New bar to donate £1m profits to charity

An entrepreneur who recently launched a line of burger bars called The Boozy Cow in Scotland will donate all its profits to local charities – estimated to be worth up to £1 million.

The Boozy Cow hopes to be able to donate up to £1 million to local charities in Scotland

Following the success of the first establishment in Aberdeen, Gareth Wood, owner of Speratus Group, recently opened his second Boozy Cow venue in Edinburgh which serves burgers and a selection of cocktails such as the Boozy Cow Iced Tea, Boozy Mary and Dark and Boozy.

Wood is already planning three more openings in Dundee, Perth, St Andrews, Glasgow or Inverness by the end of 2017, which would create around 150 jobs in the country.

The group predicts that once the venues are operating to full capacity, the combined donations to charity will amass to £1 million.

“At Speratus we are always coming up with new ideas for dynamic and different venues,” said Wood. “Boozy Cow is a fresh twist on the typical burger joint with a focus on great quality burgers, craft beers and exciting cocktails in an edgy urban environment. Both units are going really well with great reviews.

“If through business, we can go some way to tackle social problems, improve communities, people’s life chances or their environment then it has all been worth it.

“Initially Boozy Cow was just another addition to the group but we came up with the idea of channelling all of our extensive charity work through the one brand.”

The first profits will be donated to the Children’s Hospice Association Scotland (CHAS), the Archie Foundation, which provides extra facilities to sick children and their famililes in Highlands and Islands, Grampian and the Northern Isles and Tayside, Aberdeen’s major social care charity VSA and the STV Children’s Appeal.

“It’s true to say my accountant has a problem with the concept of every single penny of profit going to charity, but for me, this is not about commercial enterprise,” explained Wood. “It’s about using my experience in running successful hospitality businesses to create a chain of burger bars which will serve the communities in which they operate.

“I am very fortunate to be able to pursue philanthropic ventures and have already built up profitable businesses under Speratus Group. This allows me to do something exceptional with the Boozy Cow concept.”

Speratus Group has donaged up to £250,000 annually to charities and programmes in Scotland.