Broughty Ferry has been revealed as a national restaurant hotspot.
Business transfer agent Stephen Aitchison, of Central Business Sales in Edinburgh, said Broughty Ferry is punching well above its weight, with vacant coffee shops and dining outlets being snapped up by restaurateurs keen to move into the area.
Indeed, Broughty Ferry is proving so popular that his latest deal provided him with a career first, he revealed.
Stephen recently oversaw the takeover of the Cafe Royale in King Street.
”I have been in this business for 15 years and I sell businesses all over the place, including the centre of Edinburgh but I have never had a reserve list for a property before,” he said.
”With the Cafe Royale there were two other people looking to buy it if the original buyer pulled out. It also went for over the asking price, at a time when that isn’t really happening.”
The Cafe Royale story is not a one-off, he says. He is now involved in the marketing of the Indos restaurant in Brook Street.
”We have had considerable interest both locally and from further afield and we will be looking to set a closing date soon,” he said.
Stephen’s first client in Broughty Ferry was the former Brambles restaurant in Brook Street, which was taken over by Martin and Nicky Cannon earlier this year and is now known as Gracie’s. The business was previously in the hands of the Miller family for 25 years.
”I think that tells you something in itself,” said Stephen. ”It is very rare that anyone sees out a full 25-year lease. Now people are very, very wary about taking a lease for five years, never mind 25.”
Rents in Broughty Ferry can be as high as in Edinburgh, Stephen continued, but that does not seem to deter prospective restaurateurs.
”Broughty Ferry at the moment seems to be attracting more interest than anywhere else and I really can’t explain why.”
Now he hopes to be able to capitalise on the current strength of the market.
”I am actually going to do a campaign in the area to see if anyone else is looking to sell because the market is there in Broughty Ferry,” he said.
The popularity of the area comes as no surprise to Broughty Ferry Traders’ Association spokesman Sandro Paladini.
”This is not a sudden thing,” he said. ”In fact for the last 30 or 40 years Broughty Ferry has had a disproportionate number of the good quality restaurants in the Dundee area.”
Broughty Ferry is ideally placed to take advantage of two different markets, he suggested.
”In the day time it is a shopping area that is populated by good quality, independent boutique-type stores and in the evening its geography makes it ideal for people coming for an evening out as everything is within a very short walking distance.
”People can park and walk through the grid system and reach restaurants and thereafter pubs in short, accessible distances. I think that this gives it a warm and friendly atmosphere and a safe environment.
”As a result of that I am told by restaurants in the area that they pull their clientele not just from the Dundee area but from St Andrews and throughout Fife and throughout Angus.”