ABOUT BRUCE THOMPSON - PRINCIPLE

Bruce Thompson, proprietor of Adstock, has spent a life time in the licensed Trade. At the age of seventeen he worked for a few months at his uncle’s hotel in Bournemouth so as to get a feel for the business. From there he had a short spell on the deep sea trawlers and visited Greenland, Iceland and Labrador working as an engine room boy. After catching almost two thousand tons of fish on one trip, he lusted for Hotel life and returned to dry land and his home city of Edinburgh where he worked for several city caterers, and afterwards two Glasgow Hotels. This prior to moving to Northern Ireland, where he was appointed General Manager of The Old Inn at Crawfordsburn, one of Ulster’s oldest and best known Hotels.

After four years he got itchy feet and purchased the leases of a small hotel in the holiday resort of Bangor. The troubles were just commencing, but Bruce maintained a good bar trade and the business was successful. After four years he left Ireland, leaving the Hotel under the direction of a colleague, and returned to Edinburgh where he took on the management of a substantial Hotel on Princes Street, subsequently becoming a regional director for the operators. He went on to lease that hotel and ultimately purchased said lease from the sub landlord and rented directly from the owners.

For the last thirty something years Bruce has run Adstock purely as a stocktaking company, but also doing many inventories for national brewers and other private operators. Together with Derek Burgoyne, founder of Bruce And Co, who joins the business as a consultant he is now in a position to expand the operation and incorporate business sales, acquisitions, finance and consultancy.

Adstock was originally formed in 1976. Bruce Thompson who had spent many years in the Hotel industry and who was currently running a substantial hotel in Edinburgh was unable to find suitable stock auditors for his business, so approached a colleague, Steve Berry, who had past experience of that trade and together they formed Adstock, which was soon to become a national company operating throughout Scotland and the North of England. The business grew fairly rapidly with several large contracts on board and up to six stock auditors being employed at any one time.

The business prided itself on being able to offer an excellent service to a wide range of establishments and was operating within the larger hotel as well as the small village pub, but every client received the same level of attention whatever their status and this is a policy which remains today. Key staff all had a licensed trade background which was extremely beneficial when offering advice. It was also compulsory that they joined the Institute of Licensed Trade Stock Auditors which gave them a qualification only achievable by examination and training.

In the mid 1980’s the business was taken over by a large national company, but the name “Adstock” was retained by Bruce and the company, though considerably smaller, operates today still using those principles set out some thirty two years ago. This year the company is extending its services and with Derek Burgoyne, originally of Bruce and Co joining it as a consultant, Adstock will be offering not only stocktaking, inventories and valuations, but also business sales, acquisitions and consultancy, especially aimed at potential purchasers