Six months after taking over The Left Bank on Gibson Street, now trading as a Glasgow’s listening bar, Jim McLaughlin and David Low have acquired Brechin’s Bar at Govan Cross, one of the city’s most historic pubs.
Within days of taking the keys, the pair made a discovery. Stripping back the frontage revealed the pub’s original Victorian timber shopfront intact beneath four later layers. Hand-grained panelling and mouldings unseen for decades were uncovered.
Brechin’s Bar operates from a Category B listed Scots Baronial landmark at the corner of Govan Road and Burleigh Street, built in 1894 and a fixture of Govan life for generations.
The building carries one of Glasgow’s great whisky pedigrees: its founding family, William Brechin & Son, were among the most celebrated blenders of the Victorian whisky boom, making trade-press headlines in 1888 for vatting twelve thousand gallons of the finest Highland and Island malts at Lang Brothers’ Clyde bonded warehouses.
The new operators’ have laid out their first priorities: “The fundamentals. The cellar, the pint, the welcome, and the care the building deserves”.
Jim McLaughlin told Scottish News: “Brechin’s is one of Govan’s great rooms, and it deserves better than it’s had lately — that’s exactly why we’re here. We’re not arriving with gimmicks. We’re starting with the basics done properly: a good pint, a clean pub, a warm welcome.
“The history of this place is remarkable - a hundred and thirty years of Govan hospitality and one of the great names of Glasgow whisky - and we’ll be giving that history the respect it’s due. Finding the original frontage under all those layers tells you everything: what was covered up is coming back. Judge us in a few months.”
David Low said: “I was born in Govan and I’m delighted to be part of its regeneration. This is a long-term family commitment to the locale and hopefully others will follow.”
A Glasgow businessman and financier, who advised Fergus McCann on the takeover of Celtic Football Club in the 1990s, Low is also the owner of The Star Bar on Eglinton Street, which he acquired in December 2024.
The pair’s plans for the building will be phased, beginning with the restoration of the newly uncovered frontage and a careful refurbishment of the bar area, which has featured in numerous TV and film productions including Mayflies, Taggart and Rebus.
The upper-floor Cardell Halls, originally a Victorian meeting hall, is earmarked for live music in a later phase. Further announcements will follow later in the year.
The takeover comes amid significant regeneration in Govan, with the Govan–Partick bridge reconnecting the area to the West End and major investment at Water Row.
Since opening to the public two years ago, the Govan - Partick Bridge in Glasgow has proved to be hugely popular.
In that time, over 2.55million people have crossed the Bridge, with three-quarters of these pedestrians, and a quarter using bikes.
The Glasgow City Region City Deal project - the Scottish and UK Governments each provided £12.685million in funding for the Bridge - re-established the historic connection between Govan and Partick, with the Bridge crossing between Water Row on the south side and Pointhouse Quay beside the Riverside Museum on the north.
Brechin’s Bar, 803 Govan Rd, Glasgow G51 3DJ