‘Hello, I am calling from Ramsay Productions, would it be possible for Gordon Ramsay, Gino D'Acampo and Fred Sirieix to be styled, measured, fitted and dressed by Kinloch Anderson while we film it all for our new show”
“ Can you please hold? *Gulps* “ Of course, when would you like to come to Kinloch Anderson? “
Why do so many high profile media people come to Kinloch Anderson?
I'd only been in the business a few short months when it became clear that far more media teams and celebrities came to Kinloch Anderson for help with their programming than in every other company I had worked with - and some of those are big old brands like Guinness and Mars. Sara Cox had been in interviewing John Kinloch Anderson only a few weeks after I started, when I learned that another high profile TV show will air in Spring featuring the Kinloch Anderson business (more on that one later - it's a secret for now!). What amazed me was that Kinloch Anderson didn't tout for any of this business - quite the contrary - so why come to us when there are plenty kilt shops in Scotland? So I asked them - all of them! The answers were all pretty similar.......What brought them to Kinloch Anderson was reputation, service, scale, family heritage (we are in our 6th generation of the Kinloch Anderson family here!) and the fact we know how to work with production companies. So what is it really like when Gordon comes to your office?
Forget the hassle factor - the look on one of our customers faces when he realised he was sharing a mirror with Gordon Ramsay was wonderful
Yes - we stay open! That's one of the criteria. We welcome about 20 production crew in black SUVs and the ‘talent’ as they are called and we try and run our business the same way we run it every day. Now – we have a big shop but bringing in 20-odd people with a whole pile of cameras, booms, mics and lights and it can get tricky!!
The Directors are the bosses and I have to find them straight away and establish what they need, when they need it – and the first of all those things is normally coffee – while ensuring our business isn’t impacted too much. They are great about this and in fact like the ‘live’ feeling it gives to the shoot. And yes, picture yourself walking back to your car and saying to your significant other, ‘That guy next to me looked a LOT like Gordon Ramsay!’ Chances are he knew all along but was too polite to let on – we do have lovely customers!
Okay – forget the logistics – what I want to know is what it’s really like to see Gordon, Gino and Fred work and what happens when the cameras are off?
Firstly – it really doesn’t seem like work for them – at all!! Remember when you mucked about in school and laughed so hard you couldn’t answer the teacher’s question? This was pretty much them all day! The poor director had to work pretty hard to herd these three particular cats and he sometimes ended up with a fit of the giggles too! But – when it came to the crunch they switched on, hit their marks and managed the banter so it would work on telly. And it really does.
Secondly – outside of their nonsense and filming they all had some nice personal touches. They made time to talk to the whole team here. Word had also sneaked out to a few cooks and chefs in the local Leith area, that the trio were here. The group of future Gordon Ramsays, waited patiently at the gate and rather impressively, when Gordon and Gino learned they were chefs at the beginning of their careers, took some real time to chat and take selfies. They didn’t have to do that.
Overall – Would we do it again?
Well – perhaps the viewers of the programme should be the real judge of that but for all the work and disruption (and a LOT of standing still being very quiet which, for those of you who know me will understand I really struggle with!!!) it’s great to have something different and exciting happen. It seems they had fun but most importantly they seemed to really love being dressed by Kinloch Anderson!!
Graham Clarke
Director of Brand Development at Kinloch Anderson