Pickaquoy Centre cafe to be managed in-house

The Pickaquoy Centre, Kirkwall is set to take over the running of the Centre Café, with management being taken in-house from Monday, June 12.

This is the first time since December 2006 that the Café has not operated as a franchise. This comes as a result of the 2020 project, which both Picky Trustees and staff have been working on.

The immediate plan is to run the Café with a limited menu from Tuesday, June 13 until Thursday, June 22. This will   ensure that the service is available during the St Magnus Festival.

Then, from Friday, June 23 until Sunday, July 2, the Café will be closed, in order to set up new equipment and for staff training.

On Monday, July 3, there is expected to be a pre-opening taster day, followed by an official launch the next day.

Stephen Kemp, chair of the Pickaquoy Trust has taken the opportunity to thank Alan Tulloch from the Standing Stones Hotel and the staff who have run the Café for the last 4 years.

“The Café facility is of huge importance to the Centre,” he said.

“Moving forward, the Trust are very excited about this new opportunity for the Centre, as are the staff involved with making it happen.”

Mr Kemp also announced that a new menu is due to be launched for the re-opening of the eatery, which he hopes will meet the expectations of the Centre users .

“We hope that the Café will only go to further compliment the fantastic facilities the centre has to offer,” he added.