Coffee lovers help Inverness business grow during Covid pandemic
An Inverness businessman experienced Covid from two different sides of hospitality.
Having just opened a B&B in Inverness in 2019, John Gartly and his wife did not expect that just a couple of months later they would be forced to shut — with no remuneration due to being a new business.
However, he also owns Grain & Grind, which has several shops across Scotland and now has a roastery in Inverness.
Mr Gartly said: “When Covid came along, we sold more coffee from the roastery as people were using it at home, so we made the decision to open the site in Lotland Street. It’s been phenomenal since then, supplying shops and lots of corporate places, including Barclays Bank.
“The cafe was also really busy too. As although people couldn’t come in and sit down they were able to get takeaways and that side of the business actually did really well.”
Although the B&B had to come to a halt, the fact that John had the second business helped him out.
Despite the circumstances, John and his business partner were able to pivot in order to keep Grain & Grind going.
He said: “Now we supply around 1,200 bags of coffee a week and roast 40,000 kg per year.”
