MY PUB: CC Blooms, Edinburgh

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Dating back to 1994, the iconic business is known globally and comprises CC Blooms, which is a ground floor bar, and Lab a basement nightclub. It is leased from Star Pubs on a long-term FRI agreement.

Here, Stark tells The Morning Advertiser all about this Scottish pub and its operators.

The publican

Having ditched office jobs so we could break free from the corporate world and work together, Tim and I were running our first pub – the Lamb Inn in Newbury, Berkshire – when we heard that CC Blooms was up for lease in 2008.

We were desperate to have it. We had been regulars when we lived in Edinburgh, loved the venue and were missing the city dreadfully.

It wasn’t a case of heart over head. When we consulted with our accountant, he thought it was an astute commercial move and said we “had” to get it so we moved heaven and earth.

It was the time of the financial crash and, when the bank pulled our business loan, we took out personal loans to secure the deal. We’ve never looked back. We’re just as passionate about CC Blooms as we were all those years ago. We’ve had many celebs through the doors. It’s a real Edinburgh institution.

The pub

CC Blooms is housed on the ground floor of a beautiful Grade A-listed building that dates back to the late 1700s and was formerly a tenement. The pub is leased from Star Pubs with 10 years to go. They’re extremely flexible and easy to work with, and we enjoy the partnership.

CC Blooms is centrally located, next to the Edinburgh Playhouse and close to the St James Quarter. It opens from 3pm to 3am from Sunday to Thursday and from 11am to 3am on Saturdays and Sundays with a chameleon offer that gradually changes from a relaxed bar during the day to a full-on party spot after 11pm.

We undertook a £280,000 revamp with Star Pubs in September 2025 that has given it a luxurious look and a 1920s/1930s vibe that is unique in this part of the city.

The layout includes a lounge area with relaxed seating at the front, a bar-focused social area with high stools and poseur tables and recessed spaces that can be booked for private parties. The set-up is flexible, allowing the rear to become a late-night dance floor, although often the whole bar is dancing by this time.

Outside, there’s seating for up to 40 people with smart furniture and planters – it’s a great spot for watching the world go by.

In the basement is Lab, which is a nightclub. Its regular opening hours are 11pm to 3am on Friday and Saturday nights with earlier opening times for drag and cabaret shows. At other times, it acts as an event space and is available for hire for functions of all kinds. Lab has an industrial design and all the nightclub kit, which includes a professional sound and lighting system and special effects.

CC Blooms and Lab have a combined capacity of 400 people. They’re destinations with a world-wide following for the LGBTQIA+ community, as well as popular local venues that cater for residents and visitors to the city of all kinds.

The trade

While CC Blooms is known as a safe space for the LGBTQIA+ community, the customer base is much broader.

Sales are 90% wet and 10% dry. During the day, it’s shoppers, workers and visitors to the city wanting to enjoy drinks and light food in a lovely environment.

The atmosphere then shifts slightly, becoming more up tempo as we move into after work, early evening and pre-theatre drinks. The shows at the playhouse next door have a big impact on the customer age profile at this time, which is often 50-plus.

As the night goes on, CCs is increasingly the go-to place to party attracting a younger crowd. Our service changes to reflect this. Before 11pm, guests are greeted at the door, shown to their seats and served at the table. After 11pm, customers choose their tables and buy drinks at the bar.

Clubbers going to Lab are a more defined group, typically in their 20s and 30s and predominantly, though by no means exclusively, LGBTQIA+.

Following our refurbishment, spend per head is highest during the day. However, from 1am on Saturday and Sunday mornings, after the pubs have closed, and 5pm to 7.30pm on Saturdays are our busiest times. We’re also packed out between 8pm and 11pm for our Sunday cabarets.

The team

We employ more than 30 people who work across CC Blooms and Lab, led by the manager Shell Cormack, who has been with us from day one.

Tim and I stepped back from being so hands-on from the front of house about 10 years ago and Shell is very much the face of the venue. I still work on the bar periodically to keep a presence with the staff – it’s good for morale.

Tim and I now spend the majority of our time working on the business side of CC Blooms. Over the years, we’ve been here this has become increasingly important to having a sustainable long-term business.

Costs across the board – from business rates and energy to food and staffing – have never been higher, whilst the cost-of-living crisis is impacting customer spending. Margins are so tight now that every penny counts. You’ve got to be on top of everything from bar spillage to kitchen waste. We’re all over the financials. Tim focuses on expenditure. I concentrate more on driving income, looking at new initiatives such as our brunch menu.

Excellent service is critical to a premium venue like CCs. Our remuneration is very competitive; we pay the living wage and pass on all tips to staff, a process that is made much easier by a new till system. As a result, our staff retention is good, and we rarely need to recruit.

Though we’re a city centre site, 80% of our customer base are regulars, and they like being served by a familiar face. The venue is gay-owned and queer-run, which contributes to the feeling of safety for the LGBTQIA+ community. Having a member of the community among the door staff reinforces this.

The drink

Our recent revamp was designed to capitalise on the shift to earlier daytime and evening drinking and compensate for the decline in midweek night clubbing. The sumptuous surroundings make CCs stand out as a place to meet up with friends and enjoy a drink.

As a wet-led venue our drinks range is critical to our success. Our range is incredibly varied to meet all tastes and occasions across all day parts, and we work with multiple specialist suppliers to ensure there’s a depth of choice in each category.

Wine has become more important due to our new focus on daytime trade. We have a superb collection, including sparkling options with Prosecco being a big seller. Introducing the Coravin wine preservation system has been a game-changer, enabling us to serve sparkling wines and champagnes by the glass and reducing wastage. Since bringing in Coravin, there’s been a sharp uptick in sales of more expensive products such as Laurent-Perrier.

On the beer and cider front, we’ve got a fantastic selection of well-known draught brands thanks to our association with Heineken complemented with a local Edinburgh beer. Beavertown Neck Oil is easily our best seller.

CCs is known for its cocktails, which are shaken and stirred on site, creating theatre at the bar. We go for popular cocktails that taste good and that we can make and present well. We keep the menu manageable, concentrating on Margaritas, Martinis, the classics and two or three of our own inventions. We’re particularly proud of our Espresso Martinis; they’re bang on and are our most popular cocktail.

For the late-night dancing crowd, it’s all about spirits, particularly vodka. Vodka and Coke or Diet Coke are top sellers along with bottled beers that are easy to hold on the dance floor.

The food

Our food is very much an accompaniment to our drinks and is all about the social experience, featuring small plates, sharing platters and pizzas, which also hit the spot for anyone wanting a more substantial meal.

Our kitchen is very small – there’s not even room for a fryer. Our approach is to buy in high-quality pre-prepared items and add to them with fresh ingredients and twists.

For example, we purchase authentic hand-stretched frozen pizza bases and then put on our own fresh tasty toppings, like roasted Mediterranean vegetables or prosciutto, burrata and rocket garnished with hot honey drizzle.

There’s a three for £20 deal on our small plates, which range from haggis bon-bons to vegetable pakora. Customer favourites are burrata – served with a rocket and sun-dried tomato salad with pesto dressing – and chicken wings, which come Louisiana or Buffalo style.

Our new weekend brunch menu has really taken off and added to our daytime trade. Most of it is made fresh on site. Cluck & Waffle is the best seller. It comes with a sugar waffle, buttermilk chicken, rainbow ’slaw, maple syrup, hot sauce and pickles.

The events

Entertainment is a big part of our offer and we have a reputation for it. We have a drag or cabaret event every week and use external promoters to find great talent from across Scotland.

We host Thursday and Sunday night quizzes for 60 to 70 people that often sell out. We also provide event space for outside organisations. We don’t charge because we benefit from the bar sales.

The biggest events of the year for us are Pride Edinburgh and the Edinburgh Fringe.

Pride Edinburgh in June is our busiest day of the year and we have a 5am licence for it. It’s a fantastic inclusive occasion. We don’t put on loads of activities. CCs is a hub for the LGBTQIA+ community and people just like to come and hang out here. There are DJs from 5pm to 5am in CCs and typically a big drag event in Lab from 7pm to 9pm followed by full-on clubbing. This year, we held an event for Heineken too, which was a sponsor of Edinburgh Pride.

We provide free space in Lab for the Free Fringe to hold performances from 11.15am to 11pm for the three weeks of the Edinburgh Fringe in August. Audience members often eat and drink here before and after the shows – it’s a great business booster. In addition, it’s our way of supporting the Free Fringe and showcasing up-and-coming talent. It has been exciting to see performers who started out here and gone on to bigger things.

The future

It’s a real privilege to run such a famous venue that means so much to so many people. We see ourselves as custodians. Despite ever more intense competition, we’re committed to keeping CC Blooms thriving.

In the decade ahead, we’ll be continuing our ethos of the past 18 years, looking to stay relevant, keep abreast of new trends and be inclusive to all.