Theatre Food & Beverage Scoping Exercise

Scottish Opera is Scotland’s national opera company and the largest performing arts organisation in Scotland. The Company tours extensively across Scotland, performing in around 35 towns, cities and villages every year as well as at their mainstage venues Theatre Royal, Glasgow; Festival Theatre, Edinburgh; Her Majesty’s Theatre, Aberdeen; and Eden Court, Inverness.

Scottish Opera’s application for a new headquarters was approved in late 2024. The proposed development at New Rotterdam Wharf, North Glasgow, will consolidate Scottish Opera’s production, rehearsal, and administrative spaces into a single campus at Edington Street. The design has been developed by Page\Park Architects – for a vibrant, mixed-use development on a site adjacent to the Glasgow branch of the Forth & Clyde Canal.

Scottish Opera’s new headquarters will sit at the heart of the new proposal and consist of the following:

• Mixed-use development to provide music rehearsal and performance spaces, a film and recording studio, general industrial, office and production spaces, and purpose built student accommodation;
• Residential accommodation;
• Retail and professional services, food and drink uses, non-residential institutions uses, assembly and leisure, with associated landscaping, public realm, access and infrastructure;
• Public rooftop garden and café.

As well as a new headquarters, the development will serve as a creative Education and Community outreach hub for the citizens of Glasgow and include state-of-the-art orchestral and performance spaces, adaptable to becoming a conference centre, and film sound stage. The development will also contain classrooms for skills development courses and music practice rooms for hire.

A publicly accessible rooftop ‘hidden garden’, will be included, accessed via bridge links from the canal. This garden, flanked by a café space, will provide opportunity for performance as well as quiet relaxation in this city centre location.

Montfort Catering Consultants are back supporting Scottish Opera with a Food & Beverage Scoping Exercise for their new headquarters at New Rotterdam Wharf, Glasgow.

Our specialist food & beverage consultancy services have included:

• Food & Beverage Priorities & Objectives
• Environmental Analysis & Market Appraisal
• Food & Beverage Options Appraisal
• Management Operating Model Options & Recommendations
• Food & Beverage Demand & Business Modelling
• Conceptual & Operational Recommendations

Montfort Catering Consultants have previously worked with Scottish Opera, undertaking a review of their café, catering and bars at Theatre Royal, Glasgow to determine future potential food and beverage opportunities to be provided at the Theatre. This included undertaking a detailed environmental analysis, a review of the catering, determining future catering demand and financial potential along with developing concept options and recommendations. For further details of this project click link.

“I have worked with Paul Smith of Montfort Consultants for over a decade on projects ranging from the Theatre Royal Glasow, The Beacons Arts Centre in Greenock and Scottish Opera Production Studios.

Paul and the team at Montfort deliver strong and clear F+B advice, have been unafraid to challenge my own preconceptions, and have successfully tackled issues both large and small. I would absolutely, unequivocally, commend Paul and Montfort Consultants to all organisations seeking to review or renew their F+B operations!”

Alex Reedijk OBE FRC, General Director at Scottish Opera, Chair at The Beacon Arts Centre, Acting Chair at Citizens Theatre, Honorary New Zealand Consul for Scotland.