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Hopes high there’ll be appetite for new restaurant to feed ongoing regeneration of Peterhead as prominent spot goes up for lease

Alan Gardiner from A&J Investments outside where a new restaurant could be homes in Marischal Street.
Pic by Chris Sumner
Alan Gardiner from A&J Investments outside where a new restaurant could be homes in Marischal Street. Pic by Chris Sumner

A former nightclub in a north-east town centre has gone up for rent amid hopes it could soon become the region’s newest restaurant.

The once-popular Nemesis nightclub, in Peterhead, has been silent since 2012 and was  put up for auction several times in the past.

The Marischal Street venue made headlines in 2009 as a stage for UK songstress Alexandra Burke, who performed there because of her sponsorship with mobile phone company Nokia.

Now, though, it’s gone on the market as a potential restaurant space, almost a year after new owner Alan Gardiner, who runs Inverugie-based A&J Investments, received permission for its change of use into food and drink space.

Food and drink could be on the menu

Mr Gardiner hopes to act as landlord for a family restaurant in the site above the Brewdog bar and next to the new Arc Cinema.

He said: “There’s a demand for more food and drink places in the town centre and my hopes would be to attract a restaurant of some kind that would be suitable for families to go to.

“The timing of getting permission last year wasn’t brilliant for that industry with the pandemic and lockdown.

“Now we are coming out the other end of it and I think it’s a great opportunity for an entrepreneurial chef who may want to have their own restaurant.

“It’s in an ideal location particularly now there’s the draw of the cinema.

“I have prepared the premises and gutted it all out so it’s ready as a blank canvas and hopefully to fill the real shortage of family food and drink places we have in Peterhead.”

The site lies opposite Drummers Corner, where work on the creation of a £285,000 stage for public performances is under way.

How the revamp of Drummers Corner will eventually look.

That scheme should be completed by July, and will provide a central area for events such as public markets, events and performances as well as new benches, electricity hook-ups, artwork and CCTV.

“An ideal location”

The 2,830 sq ft premises also sits above the Brewdog bar which opened in 2018 and beside the former bingo hall which was given a £2 million refurbishment into the Arc Cinema, which opened for the first time in October and has already confirmed it will return on May 17. 

With the potential for a new restaurant covering the space above both those venues, the town centre could soon become a lot more lively.

Film director Jon S Baird at the opening of the The Arc Cinema, Peterhead. Picture by Darrell Benns.

“The town really needs something like this and it’s a fantastic opportunity for somebody to do really well in it,” Mr Gardiner added.

“To get somebody in early after lockdown finishes would be ideal, so that’s why it’s being marketed now.”

The space is on the market for rent at £15,000 per year through Shepherd Chartered Surveyors.

Mark McQueen, partner at Shepherd in Aberdeen, said: “This attractive property has most recently been used for leisure purposes and accordingly will be suitable for a variety of commercial uses. It has also recently obtained change of use consent to be used as a restaurant.”