The Esslemont restaurant to close next month

The Esslemont restaurant in Aberdeen will close for the foreseeable next month, with bosses citing a drop in footfall.

The venue, which is owned by the McGinty’s Group, will cease operations as a restaurant on Saturday 22 February, due to a "diversification of its business strategy".

Bosses said discussion and enquiries are underway with interested parties about the building with CBRE appointed to market the property.

The popular venue opened in August 2019 following a major refurbishment of the space.

All staff will be relocated to The Ferryhill House Hotel, which is currently undergoing refurbishment.

Allan Henderson, director of the McGinty’s Group, explained the tough decision was made due to lower footfall in the area and trying to recover from the consequences of covid closures.

He said: “The Esslemont is an iconic building in the city centre but whilst recovering from the consequences of covid closures and recently, lower footfall in the area, we have made the business decision to close the restaurant for the time being.

“Although our group as a whole is performing very well, we felt it is the right time to change the direction of The Esslemont and concentrate our efforts elsewhere such as the current renovation project at The Ferryhill restaurant.

“Whilst we are disappointed to close the restaurant, we are delighted that we can move our hard-working staff to the new look restaurant at The Ferryhill.”

It has been confirmed that the restaurant’s Saturday Spritz event will also be moving to The Ferryhill from March onwards.

Hear all the latest news from across the UK on the hour, every hour, on Greatest Hits Radio on DAB, smartspeaker, at greatesthitsradio.co.uk, and on the Rayo app.