Harry’s Bar first opened its doors on Edinburgh’s Randolph Place back in 1986.

It quickly developed a reputation as a lively spot for after work drinks and its dance floor was never dull.

Its fortunes have waxed and waned over the last thirty years. At one point, the dance floor was lost.

Harry’s Bar: return of the dance floor

However, since last year, Harry’s is back with a bang. And a re-instated dance floor.

We chatted with manager Ben Ashcroft about Harry’s past and its present and future as a social enterprise.

They have recently introduced a new small plates/tapas menu. You could give it a spin with Harry’s current Big Deal: £12 for four tapas to share between two with a soft drink each.

Alternatively, book in to Harry’s Bar via 5pm Dining. There is often an amazing offer running: 20% off the a la carte menu.

5pm: What’s fresh and exciting about the new incarnation?

Ben:  We’ve tried to hold onto the history. So things like bringing the dance floor back. It’s also about basics and focusing on service. The biggest thing is doing something new, something no one else in the area is doing. Harry’s Bar has a community feel about it and we are trying to reinvest back into the local community.

5pm: Is that a selling point for the customer?

Ben: It’s something we do behind the scenes. First and foremost, we are a bar so we try to concentrate on the same things as any other venue. We’re not asking people to come down because we are a social enterprise. Sometimes it is nice for people to know that the money they are spending on food and at the bar actually goes to a good cause, as opposed to someone’s back pocket.

5pm: Tell me a bit about the infamous dance floor?

Ben: I was here in a previous incarnation of Harry’s and the dance floor wasn’t here. Now it is back. It’s really great to be able to welcome customers who have been drinking here for 31 years. They tell us that being able to have a dance on a Friday or Saturday night is something they really appreciate.

5pm: I’m guessing Friday is after work and Saturday is more people dressed up for a night out?

Ben: The West End clientele changes over the course of the weekend. It’s people from local businesses on a Friday night and then another group of people who come for a night out on a Saturday. They are different but they both enjoy the same thing which is fun, cheesy music and a good time.

5pm: Are there any guaranteed floor fillers?

Ben: Tina Turner fills it every time without fail.

5pm: Going back to Harry’s being a social enterprise, if you were to sum it up in a nutshell, what would that be?

Ben: We help to develop people’s employment potential. Among other things, we take in young people from schools who are disengaged from learning; people who are leaving school at sixteen without vocational training. We take them on for training courses, modern apprenticeships and give them qualifications. It is about developing employment potential for people looking for a step up. Hospitality is a vehicle for that.

5pm: So, in your experience, the hospitality industry is a good way of helping people acquire useful skills?

Ben: For me, hospitality has always been an industry which can transform people. I’ve been doing it since I was fifteen-years old. It can give people who perhaps don’t have a direction in their lives some stability and the opportunity to move on.

My job involves marketing, financing and a little bit of PR as well as plumbing and electrician work every so often. If we can pass on some of that then people can move into other areas of work as well.

Even if they are only with us for a year, that’s fine. They will leave us stronger. Of course, what makes a social enterprise different to a charity is that if I don’t hit that bottom line I don’t have anything to reinvest.

5pm: Can you tell us about Ginerosity gin?

Ben: Ginerosity was actually born here. Two of the directors here sit on the board for Ginerostiy. It is a simple idea. For every bottle of Ginerosity sold at retail, £6 of that money is used to send people from the most disadvantaged areas of the UK across the world on international citizenship service. They help to build homes and educate people. It’s a really good project.

The gin is made by the Pickering’s Gin distillery at Summerhall. People really like the story. People are done with investing their money in things that don’t go anywhere. We sell a case a week here. It’s on Amazon.

5pm: I’m guessing the ethical concept goes right down through the supply chain?

Ben: Yes. From our waste to our bread to our soap, we try to elongate the social enterprise chain as best as possible. If we can find social enterprises to work with or Fairtrade products to use then we will try to elongate the chain.

5pm: The menu at Harry’s changed recently. Can you tell us about it?

Ben: We now offer a very varied selection of small plates and tapas. The menu is designed so that our kitchen staff can use their skills to prepare the dishes without the recipes being long and complex. Our kitchen staff can develop the necessary skills quickly and the dishes are delicious. We wanted the menu to be as varied as possible while being simple. The menu will change every few weeks.

5pm: Is there a most popular dish at Harry’s Bar?

Ben: Sausages! We do pigs in a blanket. Everyone loves pigs in a blanket and they are on the menu all year round. We try to have a bit of fun. If I were sitting in a bar having a drink, I would love a bowl of pigs in a blanket, so why shouldn’t everyone else?

5pm: You have a magic wand, what one thing would change Edinburgh’s bar scene for the better?

Ben: I was going to say everything could be a wee bit cheaper. Many places now have prices comparable with London. Otherwise, there’s not a lot I would change about Edinburgh’s bars. I like that classic Edinburgh mix of old bars with their drams of whiskey and hand-pulled beers to places like the cocktail bar Lucky Liquor.

5pm: Is there any food that you hated as a kid that you like now?

Ben: Squid was the main one. I can’t get enough of it now. Same goes for oysters.

5pm: Is there anything you couldn’t eat?

Ben: Pickles! I despise them. They really petrify me.

5pm: So what’s been the most exotic thing you’ve eaten?

Ben: I have tried whale blubber, or what was described as whale blubber. I would definitely try almost anything now. As I’ve grown up, I’ve become really inquisitive about flavours so there is very little I wouldn’t try now if I had the chance.

5pm: Is there a drink you’ve grown to love?

Ben: I’m a big fan of everything if I’m honest. I guess the one I have grown to love is my wine. But also bitter drinks like Campari and Negronis.

5pm: Is there a gadget or bar utensil you can’t work without?

Ben: Probably my calculator. I always have one on me along with a pen and paper. There’s always stuff that needs to be worked on and I couldn’t do without one really.

5pm: Anyone in the world will cook you a  meal or mix you a drink. Who would be top of the hit list?

Ben: I struggle with this one but it would be a toss between Arnold Schwarzenegger and Dean Martin. I could imagine sipping drinks with Arnold Schwarzenegger over a BBQ with some cigars. To sit down at a lounge bar with Dean Martin would be a great experience.

5pm: You’ve got a rare night out, where areyou going to go in Edinburgh apart from Harry’s Bar?

Ben: I’ve got a local in Broughton Road called The Other Place. I am in there two or three times a week. It is a great wee bar, service is fantastic, always welcoming. Other than that Lucky Liquor. Pickles is somewhere that I go to if I get a chance. The wine and cheese is unbelievable.

5pm: What’s the best thing about managing Harry’s Bar?

Ben: For me, it’s always been about the people you meet. On any given Friday or Saturday, you can get 200 different people through the door. Your one aim is to make sure they happier when they walk out. You don’t get that in many other jobs.

5pm: You’ve been ten years in the bar trade, what’s been your worst disaster?

Ben: There have been tons. I started at the age of fifteen at a pub, bistro and restaurant in Northern Ireland called The Plough, in Hillsborough. During one of my early shifts a guy asked for a half corona – which is a cigar. I poured half a bottle of Corona down the sink and gave him it. I didn’t know any better at all. I still get told about that when I run into people I used to work.

5pm: It’s a special date for you and your wife, what are you cooking?

Ben: I love to cook meat and cooking at home is a great way to relax. Something like venison is great, or veal with some nice veg and a really nice sauce. And as many variations of potatoes as I can get on a plate.

5pm: What has been your most memorable meal?

Ben: I actually proposed to my wife over a ham and cheese toastie at four in the morning. There had been a bit of drink taken.

5pm: What’s been your daftest customer complaint?

Ben: It wasn’t so much a complaint as a bizarre request. I was in London, working at a really nice place in Hampstead. We had an espresso Pavlova on the menu and a customer asked if they could have a decaf Pavlova.