Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

What to expect at new Inverness café Sùgh Ùr (formerly AM Bothan IV2)

Alison MacKintosh, from Inshes, is hoping to open the doors of Sùgh Ùr in Inverness in the coming weeks.

Alison MacKintosh. Image: Sandy McCook/DC Thomson
Alison MacKintosh. Image: Sandy McCook/DC Thomson

It’s been nearly 10 years since Alison MacKintosh launched Highland drinks company JuicyNess, which offers a range of freshly-pressed smoothies, juices and protein shakes.

Originally running the business from her home kitchen, Alison opened her first location back in September 2021 at Fairways Retail Park in Inverness.

The space proved increasingly popular over the years, as has the now 36-year-old’s mobile smoothie bar, known as the Wee Juicy.

JuicyNess smoothies pictured in Alison’s former Fairways premises. Image: Sandy McCook/DC Thomson

However, Alison recently decided she wanted to take her firm in a new direction, and so is relocating to a bigger premises on Southside Road (formerly occupied by the owners of Am Bothan IV2).

Not only that, but she is rebranding from JuicyNess to Sùgh Ùr – which translates to ‘fresh juice’ in Gaelic – and expanding her offering.

‘We see this as the new era of JuicyNess,” says Alison as she talks all things new Inverness café

The opportunity to take over the Southside Road space in the Crown area came about in April this year.

Alison, from Inshes, signed the lease on Friday, August 18 with an official handover on Sunday, August 20. The premises has been under refurbishment ever since.

“We are doing a full renovation inside to create a bright interior focusing on natural fresh colours with some Instagrammable features, of course,” she says.

Although I love what I created at Fairways there were a lot of restrictions on what we could offer.

“And I had made the decision to look for alternative premises closer to town with seating where we could expand our menu.”

Alison added: “We are using the move to rebrand and show the move away from ‘just a smoothie bar’.

“It’s coming up to our 10-year anniversary so we see this as the new era of JuicyNess.

“The café will be called Sùgh Ùr. I like the visual play on the word sugar since we will still be focusing on healthier foods and it ties into our current name.

“I’m also originally from the Isle of Skye and like the idea of incorporating a link to my heritage with the Gaelic.”

Feeling fruity? Here’s what to expect at Sùgh Ùr when it opens to the public

While Sùgh Ùr, which is hoped to open in early September, will continue to sell Alison’s signature juices and smoothies, the menu will feature so much more.

“The move into our new location will allow us to focus more on our food offering,” the entrepreneur went on to say.

“It will include breakfast, brunch and lunch with a side of fresh-pressed goodness and speciality hot drinks and coffees, and a little more indulgent food options that we’ve not done before.”

The business owner is excited to expand the business’ food and drink offering. Image: Sandy McCook/DC Thomson

The new Inverness café will have 14 seats inside and eight outside, and be open daily from 8.30am to 3.30pm initially.

A full takeaway and delivery menu is also available.

The team will comprise Alison, two full-time members and two-to-three part-time weekend staff.

Alison says: “Crown is such a vibrant, bustling area of the city with locals and tourists alike. I’m looking forward to being more central and part of this community.”

Conversation