The owner of three Aberdeen pubs and clubs has talked on their mixed performances as well as his hopes for the city.
Signature Group owns Paramount Bar, The Spiritualist and Nox Nightclub in Aberdeen.
Paramount recently underwent a £400,000 refurbishment and re-opened in August with a number of “outrageous” features.
Meanwhile, it has now been a year since managing director Nic Wood made the decision to shut the doors at Nox Nightclub.
Mr Wood believes the Granite City is “nowhere near what it used to be” but is keen to make sure the city’s hospitality sector continues its success with students.
Paramount success
Mr Wood said the investment into Paramount Bar on Bon Accord Street was a “defensive spend”.
While other bars aren’t performing as hoped, he has no concerns over the “outrageous bar”.
Mr Wood said: “Everything about Paramount is really positive and now everyone is saying how great it looks.
“It was never doing badly, it was a defensive spend in order to keep people coming.
“Paramount is known for being outrageous and fun, so we knew if we were going to do it up, we would have to do it well.
“When we were looking for inspiration we went with the more outrageous something is, the better.
“Some people would prefer to sit in a comfortable lounge bar — Paramount is the opposite.”
Will Nox Nightclub ever return?
Meanwhile, on the other end of the spectrum, Mr Wood talked on the difficult decision to shut Nox Nightclub and what the future holds.
“The nightclub sector has been hit really hard,” he said.
“Sometimes it’s about minimising losses and Nox didn’t work anymore so we took the decision to shut it.
“It’s been shut for around a year now and we have no real idea when or even if it will re-open.
“The Spiritualist is doing okay, but the cocktail bar has been a lot better in the past. We’re seeing that throughout Scotland though, not just in Aberdeen.”
Signature has around 40 staff between its two active units in Aberdeen.
Aberdeen hospitality struggles
Signature Group’s Aberdeen bars have been hit hard by hospitality struggles, according to Mr Wood.
He is calling on the Scottish Government to “stop penalising such a huge part of the economy”.
Mr Wood said: “Signature always wants to move forward but at the moment that’s difficult with the political climate.
“It’s a sad reality, the Scottish Government hasn’t offered enough support to the hospitality sector.
“The lack of acknowledgement and help people through is disappointing, rates and VAT are making us struggle even more.
“Nobody is making more money and we all have to work a lot harder to stand still.”
Mr Wood said at the end of the financial year, his firm would reinvest most profits back into improving venues, or maybe even opening more.
Now, the focus is on making sure he is able to break even.
“It’s not good for the future. Hospitality is huge for the economy with jobs, sales and taxes. The harder it becomes, the less people will be drawn to it.”
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