A charity aims to breathe new life into an Elgin town centre building as part of plans to give youngsters a pathway into the hospitality industry.
Unorthodox Project has revealed plans for a £1.5m transformation of 132 High Street building into a cocktail bar and restaurant.
The organisation is to train youngsters and pay them the living wage.
What are the plans?
The proposed venue will be spread over three floors above a cellar.
The first floor will have booth seating, toilets, a bar and a public lift and DJ area.
The second floor will house the kitchen, another bar and the restaurant seating area.
The top floor will have a dance floor, booths and VIP areas as well as a feature curved bar and more toilets.
This venue will operate as a restaurant bar throughout the day, with more of a nightclub and bar experience on the weekends.
It will have a capacity of around 350 people.
This business will create more than 40 Scottish Vocational Qualifications per year across a variety of roles.
‘The High Street is the perfect opportunity’
Council bosses have previously told the Press and Journal about the urgent need for more businesses and accommodation in the town centre to prevent Elgin from becoming a “ghost town”.
Unorthodox Project founder Jordan MacDonald explained: “The High Street is the perfect opportunity.
“The landlord has donated the building to us for the next 42 weeks.
“This gives us time to get everything together to purchase the building.
“The community and local businesses has supported us a lot.”
Why the Elgin town centre for the first project?
The 25-year-old added: “We have chosen Elgin as a pilot region as there is potential from the educational and social point of view.
“It is estimated that 10 per cent of Moray has no qualifications whatsoever and one in five people are living in poverty – but it also makes great business sense to consider the area, as there’s little competition.
“Elgin doesn’t really have a specialist venue similar to the one that has been proposed and we feel it would be extremely popular with the community.”
An application to purchase and develop the building formally known as London House is expected by next summer.
