Two Fife hospitality businesses crowned best in Scotland at Scotland's Business Awards

Merchants House Cafe in Kirkcaldy was named the Best New Coffee Shop at the grand final of Scotland’s Business Awards in Glasgow on Sunday night, while Sands, A Place by the Sea in Aberdour won the Best Eatery category.

Both businesses had won their respective categories in the Fife regional heat earlier this year and were invited to attend the national final. The winners were voted for by the public.

Ricky Barclay and his wife Marzena opened Merchants House Cafe in October 2020 within the 16th century A-listed Merchant’s House in Laws Close.

Since then the business has gone from strength to strength and they now have many regulars – and new friends.

Speaking about the award win this week, Ricky said: “We are absolutely amazed. It’s hard to believe that a small coffee shop in Kirkcaldy is named the best in Scotland!

"We are super proud of our team, we couldn’t do it without them.

"In the two short years that we have been open we have truly poured our hearts and souls into making the cafe what it is today and it is clear that our hard work is paying off. We also want to pay a very special mention to all of our amazing, loyal customers, without them none of this would have been possible.”

Aberdour’s cafe, Sands, A Place by the Sea brought the Best Eatery title home to the Kingdom on Sunday.

Nova Gamble, who runs the cafe at the Silver Sands with husband Ervin, said: “We are absolutely delighted to win this award and so proud of our awesome team who helped us achieve this. It’s excellent to be recognised with this award and it genuinely means so much to us.”

She added her thanks to all those who voted for the cafe in the awards.