Andrew Watson, who ran licensed premises in Montrose, Stonehaven and Aberdeen, has died aged 78.
He was best known for owning the Market Arms and Planets nightclub in Montrose.
In the 1970s, Andrew owned the Crown Hotel, Stonehaven, before taking over the Pavilion Bar in Market Street, Aberdeen.
It was Montrose that was at the centre of Andrew’s business empire.
As well as his portfolio of licensed premises, which also included the West End Hotel, Andrew owned a butcher’s shop in High Street and a property development company.
In 1983, Planets nightclub and the adjoining snooker club he had built, were destroyed in a spectacular blaze.
He was a long-standing member of Montrose Rotary Club and was often seen driving vintage cars.
Early years
Andrew was born in Glasgow in September 1942 and educated at Hillhead High School.
When he left school Andrew joined his father’s haulage business in Newhouse, Lanarkshire.
His father, also Andrew, diversified by buying a pub and this inspired his son to acquire the Crown Hotel in Stonehaven in 1972 where he moved with his wife Christine and two children, Andrew and Graham.
Aberdeen
After two years they sold up and bought the Pavilion Bar in Aberdeen which they ran for five years.
In 1979, the family moved to Montrose, bought the Market Arms and settled in a home in Dorward Place, opposite the tennis courts.
They later moved to the substantial Dubton House, Hillside, where Andrew carried out his vintage vehicle restoration.
Andrew’s business interests suffered in the oil price crash of the late 1980s and he went on to sell timeshares in Aviemore and the Trossachs for several years before buying several bars in Tenerife and later, in the Glasgow area.
Emigration
In his later years, Andrew remarried, to Maureen, who was living in Phoenix, Arizona, and he later emigrated to join her.
They later moved north to seek a cooler climate and settled near Seattle where they became immersed in their new community.
Andrew’s sister, Annie, said: “My brother was kind to a fault and my memories of Andrew are of a kind, generous, hardworking man who provided for his immediate family as well as the extended family.”