Older readers will be aware of the long-standing relationship between Boisdale Restaurants and Forest.
I've known founder and managing director Ranald Macdonald for 15 or 16 years.
Ranald founded the Scottish-themed restaurant in 1989 when the Belgravia premises were half their present size.
He subsequently opened a second restaurant in Bishopsgate, near Liverpool Street. Further restaurants were opened in Canary Wharf (2011) and Mayfair (2016).
When I first met Ranald Boisdale of Belgravia was a short walk – half a mile – from our old office in Victoria. He has been great friend to Forest ever since.
The first time we worked together was at the 2006 Conservative conference in Bournemouth. We organised a Prohibition themed event that featured the Boisdale Blue Rhythm Band and a cast that included actors dressed as policemen.
Their role was to enter the ballroom at the Royal Bath Hotel, march on stage and 'arrest' Ranald 30 seconds into his speech. He would then be charged with 'inciting people to enjoy themselves'.
The well-rehearsed scene played out perfectly and as Ranald was led away 300 people sang 'Always Look On The Bright Side of Life'.
The following year (2007) we joined forces and organised the most ambitious event in Forest's history – a dinner in the main ballroom at the Savoy Hotel in London days before the introduction of the smoking ban.
Organised at four weeks' notice, almost 400 guests attended the gala event which attracted camera crews from a dozen countries including Russia, France and Germany. Speakers that night were Andrew Neil, Claire Fox and Antony Worrall Thompson.
Writing in the Sunday Times the following weekend, Rod Liddle commented:
Spent a wonderful valedictory evening chain-smoking at a bash organised by Forest on Monday night ...
There were some fine speeches – pugnacious and rabble-rousing from Anthony Worrall-Thompson; politically-loaded and sharp from Andrew Neil; counter-intuitive from the excellent Clare Fox.
Without Ranald's help that event would never have happened.
Since then we've organised three big parties at Boisdale of Belgravia, each one attracting around 300 guests. Over at Canary Wharf we've hosted seven dinners, each one catering for between 140 and 180 guests.
One of the attractions is Boisdale’s commitment to accommodating guests who want to smoke. The Belgravia terrace, built at a cost of £40,000, was opened in direct response to the smoking ban.
The smoking terrace at Canary Wharf stretches the entire width of the building and overlooks the fountains at Cabot Square. It’s less cosy than Belgravia but a great location for pre-dinner drinks.
Why am I writing this? Well, Boisdale has supported smokers, now it’s time to support Boisdale.
With restaurants closed during lockdown the company has launched a special promotion called 'Boisdale War Bonds'.
They include a Long Victory Lunch Bond (£100), a Victory Dinner Bond (£150) and a Private Victory Dinner Party Bond (£1,500). Other ‘bonds’ are available!
Valid for one year, the 'bond' can be redeemed whenever Boisdale reopens its doors and terraces. For full details click here.