The owners of the Fife Arms hotel in Braemar have been awarded with an honorary degree from Robert Gordon University today.
Entrepreneurial art gallery founders Iwan and Manuela Wirth transformed the iconic Fife Arms into five-star boutique hotel, which reopened at the end of 2018 after the couple purchased it in 2016.
They are presidents and co-founders of Hauser and Wirth, a leading international art gallery that was founded by the couple alongside Ursula Hauser in 1992 and remain a family business.
Iwan and Manuela Wirth collect degrees
Mr and Mrs Wirth also run Artfarm, an independent hospitality and development firm which owns several venues across the world, including the celebrity hotspot Fife Arms, whose unique interior draws inspiration from local people and places.
They also support several museums, international art projects and regularly contribute to charities, including ones in the north-east.
The Wirths have partially funded the ongoing restoration of St Margaret’s Church in Braemar and also contribute towards the River Dee Trust.
Mr Wirth was awarded with a Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) and his wife was granted with a Doctor of Letters (DLitt) at a graduation ceremony at P&J Live in Aberdeen.
Wirths find Deeside people fascinating
Speaking to The P&J after they received became graduates of the university, the couple said they were “over the moon” to receive the “huge honour and privilege” in their “second home”.
Discussing what they love so much about the area, Mr Wirth said it was “the people”, who he described as being “exceptionally fascinating”, while his wife described them as “opening, welcoming and friendly”.
The couple, who are from Switzerland, also mentioned the “sheer beauty” of Royal Deeside’s landscape and discussing the success of the Fife Arms since its renovation, Mrs Wirth said they were “proud and happy to share” the hotel with locals and tourists.
Her husband said it was “absolutely astonishing” the hotel’s success, adding: “We hoped it would be successful, but wherever we go we are known for the gallery, but increasingly, people say, ‘aren’t you the people from Fife Arms?'”
“It’s incredible stories that we encounter.
A person in Hong Kong said they go to Scotland and I said, “where do you go?” and they said, “it’s a fantastic hotel”.
“I said, ‘it might be, it might not be the Fife Arms’ and they said, ‘it’s exactly the Fife Arms’.”
In response to this, Mr Wirth told them: “Welcome to our home.”
Iwan and Manuela Wirth’s Invercauld Arms plans
Calling it an “incredible project”, that “keeps giving”, he told The P&J that their absolute priority is to “always to improve the offerings of the vibe” and “increasingly invest in the place, the staff and the service of people”.
Also owners of Braemar’s Invercauld Arms Hotel, which is currently being renovated, the art entrepreneur said it will be a “slightly different concept”, adding: “It will look more at families and rather than the five-star Fife Arms experience, it’s a Highland experience where people will stay in serviced apartments.
“We are also planning to offer the biggest bar, a pool and a wellness area, as we would like people to stay even longer in Braemar.”
RGU principal and vice-chancellor, Professor Steve Olivier said: “Iwan and Manuela Wirth are highly successful entrepreneurs with a long track record of success, first in the world of art and then more recently in hospitality.
“They are both inspirational and have dedicated their careers to fostering culture, supporting artists and engaging with communities through their projects across the world, as well as a little closer to home here in the north-east of Scotland.
“I am sure that many of the graduates can take a lot of inspiration from Iwan and Manuela Wirth as they step out into the world as socially conscious global citizens.”
Conversation