SLTN Award-winner has applied a lifetime of trade experience to her bar restaurant

HISTORY is repeating itself for SLTN’s reigning Licensee of the Year, Sasha Carlyle. 

The daughter of veteran operators Jim and Karen Hughes, Sasha spent much of her childhood in her parents’ hotel, The Black Bull, as they worked flat out to make the venture a success. 

Years later and Sasha’s own kids are often to be found in Hugo’s, the bar and restaurant Sasha runs with mum Karen, as she works to build the venture into a Moffat institution in its own right.

The family owned The Black Bull for over two decades, and when they sold it on Sasha kept her hand in by working in local cafés before re-teaming with Jim and Karen to take on the lease of another Moffat venue – the Stag Hotel. 

Then, one rainy day, Jim strolled into the hotel and informed his wife and daughter that he’d just bought a local building that had gone to auction. 

A former clothing shop, the property had been vacant for several years before Jim snapped it up. 

“Moffat’s always been very populated with licensed premises,” Sasha told SLTN. 

“When [Jim] said that he’d bought the building I said that we couldn’t open it and sell steak pie and fish and chips, because that’s what everybody else does.”

In the end, Jim and Karen’s short-lived retirement in Spain provided the inspiration for something unique to Moffat: a tapas restaurant. 

Having opened in summer 2019, the venue was just getting its feet under it when the pandemic struck (the family had given up the Stag lease in late 2019). 

But the thing about lifelong hospitality operators is they don’t tend to rest on their laurels, and Sasha was quick to adapt.

“I’d learned to bake in one of the cafés I worked in,” she said. 

“So I put that into action and I started baking in Hugo’s and delivering afternoon teas. I remember one Father’s Day  during COVID I’d got my husband to come round after work and I think he delivered about 90 afternoon teas that day. There was demand. People were obviously sick of baking and cooking themselves.”

The afternoon teas were followed by a range of ice creams that customers could order online and then collect from the venue, which proved to be another hit with the locals. Both items became staples of the Hugo’s menu when the restaurant was able to re-open. 

There have been other changes to the offer, too. 

On the food side, a light bites menu has been introduced for those not keen on tapas dishes, with regular themed offers such as a Mother’s Day Sunday roast added to the lineup throughout the year. 

The tapas menu itself is accompanied by a sizeable wine range from Bibendum, with every wine available by the glass. 

Elsewhere, an extensive gin range on the gantry compliments a draught offer that includes Tennent’s, Heverlee, Gladeye IPA, Ossian ale and Belhaven Best. 

Sasha said: “We do a good trade in the morning for coffee and cake.

“And then we introduced a light bite menu because people were saying they don’t always want to come out at lunchtime and have tapas.  

“So the business model we started off with completely changed. And I think that’s probably responsible for its success now. Because it’s never been as busy as it is now. 

“I look back at our takings and April just past was even busier than September last year. I wouldn’t have expected that.”

And it’s not just the food and drink offers that have evolved; the venue itself has changed over the past few years. 

An upstairs room that was originally a bar when Hugo’s first opened has since been transformed into a function room, completely reinvigorating the space. 

“People from all round the area book it for baby showers, afternoon teas, birthdays,” said Sasha. 

“We’ve actually done weddings. 

“I never expected we’d be doing weddings but we’ve done wedding receptions and we’re holding our first full wedding ceremony on August the first this year.”

It’s safe to say it hasn’t been plain sailing though.

Last year, shortly after being diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease, Jim passed away. 

At what must have been a desperately difficult time for the family, Sasha said the team at Hugo’s provided much-needed support. 

“There were times when Dad became really ill and we had to leave at the drop of a hat and put the restaurant on the back burner,” she said.  

“And the staff stepped up and made sure everything was as it should be. 

“We appreciate them and we show that we appreciate them, which I think is imperative when you’re running a successful business.”

The team raised over £40,000 for MND charities last year, with another charity event planned for July to raise more funds. 

And, of course, Jim’s lasting legacy will be the lessons and experience he passed down to his daughter.

Sasha said the main lesson she learned from her parents was that ‘you have to bloody work hard’. 

“You get out of it what you put in and to do that requires a lot of hard work, which I’ve always been willing to do,” she said.  

“And that’s because of them being role models and the success they made of The Black Bull. 

“And Hugo’s will be a success in the same way.”