in hand-to-hand combat. I feel confident in speaking to people. Even today I’m much more comfortable with start-ups than writing people big cheques to take on their business.”
Today Simon Howie’s food business employs 120 people in Perthshire, while the laminate firm has 150 people, and among the other businesses there are another 50 employees. Simon Howie has done all this with remarkable energy, passion for his products and commitment to quality: he is certainly one of a rare breed of enterprising Scots.
Webwatch
by Bill Young
www.
See Hear! with Bill Brown
CD Reviews
A Showcase of Shetland Music – Shetland A&F Club 25th Anniversay Album – Independent
Music for Old Time Dancing Vol 4 – Freeland Barbour – BONS CD704
Take the Floor – Saturday Evenings 19.05 – 21.00 with Robbie Shepherd (repeated on Sunday’s 13.05 – 15.00)
5th Jan 2013 – Niall Kirkpatrick SDB
12th Jan 2013 – West Telferton SDB
19th Jan 2013 – Colin Donaldson SDB
26th Jan 2013 – OB from Celtic Connections, Tom Orr SDB
CLUB DIARY
Aberdeen (Old Machar RBL) – 29th Jan 2013 – Scott Nichol SDB
Alnwick (The Farrier’s Arms – Shilbottle)
Annan (St Andrew’s Social Club) - 20th Jan 2013 – Nicky McMichan Trio
Arbroath (Viewfield Hotel) - 13th Jan 2013 – Johnny Duncan Duo
Balloch (St. Kessog’s Church Hall) – 20th Jan 2013 – Donald MacLeod SDB
Banchory (Burnett Arms Hotel) – 28th Jan 2013 – Brian & Jennifer Special Requests Night
Banff & District (Banff Springs Hotel) – 23rd Jan 2013 – Club Night with Inter Club Entertainers
Beith & District (Anderson Hotel) –
Biggar (Municipal Hall) – 13th Jan 2013 – Simon Thoumire & Dave Milligan
Blairgowrie (Moorfield Hotel) - 8th Jan 2013 – Gordon Pattullo & Gemma Donald
Britannia (Arden House Hotel) -
Bromley (Trinity United Reform Church) -
Button Key (Windygates Institute) – 17th Jan 13 – Irish Night 20th Jan 2013 – Shand Morino Gathering
Campsie (Glazert Country House Hotel) - 8th Jan 2013 – David Vernon
Carlisle (St Margaret Mary Social Club) -
Castle Douglas (Urr Valley Country House Hotel) – 15th Jan 2013 – Lyne Valley SDB
Coalburn (Miners’ Welfare) - 17th Jan 2013 – John Renton SDB
Coldingham (Crosslaw Caravan Park) -
Crieff & District (Crieff Hotel)
Cults (Culter Sports & Social Club)
Dalriada (Argyll Inn, Lochgilphead) - 15th Jan 2013 – Heron Valley Quartet
Dingwall (National Hotel) – 9th Jan 2013 – Ian Stewart Trio
Dunblane (Victoria Hall) – 16th Jan 2013 – David Oswald SDB
Dunfermline (Headwell Bowling Club) – 8th Jan 2013 – Club Night
Dunoon & Cowal (McColl’s Hotel)
Duns (Royal British Legion Club, Langtongate) 21st Jan 2013 – Dick Black SDB
Ellon (Station Hotel) – 15th Jan 2013 – Kenin cheyne Band
Fintry (Fintry Sports Centre) – 28th Jan 2013 – Michael Philip SDB
Forfar (Plough Inn) - 27th Jan 2013 – Kingdom Ceilidh Band
Forres (Victoria Hotel) – 9th Jan 2013 – Jock Fraser SDB
Fort William (Railway Club, Inverlochy) -
Galashiels (Abbotsford Arms Hotel) –
Glendale (The Glendale Hall) - 24th Jan 2013 – 40th Anniversary with Robert Whitehead SDB
Glenfarg (Lomond Hotel) -
Glenrothes (Victoria Hall, Coaltown of Balgownie) -
Gretna (Athlitic & Social Club) - 6th Jan 2013 – Iain MacPhail SDB
Haddington (Railway Inn) - 20th Jan 2013 – Tom Orr SDB
Highland (Waterside Hotel) – 21st Jan 2013 – David Oswald SDB
Inveraray (Argyll Hotel) - 9th Jan 2013 – Ross MacPherson Trio
Isle of Skye – (The Royal Hotel, Portree) - 10th Jan 2013 – Plockton School of Excellence
Islesteps (The Embassy Hotel) – 3rd Jan 2013 – Karyn McCulloch
Kelso (Cross Keys Hotel) – 30th Jan 2013 – Jim Gold Trio
Kintore (Torryburn Arms Hotel) –
Ladybank (Ladybank Tavern) -
Lanark (Ravenstruther Hall) - 28th Jan 2013 – Bon Accords
Langholm (Eskdale Hotel) – 9th Jan 2013 – Club Night
Lauder (Black Bull Hotel) -
Lewis & Harris (Stornoway Legion) - 3rd Jan 2013 – Local Players Night
Livingston (Hilcroft Hotel, Whitburn) 15th Jan 2013 – Steven Carcary Duo
Lockerbie (Queen’s Hotel) - 25th Jan 2013 – David Kennedy SDB
Maine Valley (Ballymena) -
Mauchline (Harry Lyle Suite) - 15th Jan 2013 – Susan MacFadyen Trio
Montrose (Park Hotel) – 13th Jan 2013 – Deirdre Adamson
Newburgh (Adbie Hall) - 31st Jan 2013 – Craig Paton SDB
Newmill-on-Teviot / Teviotdale (Buccleugh Bowling Club) 27th Jan 2013 – Open Day
Newtongrange (Dean Tavern) – 28th Jan 2013 – Gordon Clark SDB
North East (Royal British Legion, Keith) –
Northern (Lylehill Suite, Templepatrick, N.I.) - 9th Jan 2013 – Leonard Brown
Oban (The Argyllshire Gathering) – 11th Jan 2013 – Dance to Charlie Kirkpatrick
Orkney (Ayre Hotel, Kirkwall) –
Peebles (Rugby Social Club) – 31st Jan 2013 – Ewan Galloway Trio
Perth (Salutation Hotel) – 15th Jan 2013 – Gordon Pattullo
Premier NI (Chimney Corner Hotel) -
Reading Scottish Fiddlers (Willowbank Infant School, Woodley) -
Renfrew (Masonic Hall, Broadloan) – 8th Jan 2013 – Susan MacFadyen Trio
Rothbury (Queen’s Head Hotel) - 3rd Jan 2013 – Club Night & Buffet Supper
Scottish Accordion Music (Banchory) -
Seghill (Old Comrades Club) -
Selkirk (Angus O’Malley’s) -
Shetland (Shetland Hotel, Lerwick) - 10th Jan 13 – Local Night 28th Jan 2013 – Pre-Up-Helly-Aa night Various Visiting Bands
Stonehouse (Stonehouse Violet Football Social Club) - 9th Jan 2013 – Club Night & Buffet
Sutherland (Rogart Hall) - 19th Jan 2013 – Wemysshill Ceilidh Band
Thornhill (Bowling Club Hall) - 8th Jan 2013 – Nicky McMichan SDB
Thurso (Pentland Hotel) – 7th Jan 2013 – Local Artistes
Turriff (Commercial Hotel, Cuminestown) –
Tynedale (Hexham Ex Service Club) –
Uist & Benbecula (C of S Hall, Griminish) - 5th & 19th Jan 2013 – Saturday Night Ceilidh
West Barnes (West Barnes Inn) 11th Jan 2013 – Club Night
Wick (MacKay’s Hotel) – 15th Jan 2013 – Local Bands Night
THERE WERE CLUB REPORTS FROM :-
1. Aberdeen
2. Annan
3. Arbroath
4. Balloch
5. Banchory
6. Banff
7. Biggar
8. Button-Key
9. Campsie
10. Castle Douglas
11. Coalburn
12. Dingwall
13. Dunblane
14. Dunfermline
15. Fintry
16. Forfar
17. Forres
18. Glendale
19. Gretna
20. Haddington
21. Highland
22. Inveraray
23. Isle of Skye
24. Islesteps
25. Kelso
26. Ladybank
27. Lanark
28. Livingston
29. Lockerbie
30. Montrose
31. Newburgh
32. Newtongrange
33. North East
34. Northern
35. Orkney
36. Peebles
37. Renfrew
38. Shetland
39. Thornhill
40. Thurso
41. Tynedale
42. West Barnes
43. Wick
CLUB DIRECTORY AS AT OCT 2012
(Clubs didn’t necessarily notify the Assoc when they closed so the following may not be entirely correct. Only the clubs submitting the reports or in the Club Diary above were definitely open.)
1. Aberdeen A&F Club (1975 – present)
2. Alnwick A&F Club (Aug 1975 – present)
3. Annan A&F Club (joined Assoc in 1996 but started 1985 – present)
4. Arbroath A&F Club (1991? – present)
5. Balloch A&F Club (Sept 1972 – per January 1978 issue – present)
6. Banchory A&F Club (1978 – present)
7. Banff & District A&F Club (Oct 1973 – present)
8. Beith & District A&F Club (Sept 1972 – per first edition – present)
9. Belford A&F Club (joined Sept 1982)
10. Biggar A&F Club (Oct 1974 – present)
11. Blairgowrie A&F Club (
12. Britannia B&F Club ( joined 07-08 but much older
13. Bromley A&F Club (joined 95-96 – closed early 08-09)
14. Button Key A&F Club (
15. Campsie A&F Club (Nov 95 – present)
16. Carlisle A&F Club (joined Sept 1993 -
17. Castle Douglas A&F Club (c Sept 1980 – present)
18. Coalburn A&F Club (
19. Coldingham A&F Club (Nov 2008 -
20. Crathes (aka Scottish Accordion Music – Crathes) (Nov 1997 -
21. Crieff A&F Club (cSept 1981)
22. Cults A & F Club (
23. Dalriada A&F Club (Feb 1981)
24. Dingwall & District A&F Club (May 1979 – per first report)
25. Dunblane & District A&F Club (1971 – present)
26. Dunfermline & District A&F Club (1974 – per first edition)
27. Dunoon & Cowal A&F Club (
28. Duns A&F Club (formed 20th Sept 04 – present)
29. East Kilbride A&F Club (Sept 1980 – Closed 04/05)
30. Ellon A&F Club (
31. Fintry A&F Club (Dec 1972 – reformed Jan 1980 – present)
32. Forfar A&F Club (
33. Forres A&F Club (Jan 1978)
34. Fort William A&F Club (2009 -
35. Galashiels A&F Club (joined Sept 1982 - present)
36. Galston A&F Club (Oct 1969 – per first edition – closed March 2006)
37. Glendale Accordion Club (Jan 1973)
38. Glenfarg A&F Club (formed 1988 joined Assoc Mar 95 -
39. Glenrothes A&F Club (Mar 93?
40. Gretna A&F Club (1991) Known as North Cumbria A&F Club previously (originally called Gretna when started in June 1966 but later had to move to venues in the North of England and changed name. No breaks in the continuity of the Club)
41. Haddington A&F Club (formed Feb 2005 - )
42. Highland A&F Club (Inverness) (Nov 1973 – present)
43. Inveraray A&F Club (Feb 1991 - present)
44. Islesteps A&F Club (Jan 1981 – present – n.b. evolved from the original Dumfries Club)
45. Isle of Skye A&F Club (June 1983 – present)
46. Kelso A&F Club (May 1976 – present)
47. Ladybank A&F Club (joined Apr 98 but formed earlier
48. Lanark A&F Club (joined Sept 96 – closed March 2015)
49. Langholm A&F Club (Oct 1967 - present)
50. Lauder A&F Club (May 2010 -
51. Lewis & Harris A&F Club (Aug 1994 -
52. Livingston A&F Club (Sept 1973 – present)
53 Lockerbie A&F Club (Nov 1973 - present)
54 Maine Valley A&F Club (
55 Mauchline A&F Club (Sept 1983 - present)
56 Montrose A&F Club (joined Sept 1982 - present)
57 Newmill-on-Teviot (Hawick) (Formed late 1988 joined Assoc 1999 - closed March 2016)
58 Newtongrange A&F Club (joined Sept 1977 - present)
59. North East A&F Club aka Keith A&FC (Sept 1971 - present)
60. Northern A&F Club (Sept 2011 -
61. Oban A&F Club (Nov 1975 - present)
62. Orkney A&F Club (Mar 1978 - present)
63. Peebles A&F Club (26 Nov 1981 - present)
64. Perth & District A&F Club (Aug 1970 - present)
65. Premier A&F Club NI (April 1980)
66. Phoenix A&F Club, Ardrishaig (Dec 2004 -
67. Renfrew A&F Club (1984 -
68. Rothbury Accordion Club (7th Feb 1974) orig called Coquetdale
69. Selkirk A&F Club (
70. Shetland A&F Club (Sept 1978 - present)
71 Stonehouse A&F Club (first report June 05 -
72 Sutherland A&F Club (Nov 1982 -
73 Thornhill A&F Club (joined Oct 1983 – see Nov 83 edition – closed April 2014)
74 Thurso A&F Club (Oct 1981 - present)
75 Turriff A&F Club (1st April 1982 - present)
76 Tynedale A&F Club (Nov 1980 - present)
77 Uist & Benbecula A&F Club (Dec 2007 but formed 1994 -
78 West Barnes ( - present)
79 Wick A&F Club (Oct 1975 - present)
Not on official list at the start of the season (closed, did not renew membership or omitted in error?)
80. Araharacle & District A&F Club (cMay 1988)
81. Armadale A&F Club (Oct 1978? or 80) originally called Bathgate Club (for 2 months) Last meeting May 2010
82. Ayr A&F Club (Nov 1983 – per Nov 83 edition) Closed
83. Bonchester Accordion Club (Closed?)
84. Bridge of Allan (Walmer) A&F Club (Walmer Hotel, Bridge of Allan) (c March 1982)
85. Brigmill A&F Club (Oct 1990) Closed
86. Buchan A&F Club
87 Callander A&F Club (
88 Campbeltown & District A&F Club (c Dec 1980)
89 Cleland (cNov 1981 – March 1985) originally called Drumpellier A&F Club (for 2 months)
90 Club Accord
91 Coquetdale A&F Club (Feb 1974 or c1976/77 – 1981/2? – became Rothbury?)
92. Coupar Angus A&F Club (cSept 1978 - ?)
93. Cumnock A&F Club (October 1976 - forced to close cDec 1982 - see Jan 83 Editorial)
94. Denny & Dunipace A&F Club (Feb 1981)
95. Derwentside A&F Club
96. Dornoch A&F Club (first mention in directory 1986)
97. Dumfries Accordion Club (Oughtons) (April 1965 at the Hole in the Wa’)
98. Dunbar Cement Works A&F Club (Closed?)
99. Dundee & District A&F Club (January 1971 – 1995?)
100. Edinburgh A&F Club (Apr 1981) prev called Chrissie Leatham A&F Club (Oct 1980)
101. Falkirk A&F Club (Sept 1978 - )
102. Fort William A&F Club (21st Oct 1980 – per Dec 1980 B&F)
103. Gorebridge (cNov 1981) originally called Arniston A&F Club (for 2 months)
104. Greenhead Accordion Club (on the A69 between Brampton and Haltwistle)
105. Islay A&F Club (23 Apr 93 -
106. Kintore A&F Club (
107. Kirriemuir A&F Club (cSept 1981)
108. Lesmahagow A&F Club (Nov 1979 – closed May 2005)
109. M.A.F.I.A. (1966 – 1993?)
110. Monklands A&F Club (Nov 1978 – closed cApril 1983)
111. Morecambe A&F Club (joined Sept 1982)
112. Muirhead A&F Club (Dec 1994 -
113. Mull A&F Club
114. Newcastleton Accordion Club
115. Newburgh A&F Club (joined 2002 but founded much earlier – closed April 2011 when venue closed)
116. New Cumnock A&F Club (cMarch 1979)
117. Newton St Boswells Accordion Club (17th Oct 1972 see Apr 1984 obituary for Angus Park)
118. Ormiston Miners’ Welfare Society A&F Club (closed April 1992 – per Sept Editorial)
119. Reading Scottish Fiddlers (cMarch 1997
120. Renfrew A&F Club (original club 1974/5 lapsed after a few years then again in 1984)
121. Stirling A&F Club (Oct 1991 – closed 20000/01?)
122. Straiton Accordion Club (c1968 – closed March 1979)
123. Stranraer & District Accordion Club (1974 – per first edition)
124. Torthorwald A&F Club (near Dumfries)
125. Tranent A&F Club
126. Vancouver
127. Walmer (Bridge of Allan) A&F Club
128. Wellbank A&F Club
129. Yarrow (prev known as Etterick & Yarrow) (Jan 1989 – closed 2001/02)
Advertising rates
Back Page (colour) - £300
Full Page (colour) - £220
Full Page (b&w) - £140
Half Page (colour) - £110
Half Page (b&w) - £70
Quarter Page (colour) - £55
Quarter Page (b&w) - £35
Eighth Page - £18
Small Boxed £12
B&F Treasurer – Charlie Todd, Thankerton
The main features in the above issue were as follows (this is not a comprehensive detail of all it contained. The Club reports, in particular, are too time-consuming at this stage to retype).
Editorial
The eagle-eyed amongst you will have noticed that last month’s magazine was printed here in the Borders – at Jedburgh Press to be precise. Unfortunately Wm. Culross ceased trading, while the B&F was rolling off the presses. This meant a huge panic to find a printer who could offer the same quality, at the same price, in a ridiculously short timescale! Thankfully Kathryn and Rob at Jedburgh Press came up trumps and we’re delighted to announce that all future issues will be printed there. Our next problem was distribution. Thank you all for your patience while we attempted to get everything dispatched as quickly as we could. Particular thanks to Treasurer Charlie Todd, John McDonald of Windygates, John Crombie of Kelso, Ewan Galloway of Coldingham, Tom Riddell of Teviotdale and guest artistes John Morgan and James Coutts who all volunteered as temporary ‘postmen’. If anyone is within traveling distance of Jedburgh and would be willing to collect magazines for their local clubs to save the heavy postal charges, please let Charlie know.
Whew! After all that we deserve a holiday. Have a good one!
Best wishes.
Karin Ingram
63rd Perth All-Scotland Accordion & Fiddle Festival
by Nicol McLaren
27th October 2012 saw the 63rd All Scotland Accordion and Fiddle Festival take place, once again, in Perth – and what a day it turned out to be!
The event actually started on the Friday evening (26th) with a very well attended ceilidh and dance in The Salutation Hotel – the hub of the whole Festival – ably administered by Alasdair MacCuish and The Black Rose Ceilidh Band and supported by many of the visiting artistes. This has proved to be a great meeting and greeting event over the years, prior to the serious matter of ‘Competition Day’. Competitions started bright and early at 9am in three venues in the centre of Perth – The Salutation Hotel, the St John’s Episcopal Church Hall, and the Salvation Army Hall. This was truly a feat of organisation to have competitors, adjudicators and stewards in the right place at the right time (especially with competitors and adjudicators ‘multi tasking’) and ran pretty much to time. Competitions culminated in the ‘All Scotland Scottish Band Championship’ and the final of the ‘All Scotland Senior Traditional Accordion solo Championship’, which had started at 11am, taking place in the Main Ballroom of The Salutation Hotel with the six finalists having qualified from the initial 19 competitors. The atmosphere was tremendous as the audiences from all the other venues filled the seats – and the gangways – and any other available space to hear a diverse array of styles from the bands, with John Burns’ Band emerging as victors and Callum Cruickshank from Lumphanan (yes – the son of Jennifer and Brian Cruickshank) claiming the prize for the best rhythm section.
The six finalists in the Senior Scottish excelled both technically and stylistically and everyone I’ve spoken with agrees that it was the closest competition for many years. No one envied the adjudicators, John Carmichael and Graham Geddes, in having to select the ‘1,2,3’. We all had to wait until after the concert to find out who our new champion was to be. A repeated comment throughout the day was that of how high the standard of playing and musicianship was in all of the competitions – a great compliment to the teachers around the country who can bring out the best in their wards. Another observation was the size of the entry (and, again, the standard) in the fiddle sections. It’s great to see this after Perth struggled for numbers in these sections for many years. I must also mention here the contribution of adjudicator Marie Fielding. No disrespect to any other adjudicator but I was very impressed at the way Marie took time to give pointers to encourage the young players in particular, and also pass on wee tips and advice to all the players, explaining what SHE was looking for and how to achieve it. Perhaps time constraints don’t allow this all the time, but if more adjudicators did this, I’m sure it would help all competitors and, indeed, the listening audience, and alleviate much of the ‘debate’ when a result is announced.
During the afternoon, Festival goers and the Perth public were entertained in The Salutation Bar and The Greyfriars Bar by The Black Rose Ceilidh Band and Steven Carcary respectively, taking the message and the music to the wider audience. Both venues were ‘jumping’, but the mystery to me was why so many of the public, despite extensive local advertising asked, “What’s all this about?” Come on Perth, it’s only been going for 63 years!!! Well done to the musicians for keeping the enthusiasm going all afternoon.
And so to the final concert – the Grand Finale – held immediately after the Senior Scottish playoff whilst the adjudicators deliberated. And what a concert it was, opening with accordion legends Jack Emblow and Tony Compton. Their CV reads like the ultimate accordionists portfolio spanning almost 50 years (Sing Something Simple, Last of the Summer Wine, Allo’ Allo’ to name only a few of the shows Jack has been involved with) and they did not disappoint, enthralling the audience with jazz and swing classics including my personal favourite, ‘Musette for a Magpie’. A truly spellbinding performance throughout, which had the audience hollering for more. Come back soon boys!
How do you follow that? Well, the organizers came up trumps once again with the outstanding duetting fiddles of Marie Fielding and Alison Smith, ably assisted on piano by Tom Orr. The girls treated us to a first-rate, diverse, wonderfully musical spot featuring the differing, yet complimentary styles of each, producing a very, very pleasing sound.
Finally, to close the concert, and, indeed, the whole Festival we had Gordon Shand and his Scottish Dance Band – Gordon on lead accordion, Alison Smith on fiddle (no rest for the wicked!), Jim Lindsay on second box, Graham Berry on piano and Gordon Smith on drums – who took us through some fantastic sets of Scottish dance music, all with the “Gordon Shand twist” adding variety and interest as only Gordon can.
Just before Gordon played his last set, however, we had the small event of announcing the result of the Senior Scottish Accordion Championship. The adjudicators gave their crits and announced the results, with the winner being Leonard Brown from South Shields in Northumberland with an outstanding performance of tunes ll written by Cardenden’s Michael Philip. Well done Leonard! Actually, the 1st and 2nd placed players couldn’t have lived much further apart – Northumberland and Caithness!! – which shows how the Festival still attracts players, competitors and spectators from across the length and breadth of the country.
In conclusion, a great day had by all, in every way enhanced by the ‘behind the scenes’ organisation by the Perth Festival Committee who have taken over, where Bill Wilkie left off, and developed and grown the Festival into one of the highlights of the Accordion and Fiddle year.
Please note that due to problems with the venue, the 2013 Festival will be held on a different date, the first weekend in October (4th and 5th). Get it in the diaries now!
RESULTS
All Scotland Senior Traditional Accordion Solo (Jimmy Shand Shield)
1) Leonard Brown (South Shields)
2) Brandon McPhee (Castletown)
3) Liam Stewart (Galston)
Senior Accordion Solo for Traditional Pipe Music (Bill Black Challenge Cup)
1) Neil Angus MacNeil (Aberdeen)
2) Matthew MacLennan (Paisley)
3) John Burns (Kilsyth)
Senior Scottish Country Dance Band (Ronnie Cooper Memorial Trophy)
1) John Burns (Kilsyth)
2) Adam Gibb (Biggar)
3) Callum Cruickshank (Lumphanan)
Senior Scottish Country Dance Band – Best Rhythm Section (John Gibson Memorial Trophy)
Callum Cruickshank (Lumphanan)
Junior Scottish Country Dance Band (Alex MacArthur Memorial Quaich)
1)
2)
3)
Own Composition (Jimmy Blue Trophy)
1) Emma Dickson (Dolphinton)
2) Maggie Adamson (Fladdabister)
3) Michael Philip (Kirkcaldy)
Scottish Trio Championship (Perth Accordion & Fiddle Club Challenge Cup)
1) Maggie Adamson (Fladdabister)
2) Adam Gibb (Biggar)
3) John Burns (Kilsyth)
Open Button Key Traditional Accordion Solo (Duncan Campbell Memorial Trophy)
1) Brandon McPhee (Castletown)
2)
3)
Veterans’ Solo (40 and over) (Andrew Rankine Memorial Quaich)
1) Paul Capaldi (Galashiels)
2)
3)
Junior Traditional Accordion Solo (Under 16) (Angus Accordion College Challenge Shield)
1) Emma Dickson (Dolphinton)
2) Adam Gibb (Biggar)
3) Kyle Innes (Strathmiglo)
Junior Accordion Solo for Traditional Pipe Music (Under 16) (Charlie Cowie Memorial Cup)
1) Emma Dickson (Dolphinton)
2) Adam Gibb (Biggar)
3) Ewan Dowie (Kettlebridge)
Junior Traditional Accordion Solo (Under 12) (Black Isle Shield)
1) Ewan Dowie (Kettlebridge)
2) Kyle Rowan (Edinburgh)
3) Andrew Erskine (Biggar)
Senior Ladies Accordion Solo (Margaret Hendrie Silver Salver)
1) Susan MacFadyen (Wesy Kilbride)
2) Laura Crawford (Ladybank)
3) Claire Black (Biggar)
Junior Girls Traditional Accordion Solo (Under 16) (Jimmy Stephens Silver Salver)
1) Emma Dickson (Dolphinton)
2) Samantha Erskine (Biggar)
3)
Scottish Ceilidh Band (Bobby MacLeod Trophy)
1)
2)
3)
FIDDLE CLASSES
Senior Fiddle Solo (16 and over) (Ian Powrie Cup)
1) Anne Nichol (Inverurie)
2) Maggie Adamson (Fladdabister)
3) Graham MacKenzie (Inverness)
Senior Fiddle Solo Slow Air (16 and over) (Pibroch MacKenzie Memorial Quaich)
1) Maggie Adamson (Fladdabister)
2) Graham MacKenzie (Inverness)
3) George Davidson (Tillyhilt)
Junior Fiddle Solo (Under 16) (Albie Tedham Trophy)
1) Sean Allan (Carluke)
2) Eilidh Anderson (Tarland)
3) Ellie McLaren (Braemar)
Junior Fiddle Solo Slow Air (Under 16) (Shelagh Rankine Memorial Trophy)
1) Eilidh Anderson (Tarland)
2) Mark Green (Inverness)
3) Hannah Adamson (Cunningsburgh)
Junior Fiddle Solo (Under 12) (Jim Ritchie Challenge Cup)
1) Rachael Havlin (Ellon)
2) Rhiann Matthew (Tarland)
3=) Sorcha Gall (Huntly) & Iona Cruickshank (Lunphanan)
Junior Fiddle Under 12
1)
2)
3)
Junior Fiddle Under 16
1)
2)
3)
CLASSICAL CLASSES
Open Continental Musette Solo
1)
2)
3)
Open Continental Polka Solo
1)
2)
3)
Under 14 Continental Musette Solo
1) Alexander Girling (Glenfarg)
2) Fraser Hewitt (Quothquan)
3) Steven Stark (Auchtermuchty)
Under 14 Continental Polka Solo
1) Alexander Girling (Glenfarg)
2) Cameron Duncan (Glenrothes)
3) Ewan Dowie (Kettlebridge)
Senior Classical Accordion Championship (Accordion World Cup)
1) Paul Capaldi (Galashiels)
2) Sarah Alexander (Edinburgh)
3)
Junior Classical Accordion Championship (Accordion World Cup)
1) Emma Dickson (Dolphinton)
2) Alexander Girling (Glenfarg)
3)
Under 12 Classical Accordion Solo (Kool Accordions Sussex Cup)
1) Ewan Dowie (Kettlebridge)
2) India Islay Smith (Penicuik)
3) Zara Elliott (Galashiels)
Celtic Connections
by
…………..
Howie Did It
by Kenny Kemp
The following article is reproduced by kind permission of BQ, Business Quarter magazine Issue 5 Autumn 2011
The author, Kenny Kemp, plays fiddle with the Edinburgh Highland Strathspey and Reel Society. Photographs are by kind permission of Kevin Gibson of KG Photography. Many thanks to Kenny and Kevin.
Simon Howie is an iconic Scottish brand. While his fillet steaks and prime beef are well-known in supermarket chill cabinets, he is also a serial entrepreneur, immersed in a range of businesses, many connected to his farming roots. Kenny Kemp travelled to his base at Dunning in rural Perthshire to meet him.
In farming parlance, Simon Howie is best of breed across a number of classes. In his business life he is one of Scotland’s most prodigious business figures, but he’s also fiercely proud of his rural Perthshire family roots and is one of the country’s leading Scottish dance band musicians.
He is a tall, quietly-spoken Scotsman, who displays a certain reserve and seriousness when talking about his multiple business enterprises, but lightens up and relaxes more when talking about accordion music, and the great names of Scottish dance music such as Mickey Ainsworth, Jim Johnstone, Ian Powrie, Jimmy Blue, Bobby McLeod and Jimmy Shand. But while dance music is his passion with its myriad of jigs, reels, marches and waltzes, Simon Howie is far better known as an award-winning Scottish entrepreneur who is – if you excuse the awful pun – outstanding in his field.
The picturesque Perthshire village of Dunning has just celebrated its 500th anniversary as a Scottish Burgh of Barony. Nine miles from Perth and five miles from Gleneagles Hotel, it is a tight-knit and prosperous community steeped in its history and its symbiotic connection to farming, trading and the land.
This ingrained sense of place might explain something about the success of Simon Howie, whose immaculate home farm at Findony- with his personal helicopter in a fallow field - is on the outskirts of town. Simon was born in neighbouring Millhouse farm, a smaller 130-acre mixed farm run by his father, Angus Howie.
In December 1986, 19-year-old Simon was learning his trade in Rattray & Son shop in Perth. “I was working as an apprentice butcher and decided that I wanted to start my own business. So I got cracking with that. I bought a small old Co-operative shop in Dunning and set up a shop.”
The shop cost £2,400 and he kitted out with £2,000 that he had saved in the bank.
Then Simon uses one of his catch phrases: “And away I went.”
He was given a week’s credit from a meat wholesaler, which he paid the following Monday, and got some more meat. “That’s how Simon Howie the Scottish Butcher started.”
Today his various business interests have a combined turnover of around £40 million.
His first employee, Jim Park, who started in May 1987, is still with the company today, a fact of which he remains very proud, and the tiny butcher’s shop started to supplying hotels and restaurants. However, the holy grail locally was getting a foothold into the internationally renowned Gleneagles Hotel.
“I knocked on their door many, many times, but I was always turned away. They didn’t see the need for a ‘local yokel’’. One night I was going back home to my folks' farm and there was a guy trying to get his wheel off his car.”
Simon Howie, now 44, is a practical, sleeves-rolled up kind of person. So he stopped and offered to help and went back to the farm to and got the right tools.
“I got his wheel off and the chap was very grateful. It turned out he was Colin Bussey, the Head Chef at Gleneagles." A few days later he went and knocked on his door again. The result; for the next 23 years he supplied Gleneagles with all their meat. It was this fortuitous meeting because Colin eventually worked with Simon helping to change the way luxury hotels sourced their cuts of meat.
“That’s how we got in the door. As the chefs at Gleneagles moved around I picked up other hotels such as the Old Course in St Andrews and the Turnberry. Away we went!”
The village shop model was working well, so he bought another shop in Auchterarder and one in Dunkeld, and eventually had four shops which he described as ‘concentric’ growth, with the shop supplying the local hotels and restaurants. But the Simon Howie story is all about grabbing relevant opportunities when they present themselves, so he bought a laminated panels business in 1991 which undertook shop-fitting.
“I was buying panels for my shops and I felt better if I could make them myself. So I started a company called Shore Laminates.”
The fledgling company rented a dingy old factory in Perth, near the Friarton Bridge, and kitted it out. “Away we went! Business went from strength to strength. We have about 50 people working there now.”
There was a lot of rebuilding work in the 1990s. The Scottish Office in Leith, the refurbishment of international terminals at Glasgow and Edinburgh Airport, new offices at Scottish Provident and Standard Life. All these companies required fit-outs and Shore was well placed. The laminated products were sold to companies doing the fit-out.
“We were fabricators of the product and companies, such as Havelock Europa, or Thomas Johnston would buy from us. It was the same way as a baker makes pies.”
The laminated business was split into commercial – with schools, hospital and hotels – and domestic – which is bathrooms wall panelling, under two brands. It would remain an important part of the Howie business empire.
In 1995, Simon bought Rattray & Co in Perth, where he began as an apprentice. It went on to become the top butchers in Scotland for three years running, then the best in Britain. According to Simon, the key to this was one special individual called Gary Conacher. “He is absolutely brilliant. There is a common thread through my whole business career there are certain individuals and events that have happened. They have completely and utterly changed the course of my business. Gary came to my food business and took it by storm. He’s helped me grow the business to where it is today. He’s a brilliant individual and a great motivator.”
Scotland’s top-class hotels were building their international reputations for the quality of their food, and this brought an interesting change in the chefs' ways of working. Instead of spending hours preparing cuts of meat, they were spending more time cooking. This presented Simon Howie with a new opportunity.
“We looked further down the value chain and decided to concentrate our efforts on to pre-prepared, chef-ready products, rather than selling them whole chunks of meat that they would prepare themselves in-house.”
This gave top chefs far more time and attention to improve the quality of their menus. For Simon Howie – now supplying 200 hotels and restaurants on a daily basis - the ready-to-eat, ready-to-cook range of products became a significant part of the story.
In 1995, he bought the 400-acre Findony Farm in Dunning, knocked down the old steading and built a factory for state-of-the-art meat production. The carcases arrived from selected abattoirs around Scotland, and they are cut, trimmed and every part of the animal is used for consumption. He increased the factory size to 60,000sq ft where there were two divisions: chef-prepared products and red meat.
“We asked: how do we leverage this. We have this factory based in this very nice rural location. How do we ramp that up and make it really stand out from just another run-of-the-mill food preparation company?” he explains.
“During the process of building the new factory I started up a company called Rossco Properties and Greenfield Homes, one to do commercial property and the other housebuilding. All the money I was making in my laminate business and food production I was ploughing back into buying brown-field sites. They were pretty poor sub-prime sites where I could build bog-standard basic sheds. I didn’t have the money to go out and buy existing ‘investment’ property. I was buying land that I could invest in once I’d bought it.”
Again Simon’s hunch worked. He found a niche in the market for smaller businesses who wanted cheap property at £3-5 a square foot workspace that was to basically something to keep the rain off. He now has 1.5 million square feet of basic, low-rental leased space across the UK, including Manchester and the North-West of England, including 300,000 sq ft at Grangemouth docks, which is used as a whisky bond. “We’re debt free on this.”
But Greenfield Homes built over 100 houses before Simon made the decision that house building wasn’t going to be part of his continuing portfolio. He admits he found it too much of a hassle. “We built a lot of nice houses but it’s definitely not for me. In the same way that commercial vehicle dealers don’t sell cars, customers are very fickle. They complained about things that weren’t important to me and I felt I wasn’t on the same page as the customer. I made a decision to work with commercial users, rather than domestic home owners.”
Back on the food front, a major breakthrough came in 1999 when Sainsbury’s ran a supplier development programme with a dinner in Edinburgh on the final day. By chance, Simon ended up sitting next to the chief executive Peter Davis and alongside his deputy Stuart Mitchell, who later became managing director, of the supermarket chain. Simon grabbed his opportunity.
“Your meat counters are not as good as they should be for such a leading supermarket group,” he told the pair. They nodded their heads in agreement but said they were struggling to know what exactly to do with it. Simon invited them to see his shops.
“I said, ‘If you give me the meat counters to run, I’ll make them better - by a long shot’. Fair play to them. The following Saturday, they flew up from their Holborn HQ and I picked them up at the airport. Within 15 minutes of seeing our shops they said ‘Go ahead and take your Simon Howie brand into all of our Scottish stores.’ There was no real contract: just a handshake.”
This was a watershed deal for the business and he recalls hearing of the World Trade Centre attacks on September 11, 2001, while arranging the cuts of sirloin as he set up the ‘Simon Howie’ branded butcher’s counter in Blackhall in Edinburgh.
“We doubled the meat turnover overnight, supplying all the meat products over the counter. It let Sainsbury’s and ourselves realise how big a prize there was in this sector. We worked well together. Sainsbury’s were very entrepreneurial and eventually they said, ‘Thanks a lot, we can do this on our own now’. I moved on too.’”
For Simon Howie the brand, it raised the profile among the competing supermarkets who realised they too had to improve their presentation and display at the meat counters. Now Simon could engage with Tesco, Asda and Morrisons and they knew and understood what he was doing.
“It took us into a different league. We realised that the way to sell food in the UK to the masses was to pre-pack and get it on the shelves. Getting onto Sainsbury’s counters allowed us to get into this market – without that we would not be where we are today as a food company.”
For Simon Howie it was all about relationships with multiple retailers who had heavy footfall and building a brand, which was developed in-house by marketing graduate Emma Loftus, still with Simon. The brand tools were: tone of voice, the look and feel of the product and the colour scheme for packaging.
“We worked very hard to get this right. We built a perception that the business was perhaps an artisan small food producer, with a 100-year old heritage that stretched back to my grand-father, who started it all. Actually, we are none of those.”
This brand building was transferable and Simon turned his attention back to the laminate business. “We wanted to push this so that other people could sell our products in either specialist bathroom showrooms or in the mainstream DIY chains, such and B&Q. While you give some of the margin away, the opportunity to grow the business is bigger.”
WetWall – the biggest selling shower panelling product in the UK - and Splashwall, while essentially the same product, were both created to serve the different segments of the bathroom market. Recently Mermaid Panels, where Simon is chairman, invested a further £1.5 million in production line technology for waterproof wall panels.
When he pulled out of house building in 2001, he created Shore Recycling. It was a chance meeting with his fridge engineer who told him he needed to do something about CFC gases in the fridges because there would be a problem getting rid of them.
“The fridge engineers keep my fridges going in the factory. I asked what was going to be done about domestic fridges and he said: ‘No-one really knows.’ I looked into it and found that the UK government had signed up for an EU directive to prevent CFC gases going to landfill. But found out there was no solution.”
Simon Howie went to Leipzig, Berlin and Munich searching for a recycling machine that could deal with the gases. He found one, ordered it and started speaking to Scotland’s local authorities, signing up 31 of the 32 councils into long-term contracts. The fridges started to arrive en masse. By the time the machine arrived from Germany, he had the machine paid off and £600,000 in the bank.
“It was like winning the lottery. We had 50 people working in the plant in Perth.”
Two key individuals arrived: Tom Liddell and Malcolm Todd, a former marketing director from Glenmorangie who became the managing director and ran it like a marketing business.
“I decided that the business was making £3 million a year profit in the second year. I wanted to sell the business but there was no appetite to buy the business. So I got RBS to help Tom and Malcolm buy a good slice of the business. Over the period of the next four years, the guys paid down the debt and we ended up with the company debt-free.”
A fire was a major setback but the insurance pay-out helped rebuild one of the best recycling plants for fridges and televisions (taking in 10,000 monitors a month) in Europe. More stringent EU directives meant anything with a plug and battery had to be recycled which turned waste into a lucrative business. It all went into a massive food-type blender which separated the parts and turned the raw materials into a mulch. Shore Recycling was eventually sold to Viridor Waste Management, part of the Pennon Group, for £23 million in March 2008.
“There were a number of reasons why it was good to sell. We were all in the mood for a sale at that point. It had been a very intense and tricky five years, but enjoyable. Viridor have gone on from strength to strength, so it was a good buy for them.”
Simon then bought two more laminate businesses, who were the major competitors at the time, and purchased Calport, a shipping and handling stevedoring business at Perth harbour, which he runs with brother Angus, who runs the local haulage and distribution company.
“We bring in bulk cargoes and store them, including animal feed, fertilisers and salts. We take timber in from Scandinavia. There are not many inland ports like Perth so it is an opportunity to bring goods in.”
He also bought a 500-acre farm in Tain which also helped in the supply of animals for premium beef. With such success, did he ever consider taking on bank debt to grow the business?
“If I took the truth drug, there was the chance that I could have geared up and done a bigger deal during the good times. And I might have been sitting here saying, ‘Why did I do that?’
In 2008, Simon also created Shore Energy with three sites going through local planning, turning waste into energy. At times, this has been contentious for Simon in places such as Monklands. “It’s a process of stripping the waste and taking the bio-mass out and converting the bio-mass to energy. It’s a pyroliser which turns the waste into a gas. There is no combustion. It is not an incinerator, as some campaigners have claimed. It’s a clean, proven process called gasification.”
His wife and family are an integral aspect of his life in Perthshire. Simon’s grandfather was one of a family of 13, born in 1886, and went off to Canada and worked on the Hudson’s Bay trading company and made enough money to come back and buy the farm. Simon’s father and mother, Dorothy, instilled in him a conservative work ethic, although they were entrepreneurial.
“I was lucky to have parents who spoke to us. I have two brothers, Angus and Norman, and we are a good working unit. They have their own careers and I’ve done my own thing from an early age. But our parents, crucially, spoke to us and told us about the workings of a business as well as life in general. We watched how they went about their lives in terms of speaking to people. How they treated staff and colleagues. How they dealt with finance. Their reluctance to take on debt. They didn’t waste money. All of these things are inherent good business principles.”
Simon’s mother was a nursing sister and the family had some holiday cottages in the village and they would be run during the summer for visitors. “She would finish her work and then in the evening go and clean and tidy the houses for the holiday lets. She would spend the evenings writing confirmation letters to Holland and Belgium for the guests. In one year she was able to earn enough to buy a brand-new baler for the farm!”
Farming was Simon’s love, but it was obvious three brothers were not going to get a living out of a 130-acre farm. “The adage was; if you’re not going to be a lawyer or a doctor, go and get a trade. The meat trade suited me and it was easy for me to be a butcher.”
“What I remember about my training was the camaraderie and the fun I had as an apprentice in a shop with 15 people. It was a fantastic part of my early life; I was the young lad in the shop. I was well looked after.”
It would be remiss not to come back to his music. In the early years he made 50% of his income as a Scottish dance band leader, playing ceilidhs, weddings all over Scotland, and appearing on the BBC Scotland’s Take the Floor radio show. He has family connections with the legendary Ian Powrie, who now lives in Australia and is in his 80s.[the article appeared before Ian's death] “He was the Govn’r in my eyes. He took the music by storm in the 1960s. I played the accordion from an early age. It wasn’t just for fun. I take it very seriously. I was making a living from it. But I was also going into hotels and meeting new people. I was travelling the country and getting a broader appreciation of what was going on. I travelled abroad too – including 15 times to South Korea. It gave me more of a rounded-approach to my business.”
For Simon it has been a journey along a number of paths. “I didn’t have it all mapped out. My thinking is: where am I now, and how do I progress.”
He says it was about being in the right place and often appearing bigger than he actually was in the early days. In the early days, he started-up companies because he didn’t have the cash to buy them. He acknowledges he’s had a lot of advice and informal mentoring, and his involvement with the Entrepreneurial Exchange has given him access to some of Scotland’s best business brains. He’s also keen to help others who are starting out.
“I’ve had 25 years’ experience, in hand-to-hand combat. I feel confident in speaking to people. Even today I’m much more comfortable with start-ups than writing people big cheques to take on their business.”
Today Simon Howie’s food business employs 120 people in Perthshire, while the laminate firm has 150 people, and among the other businesses there are another 50 employees. Simon Howie has done all this with remarkable energy, passion for his products and commitment to quality: he is certainly one of a rare breed of enterprising Scots.
Webwatch
by Bill Young
www.
See Hear! with Bill Brown
CD Reviews
A Showcase of Shetland Music – Shetland A&F Club 25th Anniversay Album – Independent
Music for Old Time Dancing Vol 4 – Freeland Barbour – BONS CD704
Take the Floor – Saturday Evenings 19.05 – 21.00 with Robbie Shepherd (repeated on Sunday’s 13.05 – 15.00)
5th Jan 2013 – Niall Kirkpatrick SDB
12th Jan 2013 – West Telferton SDB
19th Jan 2013 – Colin Donaldson SDB
26th Jan 2013 – OB from Celtic Connections, Tom Orr SDB
CLUB DIARY
Aberdeen (Old Machar RBL) – 29th Jan 2013 – Scott Nichol SDB
Alnwick (The Farrier’s Arms – Shilbottle)
Annan (St Andrew’s Social Club) - 20th Jan 2013 – Nicky McMichan Trio
Arbroath (Viewfield Hotel) - 13th Jan 2013 – Johnny Duncan Duo
Balloch (St. Kessog’s Church Hall) – 20th Jan 2013 – Donald MacLeod SDB
Banchory (Burnett Arms Hotel) – 28th Jan 2013 – Brian & Jennifer Special Requests Night
Banff & District (Banff Springs Hotel) – 23rd Jan 2013 – Club Night with Inter Club Entertainers
Beith & District (Anderson Hotel) –
Biggar (Municipal Hall) – 13th Jan 2013 – Simon Thoumire & Dave Milligan
Blairgowrie (Moorfield Hotel) - 8th Jan 2013 – Gordon Pattullo & Gemma Donald
Britannia (Arden House Hotel) -
Bromley (Trinity United Reform Church) -
Button Key (Windygates Institute) – 17th Jan 13 – Irish Night 20th Jan 2013 – Shand Morino Gathering
Campsie (Glazert Country House Hotel) - 8th Jan 2013 – David Vernon
Carlisle (St Margaret Mary Social Club) -
Castle Douglas (Urr Valley Country House Hotel) – 15th Jan 2013 – Lyne Valley SDB
Coalburn (Miners’ Welfare) - 17th Jan 2013 – John Renton SDB
Coldingham (Crosslaw Caravan Park) -
Crieff & District (Crieff Hotel)
Cults (Culter Sports & Social Club)
Dalriada (Argyll Inn, Lochgilphead) - 15th Jan 2013 – Heron Valley Quartet
Dingwall (National Hotel) – 9th Jan 2013 – Ian Stewart Trio
Dunblane (Victoria Hall) – 16th Jan 2013 – David Oswald SDB
Dunfermline (Headwell Bowling Club) – 8th Jan 2013 – Club Night
Dunoon & Cowal (McColl’s Hotel)
Duns (Royal British Legion Club, Langtongate) 21st Jan 2013 – Dick Black SDB
Ellon (Station Hotel) – 15th Jan 2013 – Kenin cheyne Band
Fintry (Fintry Sports Centre) – 28th Jan 2013 – Michael Philip SDB
Forfar (Plough Inn) - 27th Jan 2013 – Kingdom Ceilidh Band
Forres (Victoria Hotel) – 9th Jan 2013 – Jock Fraser SDB
Fort William (Railway Club, Inverlochy) -
Galashiels (Abbotsford Arms Hotel) –
Glendale (The Glendale Hall) - 24th Jan 2013 – 40th Anniversary with Robert Whitehead SDB
Glenfarg (Lomond Hotel) -
Glenrothes (Victoria Hall, Coaltown of Balgownie) -
Gretna (Athlitic & Social Club) - 6th Jan 2013 – Iain MacPhail SDB
Haddington (Railway Inn) - 20th Jan 2013 – Tom Orr SDB
Highland (Waterside Hotel) – 21st Jan 2013 – David Oswald SDB
Inveraray (Argyll Hotel) - 9th Jan 2013 – Ross MacPherson Trio
Isle of Skye – (The Royal Hotel, Portree) - 10th Jan 2013 – Plockton School of Excellence
Islesteps (The Embassy Hotel) – 3rd Jan 2013 – Karyn McCulloch
Kelso (Cross Keys Hotel) – 30th Jan 2013 – Jim Gold Trio
Kintore (Torryburn Arms Hotel) –
Ladybank (Ladybank Tavern) -
Lanark (Ravenstruther Hall) - 28th Jan 2013 – Bon Accords
Langholm (Eskdale Hotel) – 9th Jan 2013 – Club Night
Lauder (Black Bull Hotel) -
Lewis & Harris (Stornoway Legion) - 3rd Jan 2013 – Local Players Night
Livingston (Hilcroft Hotel, Whitburn) 15th Jan 2013 – Steven Carcary Duo
Lockerbie (Queen’s Hotel) - 25th Jan 2013 – David Kennedy SDB
Maine Valley (Ballymena) -
Mauchline (Harry Lyle Suite) - 15th Jan 2013 – Susan MacFadyen Trio
Montrose (Park Hotel) – 13th Jan 2013 – Deirdre Adamson
Newburgh (Adbie Hall) - 31st Jan 2013 – Craig Paton SDB
Newmill-on-Teviot / Teviotdale (Buccleugh Bowling Club) 27th Jan 2013 – Open Day
Newtongrange (Dean Tavern) – 28th Jan 2013 – Gordon Clark SDB
North East (Royal British Legion, Keith) –
Northern (Lylehill Suite, Templepatrick, N.I.) - 9th Jan 2013 – Leonard Brown
Oban (The Argyllshire Gathering) – 11th Jan 2013 – Dance to Charlie Kirkpatrick
Orkney (Ayre Hotel, Kirkwall) –
Peebles (Rugby Social Club) – 31st Jan 2013 – Ewan Galloway Trio
Perth (Salutation Hotel) – 15th Jan 2013 – Gordon Pattullo
Premier NI (Chimney Corner Hotel) -
Reading Scottish Fiddlers (Willowbank Infant School, Woodley) -
Renfrew (Masonic Hall, Broadloan) – 8th Jan 2013 – Susan MacFadyen Trio
Rothbury (Queen’s Head Hotel) - 3rd Jan 2013 – Club Night & Buffet Supper
Scottish Accordion Music (Banchory) -
Seghill (Old Comrades Club) -
Selkirk (Angus O’Malley’s) -
Shetland (Shetland Hotel, Lerwick) - 10th Jan 13 – Local Night 28th Jan 2013 – Pre-Up-Helly-Aa night Various Visiting Bands
Stonehouse (Stonehouse Violet Football Social Club) - 9th Jan 2013 – Club Night & Buffet
Sutherland (Rogart Hall) - 19th Jan 2013 – Wemysshill Ceilidh Band
Thornhill (Bowling Club Hall) - 8th Jan 2013 – Nicky McMichan SDB
Thurso (Pentland Hotel) – 7th Jan 2013 – Local Artistes
Turriff (Commercial Hotel, Cuminestown) –
Tynedale (Hexham Ex Service Club) –
Uist & Benbecula (C of S Hall, Griminish) - 5th & 19th Jan 2013 – Saturday Night Ceilidh
West Barnes (West Barnes Inn) 11th Jan 2013 – Club Night
Wick (MacKay’s Hotel) – 15th Jan 2013 – Local Bands Night
THERE WERE CLUB REPORTS FROM :-
1. Aberdeen
2. Annan
3. Arbroath
4. Balloch
5. Banchory
6. Banff
7. Biggar
8. Button-Key
9. Campsie
10. Castle Douglas
11. Coalburn
12. Dingwall
13. Dunblane
14. Dunfermline
15. Fintry
16. Forfar
17. Forres
18. Glendale
19. Gretna
20. Haddington
21. Highland
22. Inveraray
23. Isle of Skye
24. Islesteps
25. Kelso
26. Ladybank
27. Lanark
28. Livingston
29. Lockerbie
30. Montrose
31. Newburgh
32. Newtongrange
33. North East
34. Northern
35. Orkney
36. Peebles
37. Renfrew
38. Shetland
39. Thornhill
40. Thurso
41. Tynedale
42. West Barnes
43. Wick
CLUB DIRECTORY AS AT OCT 2012
(Clubs didn’t necessarily notify the Assoc when they closed so the following may not be entirely correct. Only the clubs submitting the reports or in the Club Diary above were definitely open.)
1. Aberdeen A&F Club (1975 – present)
2. Alnwick A&F Club (Aug 1975 – present)
3. Annan A&F Club (joined Assoc in 1996 but started 1985 – present)
4. Arbroath A&F Club (1991? – present)
5. Balloch A&F Club (Sept 1972 – per January 1978 issue – present)
6. Banchory A&F Club (1978 – present)
7. Banff & District A&F Club (Oct 1973 – present)
8. Beith & District A&F Club (Sept 1972 – per first edition – present)
9. Belford A&F Club (joined Sept 1982)
10. Biggar A&F Club (Oct 1974 – present)
11. Blairgowrie A&F Club (
12. Britannia B&F Club ( joined 07-08 but much older
13. Bromley A&F Club (joined 95-96 – closed early 08-09)
14. Button Key A&F Club (
15. Campsie A&F Club (Nov 95 – present)
16. Carlisle A&F Club (joined Sept 1993 -
17. Castle Douglas A&F Club (c Sept 1980 – present)
18. Coalburn A&F Club (
19. Coldingham A&F Club (Nov 2008 -
20. Crathes (aka Scottish Accordion Music – Crathes) (Nov 1997 -
21. Crieff A&F Club (cSept 1981)
22. Cults A & F Club (
23. Dalriada A&F Club (Feb 1981)
24. Dingwall & District A&F Club (May 1979 – per first report)
25. Dunblane & District A&F Club (1971 – present)
26. Dunfermline & District A&F Club (1974 – per first edition)
27. Dunoon & Cowal A&F Club (
28. Duns A&F Club (formed 20th Sept 04 – present)
29. East Kilbride A&F Club (Sept 1980 – Closed 04/05)
30. Ellon A&F Club (
31. Fintry A&F Club (Dec 1972 – reformed Jan 1980 – present)
32. Forfar A&F Club (
33. Forres A&F Club (Jan 1978)
34. Fort William A&F Club (2009 -
35. Galashiels A&F Club (joined Sept 1982 - present)
36. Galston A&F Club (Oct 1969 – per first edition – closed March 2006)
37. Glendale Accordion Club (Jan 1973)
38. Glenfarg A&F Club (formed 1988 joined Assoc Mar 95 -
39. Glenrothes A&F Club (Mar 93?
40. Gretna A&F Club (1991) Known as North Cumbria A&F Club previously (originally called Gretna when started in June 1966 but later had to move to venues in the North of England and changed name. No breaks in the continuity of the Club)
41. Haddington A&F Club (formed Feb 2005 - )
42. Highland A&F Club (Inverness) (Nov 1973 – present)
43. Inveraray A&F Club (Feb 1991 - present)
44. Islesteps A&F Club (Jan 1981 – present – n.b. evolved from the original Dumfries Club)
45. Isle of Skye A&F Club (June 1983 – present)
46. Kelso A&F Club (May 1976 – present)
47. Ladybank A&F Club (joined Apr 98 but formed earlier
48. Lanark A&F Club (joined Sept 96 – closed March 2015)
49. Langholm A&F Club (Oct 1967 - present)
50. Lauder A&F Club (May 2010 -
51. Lewis & Harris A&F Club (Aug 1994 -
52. Livingston A&F Club (Sept 1973 – present)
53 Lockerbie A&F Club (Nov 1973 - present)
54 Maine Valley A&F Club (
55 Mauchline A&F Club (Sept 1983 - present)
56 Montrose A&F Club (joined Sept 1982 - present)
57 Newmill-on-Teviot (Hawick) (Formed late 1988 joined Assoc 1999 - closed March 2016)
58 Newtongrange A&F Club (joined Sept 1977 - present)
59. North East A&F Club aka Keith A&FC (Sept 1971 - present)
60. Northern A&F Club (Sept 2011 -
61. Oban A&F Club (Nov 1975 - present)
62. Orkney A&F Club (Mar 1978 - present)
63. Peebles A&F Club (26 Nov 1981 - present)
64. Perth & District A&F Club (Aug 1970 - present)
65. Premier A&F Club NI (April 1980)
66. Phoenix A&F Club, Ardrishaig (Dec 2004 -
67. Renfrew A&F Club (1984 -
68. Rothbury Accordion Club (7th Feb 1974) orig called Coquetdale
69. Selkirk A&F Club (
70. Shetland A&F Club (Sept 1978 - present)
71 Stonehouse A&F Club (first report June 05 -
72 Sutherland A&F Club (Nov 1982 -
73 Thornhill A&F Club (joined Oct 1983 – see Nov 83 edition – closed April 2014)
74 Thurso A&F Club (Oct 1981 - present)
75 Turriff A&F Club (1st April 1982 - present)
76 Tynedale A&F Club (Nov 1980 - present)
77 Uist & Benbecula A&F Club (Dec 2007 but formed 1994 -
78 West Barnes ( - present)
79 Wick A&F Club (Oct 1975 - present)
Not on official list at the start of the season (closed, did not renew membership or omitted in error?)
80. Araharacle & District A&F Club (cMay 1988)
81. Armadale A&F Club (Oct 1978? or 80) originally called Bathgate Club (for 2 months) Last meeting May 2010
82. Ayr A&F Club (Nov 1983 – per Nov 83 edition) Closed
83. Bonchester Accordion Club (Closed?)
84. Bridge of Allan (Walmer) A&F Club (Walmer Hotel, Bridge of Allan) (c March 1982)
85. Brigmill A&F Club (Oct 1990) Closed
86. Buchan A&F Club
87 Callander A&F Club (
88 Campbeltown & District A&F Club (c Dec 1980)
89 Cleland (cNov 1981 – March 1985) originally called Drumpellier A&F Club (for 2 months)
90 Club Accord
91 Coquetdale A&F Club (Feb 1974 or c1976/77 – 1981/2? – became Rothbury?)
92. Coupar Angus A&F Club (cSept 1978 - ?)
93. Cumnock A&F Club (October 1976 - forced to close cDec 1982 - see Jan 83 Editorial)
94. Denny & Dunipace A&F Club (Feb 1981)
95. Derwentside A&F Club
96. Dornoch A&F Club (first mention in directory 1986)
97. Dumfries Accordion Club (Oughtons) (April 1965 at the Hole in the Wa’)
98. Dunbar Cement Works A&F Club (Closed?)
99. Dundee & District A&F Club (January 1971 – 1995?)
100. Edinburgh A&F Club (Apr 1981) prev called Chrissie Leatham A&F Club (Oct 1980)
101. Falkirk A&F Club (Sept 1978 - )
102. Fort William A&F Club (21st Oct 1980 – per Dec 1980 B&F)
103. Gorebridge (cNov 1981) originally called Arniston A&F Club (for 2 months)
104. Greenhead Accordion Club (on the A69 between Brampton and Haltwistle)
105. Islay A&F Club (23 Apr 93 -
106. Kintore A&F Club (
107. Kirriemuir A&F Club (cSept 1981)
108. Lesmahagow A&F Club (Nov 1979 – closed May 2005)
109. M.A.F.I.A. (1966 – 1993?)
110. Monklands A&F Club (Nov 1978 – closed cApril 1983)
111. Morecambe A&F Club (joined Sept 1982)
112. Muirhead A&F Club (Dec 1994 -
113. Mull A&F Club
114. Newcastleton Accordion Club
115. Newburgh A&F Club (joined 2002 but founded much earlier – closed April 2011 when venue closed)
116. New Cumnock A&F Club (cMarch 1979)
117. Newton St Boswells Accordion Club (17th Oct 1972 see Apr 1984 obituary for Angus Park)
118. Ormiston Miners’ Welfare Society A&F Club (closed April 1992 – per Sept Editorial)
119. Reading Scottish Fiddlers (cMarch 1997
120. Renfrew A&F Club (original club 1974/5 lapsed after a few years then again in 1984)
121. Stirling A&F Club (Oct 1991 – closed 20000/01?)
122. Straiton Accordion Club (c1968 – closed March 1979)
123. Stranraer & District Accordion Club (1974 – per first edition)
124. Torthorwald A&F Club (near Dumfries)
125. Tranent A&F Club
126. Vancouver
127. Walmer (Bridge of Allan) A&F Club
128. Wellbank A&F Club
129. Yarrow (prev known as Etterick & Yarrow) (Jan 1989 – closed 2001/02)
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Full Page (b&w) - £140
Half Page (colour) - £110
Half Page (b&w) - £70
Quarter Page (colour) - £55
Quarter Page (b&w) - £35
Eighth Page - £18
Small Boxed £12
