A Kirkcaldy restaurant owner says he was forced to close his business less than a year after reopening due to the financial impact of Covid-19 restrictions and rising costs.
Married couple Andrew Lowrie and Barry Dudley took over The Dining Room in July last year but were forced to close the York Place establishment in April.
It has now been put up for sale by building owners Greene King who said that despite exploring other options for reopening concluded this was “no longer possible”.
The pair took over as tenants from chef Roddy Jobson and his business partner Martyn Stewart, who ran it for six years until October 2020.
Sudden restrictions put in place last Christmas had a knock-on effect in the following months and the business was not able to recover.
The government restrictions included forming bubbles and the reintroduction of social distancing and table service.
Roddy and Martyn, who run Foxtons in Glenrothes, withdrew as leaseholders two years ago for the same reason, also blaming the effect of the Covid-19 crisis and the restrictions it brought.
Andrew, who is from Kirkcaldy, said the decision was not an easy one and thanked customers for their support.
He told The Courier: “We were just a victim of what happened.
“We had a full Christmas book but then after the restrictions came in every second phone call was a cancellation.
“We’d obviously bought all the food already and the whole thing just had a knock-on effect.
‘We didn’t want to drive it into the ground’
“In hospitality you sort of need to have a good Christmas to carry you through the quieter months but we thought we’d pick ourselves up.
“But then it got to the point we could see it getting worse. We didn’t want to drive it into the ground.”
The building is owned by pub retailer and brewer Greene King who also own the town’s Home Farm View near the A92.
With running costs spiralling due to record inflation in recent months, the couple made the difficult decision to terminate their tenancy and close the business.
‘It was our little baby’
Andrew added: “We saw things costing more and things like utilities going up, costing money we didn’t have. We were stuck between a rock and a hard place.
“It was our little baby so closing was not an easy decision.
“I don’t think we closed too soon. It would’ve been much worse if we kept it open.
“It’s such a shame, we only had it for just over a year. It was heart-breaking to tell the staff.”
Andrew is now retired and Barry has taken up a customer service job in the ironmongery industry.
Andrew added: “I’m not sure if we will ever do it again.
“When we took it over, friends said we were mad to do it in the middle of a pandemic.
“We thought it would’ve been fine but it all went backwards at Christmas.”
Building on the market
The building is being advertised for sale at £250,000.
Estate agents Shepherd Commercial describe the premises as a development opportunity with other possible uses in a busy part of Kirkcaldy.
As well as the restaurant and bar, the 3,842 square foot building comes with owners’ accommodation.
It also has a decking and beer garden.
A Greene King spokesperson said: “We are sorry to see The Dining Room close and have explored options for its reopening, but have sadly concluded this is no longer possible for us.
“This has not been an easy decision as selling a pub is never something we do lightly.”
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