At first glance you might think that Loch Leven Tablet must be made in the Highlands, but rather it is made by a Highlander living in Edinburgh!
Donnie Montgomery is the tablet maker par excellence, one half of Boys Eat Scotland and about to be fifty per cent of a brand new travel company called Your Scottish Tour (which is so new it does not yet have a website, but they promise it is coming soon).
To whet your appetite we made a little video of Donnie making a batch of tablet. Though of course we were not allowed to film the part where the magic happens with the secret ingredients…..! (and read to the end for an exciting exclusive discount!)
Who are you and where did you come from?
I’m Donnie Montgomery, now based in Edinburgh, but from Kinlochleven in the West Highlands originally.
What is the business book you recommend everyone should read?
The Monk who Sold his Ferrari by Robin Sharma
What do you think are your business strengths and weaknesses?
Strengths:
Taking a new business from idea concept to reality,
Finding out the root cause as to why something is happening or not happening
Actually getting things done, rather than just talking about getting things done
Embracing social media across all channels.
Weaknesses – spending too much time on Twitter and not getting up to speed with having a You Tube channel quick enough.
What is the defining moment on your career path?
The defining moment of my career was handing in my resignation letter to Bank of Scotland when the banking world was in turmoil, walking away from an excellent salary and benefits package to become self-employed, running Barnton Fine Foods and Post Office.
Here I had no guaranteed salary, no pension and no benefits package. This mix gives a real incentive to work hard and develop a brand and business by offering excellent customer service and really listening to what customers want.
How do you spend your spare time?
We have a food blog The Boys Eat Scotland and love to “eat Scotland” in our spare time. It’s absolutely brilliant as we get to travel the country, trying out lots of different and unusual eating places and meeting lots of lovely folks really passionate about the Scottish food scene.
Do you think you achieve a good work/life balance?
After seven years, we sold Barnton Fine Foods last September, so our work/life balance is greatly improved. The very early starts and late finishes, 6 days a week take their toll!
It was an amazing seven years when we made lots of new friends and learnt lots about people and business. After taking some time off to travel it’s back to full steam ahead again. Christmas and New Year are hot spots in the tablet calendar so that kept me very busy. Burns Night and Valentine’s Day also create lots of orders with people looking for lovely gifts.
Next we are looking forward to Mother’s Day, Easter and all our summer weddings. In this industry you work very hard when business is booming and take time out during the quieter months. Very few people want tablet in January!
What makes Edinburgh the best location for you to live or work in?
I love Edinburgh – one minute you are in the heart of the city and the next in the countryside. There’s also so many new restaurants and cafés popping up all the time – it really feels like a thriving city.
What is your special area of Edinburgh or special place?
My favourite Street is Victoria Street with all its lovely shops and bars. Victoria Street is Edinburgh to me.
My favourite special place would be a walk or cycle through Dalmeny Estate to South Queensferry.
Which networking groups in Edinburgh have you found particularly helpful?
I very much enjoy the network of food bloggers in Edinburgh and Scotland. Now that we are moving into the Scottish tourism market I’m looking forward to lots of new networking opportunities in 2016.
What are your business goals or your plan of attack for the next year?
Business goals for the next 12 months are to continue to grow Loch Leven Tablet Company through online sales, weddings, trade sales and also farmers’ markets.
We also have a new business launching very soon called Your Scottish Tour (once the website is finalised!). Your Scottish Tour will offer private bespoke tours of Scotland for one to four people, from half a day to three day explorers.
The tours will be a combination of landscape, culture, history and of course food. This business builds on The Boys Eat Scotland food blog and lets us share all of our favourite places, cafés, restaurants and food producers with our customers.
We are just working away at building our 2016 tours and planning our foodie adventures.
So it’s a case of watch this space to see what Donnie and his partner Raymond get up to next!
And the generous Donnie has offered £1.00 off the usual price of 2 x 150g bags of tablet for The Edinburgh Reporter readers. Click here to claim your special discount!
If you have an Edinburgh-based business that you think would interest our readers then please get in touch.
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
