Kirkcaldy's Pancake Place goes full circle back to its paint shop roots

The former Pancake Place in Kirk Wynd is now home to WR&P (Work, Rest & Play) – a new business whose key product is Frenchic furniture paint which can be used indoors and outdoors.

But what many people might not know is that the venue used to be a Mason Paints before it served pancakes

WR&P is owned by Gillian Devine, who is originally from Kirkcaldy.

She is eventually looking to provide an outlet for local artists and crafters as well as delivering training workshops using Frenchic when Covid-19 restrictions ease.

Gillian, who is being helped by her older daughter Rachel, was based in Mill Street, Kirkcaldy before taking over the lease in Kirk Wynd.

She previously was a senior manager with Fife Council and then an IT consultant before family health issues forced her to work from home.

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On Amazon, she worked her way up to become a Prime level seller of toys and gadgets – but when she needed to shift items in huge volumes she found an ideal store in Mill Street.

She said: “We got an ice-cream machine and a coffee machine and became in effect a takeaway.

"We were visited by the team from Love Restored, who are stockists of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint Supplies, with a view to using the space in our shop, but in the end it didn’t really suit.

"But it led me to think that was something I would like to do.

"I checked online, and came across Frenchic paint which was already very popular, so I applied to be a stockist.”

Gillian got a starter pack only for lockdown to put all her plans on hold.

She kept her Mill Street base, but decided to look for other premises. When the Madhouse Bakery opted not to pursue its plans for the old Pancake Place, she took over the lease, and moved in at the start of September:

“I asked if people knew what the building was used for in the past. A woman looked up old records and found out that it was Mason Paints – so it has come full circle. Some things are meant to be,” she said.

"I am really excited about being here. It is going to give is us scope to do all the things we want including workshops, and we are looking to re-introduce food in the future, combining arts and crafts materials with a coffee shop – Covid-rules depending.”

She added: “What makes being here extra special is I have a long ancestral history with this area. My great great uncle Walter was one of the Kirkcaldy notaries of the time and used to own the Auchtertool Distillery. He had a shop in Port Brae.

"When my great great uncle Walter died he left money to my great grandad who built a lot of properties in Kirkcaldy and rented them out. He contributed to the growth of the town.”

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