“I walked from Belmont Street down to Resident X a few months ago, and you could count the people on the street with just your fingers,” Ryan Clark tells me.
This was the moment, after months of struggle, the Resident X boss knew that his Marischal Square venue wasn’t going to work out.
One year after taking on the trendy but troubled bar and food hall, he has now closed it and handed the keys back to Aberdeen City Council.
Even with experienced hospitality experts at the helm, in Ryan and colleague Andy Eagar, the neon-themed nightspot has never quite taken off.
In an exclusive interview with The Press and Journal, Ryan reveals the full story of Resident X’s downfall. He details:
- The reason why Resident X’s location suffered a drastic loss in footfall
- Which enormous expense spelled the end for the venue
- And if he thinks someone else would be able to make Resident X a success
‘We all know why footfall is down’
Chatting over the phone on Wednesday afternoon, Ryan still sounds despondent about the decision to give up the fight to keep it alive.
He tells me how Broad Street had become a ghost town, with the lack of footfall being the straw the broke the food hall’s back.
“The main issue was with footfall, and we all know why that is,” the 42-year-old recounts.
“It’s because of the bus gates and the LEZ down there, and it wasn’t just us that was suffering.
“Where Resident X is, you’ve got Schoolhill up the road where Haig’s came out.
“You just need to walk along the street to see that most of the buildings there are vacant.”
Our most recent empty unit tracker on Aberdeen’s high streets shows that Schoolhill was the most vacant area in the city, with 45.5% of units empty.
This is more than double the average for the city, sitting at 20.4%.
What did Ryan and Andy do to try combat this?
The pair of entrepreneurs threw the kitchen sink at trying to keep Resident X afloat.
Over the past few months they hosted large scale events, such as their Euro fan zones, their big Mayday bash and even a performance from club icon Judge Jules.
But despite these big parties, their day-to-day operations were just haemorrhaging too much cash.
“Resident X was always a bit more out of the way, and that’s why we tried to push our events,” Ryan explained.
“But the problem with that is you can’t do them every week. With the cost-of-living crisis, people don’t have the money to go to events every week.
“The general trade really suffered, your Monday to Sunday when you’ve only got some live music or a DJ, it was just hard to get people there.
“That, in a nutshell, was the issue.”
And it wasn’t just the drinks side of the business that was suffering…
What happened to the food vendors?
When Ryan and Andy took over Resident X , it was a haven for street food lovers in the Granite City.
Offering a plethora of options, from Greek gyros to Indian dishes, it was the place to go for a wide variety of established vendors.
But 12 months on, and the venue was down to just one operator, Baby Jewel.
The 42-year-old bar boss puts this down to footfall again. Days ago, Acropolis told us this was why they pulled out of Resident X before it closed.
Ryan revealed that due to a lack of customers in the area, the large majority of these food vendors’ income came from Deliveroo.
The Resident X boss admitted: “Effectively we were going to be left with only Baby Jewel paying us rent in terms of vendors.
“And it was just going to be quite difficult to try and sell Resident X to more vendors.
“There’s lots of offices around us, but with hybrid working now you don’t benefit as much as you used to from these things, as you did five years ago.”
Enormous business rates the coup de grace
For Resident X, the business rates of being at Marischal Square were just too extreme to keep on trading.
“For sure we would have been operating in the red if we continued,” Ryan confides.
“It was just too much of a financial risk for us in the end.”
The street food market was going to be liable for £70,000 per year of business rates, on top of utilities and other expenses.
Business rates are calculated based on around half of what the “rentable value” of the property is.
English and Welsh hospitality venues still qualify for up to 75% rates relief, however this does not apply in Scotland.
Resident X had a strong start
Despite recent takings plummeting, Resident X had a steady start following the breath of fresh air from Ryan and Andy.
Their first few months saw a decent level of turnout. But the buzz did not last.
“We had a good Christmas but things started to quieten down from there,” the 42-year-old boss admits.
“At that point, we were thinking of renewing.
“It was a short lease, which gave us the chance to assess it, and also the council the chance to assess things.
“We’ve been in discussions with the council prior to us leaving, and as footfall started to lessen, the conversation turned to us not renewing our lease.”
Does Ryan think Resident X can still be a success?
With the venue now having two different owners try and fail to make the business a success, is Resident X a poisoned chalice?
Ryan doesn’t think so.
Do you see a future for Resident X? Let us know in our comments section below
“The word that is always used when describing that venue is potential, and we thought it had a lot potential a year ago,” he explains.
“I have always thought if you picked up that venue and stuck it on Belmont Street, it would be one of the busiest units in Aberdeen.
“You go a bit up the town to Belmont Street, and there is loads of other businesses to attract people there.
“But I wouldn’t say the venue is doomed.
“You could get a national operator to rebrand and turn it around.”
For now, Aberdeen City Council is seeking a new operator to take it on.
Read more:
- Exclusive: Resident X closes as operator admits it ‘doesn’t make financial sense to continue’
- Exclusive: ‘Failed’ Resident X opened with council loan – but the city won’t say how much is still owed
- How independent are Aberdeen’s high streets?
- ‘I’m working seven days a week to make it a success’: Stuart McPhee on one year of Dough and Co
Conversation