Budding caterers are being offered the chance to snap up an Aberdeen cafe rent free as part of a social enterprise’s bid to help the city recover post-lockdown.
Transition Extreme, which is located near the city’s beachfront, will reopen its doors on April 26 along with much of the rest of Scotland’s economy.
But with the city hit by a number of high-profile shop and business closures in recent months, bosses at the climbing, biking and skating centre say they are willing to provide incentives to help Aberdeen recover.
That includes offering a rent-free period and the flexible use of space to potential new operators at the centre’s cafe, which overlooks the sea on one side and the climbing wall and skatepark on the other.
The cafe can seat 40 people comfortably within social distancing guidelines, and also includes an additional area that can be used for bigger events.
Chief executive of Transition Extreme Ross Blackadder said: “Our cafe space is one-of-a-kind in the city and has bags of potential.
“Our expertise lie in youth development and extreme sports and that’s where we need to focus our efforts over the coming months.
“It’s essential that the cafe offers our customers a consistent service in terms of quality and availability, but beyond that we’re keen to hear ideas about how new life could be breathed into the space.”
Transition Extreme attracts more than 80,000 visitors to its facility every year, with profits channeled into youth engagement programmes to help support young people through extreme or urban sports.
Mr Blackadder added: “As a social enterprise we’re purpose-driven, and so we’re willing to discuss commercial incentives and other benefits to support prospective partners get back on their feet after lockdown.
“Until we’ve received proposals we’re not sure what this looks like – but one way or another our priority is to restore the cafe to a vibrant social space.
“The cafe is not without its challenges, so we’re hoping to hear from people who have a bit of experience in coming up with creative solutions to help make sure the cafe is a long-term success.”