Edinburgh pub honours engineers after £500k revamp

15-May-2019 - Last updated on 15-May-2019 at 14:19 GMT

Full steam ahead: the pub opened after a £500,000 joint investment

An investment of £500,000 has transformed a Scottish pub into a tribute to the country’s famous engineers, with a feature water wheel and decor made from salvaged materials.

Formerly the Telford Arms, the Edinburgh pub was renamed the Scottish Engineer and opened last month.

Greene King’s Belhaven Pub Partners made the investment with Scottish multi-operator Ecosse Inns in the sixth partnership between the two.

The site is decorated in homage to engineers, including the inventors of the mechanical television and the first practical telephone.

It now has 172 covers inside and 132 outside, having converted a previously unused garden area.

Ecosse Inn's Andrea Smith-Bowes said her business was all about people

Packed since opening

Ecosse Inns company director Andrena Smith-Bowes said the site had undergone a complete revamp.

She said: “It’s absolutely perfect timing for summer and we’ve been packed since opening. We took a pub that wasn’t trading too well and decided to turn it into a tribute to all the great engineers of Scotland, such as Alexander Graham Bell and John Logie Baird.

“We worked with great designers and have lots of engineering works on display – all our engineering displays are made from salvage materials.”

New additions to the pub’s outside area include raised decking, lights and a water wheel that emits steam.

Smith-Bowes added: “It’s all really beautiful, although I say it myself.”

Some 30 new jobs were created in the revamp, with the pub now employing 36 staff members.

Paying tribute

Smith-Bowes said: “It feels amazing to see my business growing and, to me, it’s all about the people. It’s about the staff we employ and the development within the team and also the customers.

“We’re so thrilled they’re joining us in paying tribute to the great engineers of Scotland by turning this pub into a beautiful, comfortable, family-friendly environment.”

A similar partnership between the two saw the Cameo pub in Edinburgh refurbished and renamed the Barologist last year.

Greene King Pub Partners managing director Wayne Shurvinton said he was delighted for the team at the Scottish Engineer.

He added: “We’re always looking to support our pubs and are thrilled to have invested significantly in both the Scottish Engineer and the Barologist to help reinvent two brilliant pubs for pubgoers in Edinburgh.”