One of the reasons for The Bank Bar’s success is that little has changed there in two decades.
The world, and Dundee, is a different place to 1999, when Paul and Susan Russell took over the Union Street pub.
But the sands of time seem to have avoided this city-centre establishment, where the only 21st-century addition has been the early introduction of live music.
“We’ve not changed the pub at all,” says Paul, 51, who is also a deputy team leader at Tayside Mountain Rescue.
“We’ve painted and decorated it but it’s stayed the same. We’ve never had a TV and never will – even though people ask for it.
“The music behind the bar is also kept really low so you can have a conversation, and we also give people the chance to listen to live music.
“For the next few years we are going to carry on and plod on as we have and hope things in the world change for the better.”
This feature recounts Bank Bar tales of the past 20 years, including the night Mr Blobby ejected a drunk, what famous customers got up to at the pub and how diehard regulars pay appreciation to the staff.
The Russells also open up about their lives so far, including Paul’s experiences in charge of some of Dundee’s biggest night-time venues.
This feature is split into the following sections:
- Life before The Bank
- Customers and entertainers
- Staff and celebrities
- Lockdown blues
Life before The Bank
Paul Russell is from Northenden, Manchester, and moved to the city in 1988 to do a degree in town planning at Dundee University.
“I have never used my degree,” he says. “It interested me at the time but like every young child I wanted to be a fighter pilot. I also wanted to be a footballer as well but at the time Manchester City were terrible!”
While studying he worked as a barman at Fat Sams and became its bar manager when he graduated in 1992.
“It was amazing,” Paul recalls. “There were some really amazing people there and the music was excellent.
“The DJ David Calikes was there and was a really great guy.
“They were very different times when nobody really cared and everyone was up for a party – it was that type of atmosphere.
“There were no restrictions like what we have now. It was a different decade but it really was a different decade. I don’t think we will ever get to that stage again, which makes me feel really sad.”
‘It was £10 in and 10p a drink’
In 1994 Paul moved on to manage the now-closed Venue Nightclub at Stack Leisure Park.
“That was an eye-opener,” he recalls. “It was one of the biggest nightclubs in Scotland at the time.
“It didn’t really work so they tried different promotions to get it going. At one stage it was £10 in and 10p a drink so you can imagine what it was like. Need I say more!”
After it closed he had spells working for Grant Cunningham at the Brig O’ Tay in Newport and The Ice Arena at Camperdown Leisure Complex. At around this time he met Susan, who was working as a barmaid at The Bank Bar.
‘I liked the style of the place’
Susan, 52, grew up in Stobswell and used to work at Castlehill News in Castle Street, which was owned by her parents Donald and Isobel Malcolm.
She was a regular at The Bank Bar, which was previously a Hogshead, even before she started working there.
“When I was in my 20s myself and my mum used to come in here once a week for a pub lunch.
“I liked the style of the place and the people who worked behind the bar.”
One day, just before Susan’s 30th birthday, the pub was short-staffed and she was offered to fill in.
“I said I’d love to work there,” she says. “There was no interview – I started a few days later.”
She was offered a full-time job, which meant leaving Castlehill News.
“I don’t think mum and dad wanted me to leave,” Susan recalls. “But when I got offered the job here I had to take it because I loved it here so much.”
Susan has worked behind the bar and in the kitchen, where she currently spends most of her time. Her macaroni cheese is a particular favourite.
Customers and entertainers
Premises owner Jimmy Marr changed the name of the pub from Hogshead to The Bank Barr after taking it over from Whitbread.
He offered out the lease when Susan was working as a barmaid, and she and Paul decided to take it over.
They continued to run the pub as it had been, with the significant addition of live music.
“When we originally took over there was no live music at all and we went from one live music session a month to now having four live sessions a week,” says Paul.
“In the first year of doing live music it was really hard. We wanted to do something different. It was hard until we got known for putting on quality music.”
Of those who first played 22 years ago, two are still performing at The Bank Bar. These are cover bands Headroom and The Lawson Brothers (Barry and Nicky Lawson).
The pub hosts live bands on Fridays and Saturdays, and open mics on Wednesday, hosted by Dave Webster, and Sunday, hosted by Dave McGinty.
“Those two guys used to be in the band Sinderins. They are really well known and have been doing it for five years,” says Paul.
‘He brings flowers for every member of staff’
The pub has at least four regulars who have visited every day or at least three times a week since the Russells took over in 1999.
One of these is Tayport Tam, who tries to attend every music event. “He brings flowers for every member of staff,” says Paul. “He also brings in sweets.”
Another is Norrie, who comes in the same three days every week. Norma and Bruce are also loyal to the pub.
“We’ve got a lot of really good customers who are always pop in to say hello,” says Bank barmaid Michelle McGuigan, 45.
“We always have a good laugh with them as well.
“We have a lot of customers who come up from Edinburgh as well. There’s a group of ladies who come up to Dundee for Christmas shopping.
“We always put their bags down in the cellar and they have a meal and drinks. They come back every year because the food is amazing and they get good service.
“A lot of people come back because they really enjoy the experience here. Everyone’s lovely – I love the customers here.”
Paul adds: “Our clientele is really mixed and varied. It goes from students to old aged pensioners to retirees.”
Staff and celebrities
Michelle is one of a number of staff members who have worked at The Bank for more than a decade.
“We have really good staff who are really personable. We don’t lose a lot of staff. We keep them,” says Paul, whose son Ciaran, 22, previously managed The Bank.
Michelle, from Kirkton, had been a full-time mum before becoming a barmaid at the pub 10 years ago.
“My youngest one had just started school and my friend Fiona already worked here,” she recalls.
“She got me the job but I was incredibly shy when I started working here. I could barely talk to people.
“I have always been shy but I am not like that all now. It’s totally changed me to be working with people all the time. It has brought me out of my shell.
“I am still the same person but I am a lot more confident now. The colleagues help with that, the customers. We are quite lucky because we have really good customers.
“Every time you come into work it’s a fun chatty atmosphere. I’m a bit eccentric and full of energy when I come in here so we always have a good giggle.
“I’ve always said to my kids that the best thing you should look for in a job is happiness. Don’t look for the money in a job, though obviously it’s minimum wage here so you’re not going to make a fortune, but the job satisfaction is more important to me than the money.”
‘He came in and threw a bit of a tantrum’
In more than two decades a sprinkling of famous faces have made appearances in the pub.
Music band Travis performed in front of a packed Caird Hall but “no one recognised them” when they dropped in for some food at The Bank, says Paul.
The View’s Kyle Falconer often plays at open mic evenings, and sometimes has some food too.
Dancer Wayne Sleep came in one year, when he was performing at Dundee Rep. “He left pretty quickly,” says Paul. “He came in and threw a bit of a tantrum because there was a quiz going on.”
One of the more memorable incidents involved someone pretending to be a celebrity.
“We had a fancy dress party one year and somebody was dressed as an inflatable Mr Blobby,” Paul explains.
“Someone else came in drunk and we refused to serve him at the bar so Mr Blobby escorted him out of the pub.
“He actually bounced him out because he was that inflatable.
“It was interesting to see someone who was drunk getting escorted out of the pub by Mr Blobby.
“They probably woke up the following day and must have thought ‘what happened there’?”
Lockdown blues
The downside with having customers who include The Bank in their daily or weekly routine is what happens if, for some reason, the pub cannot open.
This scenario has been put to the test more often in the past two years than anyone would like.
During the first Covid lockdown from March 2020 the pub offered takeaway food but, according to Paul, “there was not a lot we could do”.
“We tried to keep in touch with a lot of the regulars and managed to do that but a lot of the older clientele really struggled – as we all did,” he says.
Like many others in the hospitality sector, The Bank has taken a financial hit.
“We are down quite a lot on our trade,” says Paul. “Since we reopened last summer we’ve limited numbers and are still limiting numbers because we want people to feel safe.
“It’s quite important that people see we do things right. I don’t know if that will ever change and we get back to the numbers we used to have.
“Our capacity is 120 and we are only having 80 in. We are having to turn away people, especially on a Friday and Saturday night with live music on.
“A lot of people understand when you explain the situation.
“People are still a bit unsure about what you can and can’t do and the only way that’s going to change going forward is if it eradicates itself.”
