Squad is repositioning Gretna Green as an experiential visitor destination with appeal beyond run-a-way weddings.
The Scottish border village has been famous since 1754, when English people started eloping to its forge to get married by the blacksmith over an anvil. This was because young couples could bypass England’s stricter marriage laws, which demanded parental consent for those under age.
Gretna Green’s fame has since been fuelled by its many mentions in films and TV shows, from Downton Abbey and Bridgerton to Coronation Street and unforgettable 1980s sitcom You Rang, M’Lord?.
Despite the UK’s declining marriage rate, the village still facilitates nearly 4,000 ceremonies a year, and in peak season can get through eight a day.
But David Barraclough, creative partner at Squad, explains that changing attitudes to marriage are not “the driving factor” behind the new look.
“The opportunity is bigger than that – to develop the site as a retail offer and visitor attraction,” he says.
The Lucky Arch typeface used for the branding alongside the inspiration from old signage at Gretna Green
While Gretna Green is the name of the ancient village, it is also the name of the business which owns many of the village’s key properties, including the Old Blacksmith’s Shop and two hotels.
Five generations of the Houston Family have run the Gretna Green business since 1885, and it’s now under the leadership of John Holliday, who joined as executive chair in 2023. Squad’s work is part of an £8 million investment to rethink the entire visitor experience. The hope is that visitors will come to eat, drink, stay and explore, as well as marry.
“The vision is to develop a broader offer, anchored in love, passion and escape,” says Barraclough. “You might return for anniversaries; you might propose there.”
“We’re trying to reimagine the history we’ve got and turn it into a 21st Century destination,” says Oliver Rolfe, COO of Gretna Green. “We want to modernise the brand and the site for future generations.”
“We’re trying to reimagine the history we’ve got and turn it into a 21st Century destination.”
There was a need to refurbish some parts of the site, and the team wanted to carry out that renovation work with a clearer idea of what the brand stands for.
“Our objective is to make people happy. There’s an experiential element to that,” Rolfe explains. “Stay in a hotel, go to the shops, sit in a café – we need to root all that in who we are and what our brand is.”
Even the toilets have been redesigned with the new brand in mind, with 400 years of stories depicted on the walls, and black metal lighting to reference its forge-based fame.
Branding for the new cafe
Squad, which is based in Manchester and London, first turned their attention to the commercial offer, naming the new café, Runaways, consolidating the number of shops, and renaming and redesigning the restaurant, which is due to open early next year.
Squad then repositioned Gretna Green with a new narrative – the little village on the Scottish border with a big story of love and escape to share with the world.
Squad’s visual identity is underpinned by the pillars of passionate love, fiery craft and Scottish hospitality embedded in four centuries of rebellious romantic history, and delivered with a contemporary spin, according to Barraclough.
The positioning is not “sweet and sickly,” he explains, adding that the presence of the Old Blacksmith’s Shop – where fire would have been used to shape metal – creates a “beautiful symmetry” with the notion of fiery passion.
The new logo over illustration used within the branding alongside an image of the old blacksmith’s shop and anvil.
The identity puts a modern twist on the characteristics of a traditional village, marrying tartan and traditional shop signs with the modern revival of craft and local produce, which is sold on site.
There was plenty of existing vernacular typography to draw on, like the eclectic mix of signage, some of which is hand-painted onto the many anvils around the site.
“We’ve tried to take that idiosyncratic historic feel and bring it up to date,” Barraclough says. “Not ruthless consistency, but a look that flexes out.”
Location-wise, Gretna Green is just off the M6 and already gets plenty of coach parties stopping by. The aim is to also appeal to more families in cars, so a play area is being developed, which Squad will also name and brand.
The ambition is that with the repositioning, refurbishments of existing offers, and introduction of new attractions, more people will come, and they will stay longer.
A wall at the new Runaways cafe
Detail of wall decoration at the new Runaways cafe
Art created to decorate the walls at Runaways, inspired by the new brand story
The food counter at the new Runaways cafe with point-of-sale in the new branding