Steven McColm cut his teeth working for famous Scots nightclub operator, James Mortimer, at his legendary Victoria’s and Hamilton Palace clubs. “They were multi-scene venues with a champagne bar, a piano bar, a cabaret room, a 70s and 80s room and more,” enthuses Steven. He was then headhunted to work for Scottish & Newcastle, before going on to work at Luminar. While the pay was relatively low for the amount of work, the experience was invaluable. “I was working 70 hrs a week for £200 and I was loving it,” he says. “I wasn’t bothered about the money, I was just wanting to learn everything about the business.” Once he had soaked up everything there was to know about the evening entertainment industry, Steven left Luminar in 2006 and bought Box Glasgow with his friend, former Motherwell FC player, Adam Coakley.

Carving out a niche for itself as the Glasgow grassroots venue, Box has hosted thousands of unsigned acts over the years. Some of them even went on to become household names, such as Louis Capaldi and Paulo Nutini. Not only was Box a popular performance venue – it also became the chosen drinking hole of many a travelling musician. “If someone big’s in town, they might pop in and have a few drinks and have a good time,” he says. “The Killers have been in, we’ve had The Stereophonics and Kings of Leon. It’s full of musos, they like a like-minded place.” But even the most popular clubs were no match for Covid, which forced temporary – and sometimes permanent – closures across the country. While he was unable to open the venue, entrepreneurial Steven applied for a takeaway licence, which was eventually approved. “We had all these funky flavoured cocktails in fishbowls, so we thought we could be creative and put them in bottles. My wife Cheryl made them up every day and we took orders through Instagram.”

With weird and wonderful flavours and names like ‘Vaccine 20/20’, ‘Jack in the Box’, and ‘Gummy Bear’, the drinks were an instant hit. The couple sold 40 in the first week, 200 in the second week, and 3,000 the following month. Such was their popularity, that bottled cocktails became a permanent fixture at the bar when it reopened. The 500ml bottles currently sell for £6 each and Steven claims they are especially popular with women who appreciate the safety element of the resealable lids. “We now sell in the region of 50,000 a year!” Classic cocktails are also available at Box, as well as a selection of mocktails, while a separate section of the drinks menu is dedicated to the most popular tipple – White Russians. New concoctions are regularly added to spice things up, such as Fight Milk (made famous by the American sitcom, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia) and Butterbeer (from Harry Potter), plus there’s always an imaginatively named Cocktail of the Week, such as Banana Hammock, The Resurrection, Dr Amaretto, and Peach on the Beach. Given its presence in the vast majority of cocktails, it’s no surprise that the biggest-selling spirit is vodka, which is supplied by Booker, along with a vast selection of other drinks.

Steven’s Booker contacts told him about the benefits of deliveries. "Julie at Shawfield and John at Port Dundas – explained what we could get and the convenience of it,

He speaks to Julie once a week and she often tells him about bulk buy discounts that enable him to save even more. “We have good storage and we can buy a lot, so it works well for us.” Getting great deals means that Steven can remain committed to providing value for customers and he also believes in paying his acts fairly. In Glasgow, he claims there’s a pay-to-play system at some outlets where bands essentially pay for the opportunity to perform, but this isn’t the case at Box. “We pay all our bands a good fee,” he says. Customers aren’t charged at the door either. “We’re free entry and that’s been massive for a long time.” Despite many people struggling with the cost-of-living crisis, he claims that business is actually 3% up year on year. “I know times are really tough and there are loads of things that are squeezing people’s purses, but people still want to go out and have a good time,” he says. When asked to describe his demographic, Steven says: “We’re like the village hall – there are all ages from 18 to 60. We’ve certainly got students on Thursday nights, but we have all walks of life. Not every venue can pull off an older and younger crowd mixing together, but we’ve always managed it. It’s testament to the staff – loads of people come in to see them.” And of course, the variety and quality of the entertainment is a massive draw. “We’re synonymous with live music,” says Steven. “Some of the best bands come here every week. We’ve got a fabulous sound system and lighting and some of the best DJs as well.”

The venue’s Tuesday open mike night has been voted best in the city on multiple occasions, Steven raves. “Our jam session is run by incredible musicians and resident bands have been with us for years, and they’re still pushing the envelope.” Contrary to the venue’s name, Steven thinks very much outside the box when it comes to mindset. Competition remains strong in the venue’s prime location on Glasgow’s Sauchiehall Street, but he claims “busy makes busy”. He says: “If people get creative with their concepts it’s a win-win. “I’d love to shut the street off and put a big stage at one side of it and everyone gets a wristband and you can go in and out of every bar. They did it on Ashton Lane – we would love that here. I think the council should be doing more.” For now, he’s keeping busy, preparing bank holiday specials, and a big bash in November to celebrate the venue’s 21st birthday. “We love music, but even more, we love the reaction it gets,” he says. “I just love delivering parties and seeing people have a good time. There’s something about people having fun, which is contagious. We’d party eight days a week if we could!”