Fire-hit Nick Nairn restaurant 'closed for nine months'

Nick Nairn has estimated his Stirlingshire restaurant which was engulfed in flames over the weekend will remain closed for nine months.

The celebrity chef told the BBC there is a "long road" ahead due to a "complicated" insurance claim.

He said it was uncertain whether parts of the building, on Henderson Street in Bridge of Allan, would need rebuilding.

Fire crews were called to the venue at about 20:20 on Saturday after a piece of kitchen equipment malfunctioned.

Two people were treated for the effects of breathing in smoke but no-one was seriously injured.

Speaking to BBC Radio Scotland's Drivetime with John Beattie, Mr Nairn insisted the restaurant "will be back" but at this stage there were "more questions than answers".

"It was obviously quite serious," he said. "A piece of kit had malfunctioned right in the middle of service and boiled over.

"The guys did their best to contain it but they lost control of it. Luckily they thought quickly - they turned off the gas and ventilation, got everybody out in I think less than 60 seconds and then the place just exploded.

"This is going to be a long haul - perhaps six to nine months but we are going to come back bigger, better and stronger."

Over the summer, the hospitality sector experienced rising worker shortages, with job vacancies at their highest levels since records began.

Despite the challenging time for the industry, Mr Nairn said his latest venture - a restaurant and cookery school at Lake of Menteith - is performing "really well".

However, the 62-year-old said he has been cooking solid for the last four months to compensate for the scarcity of chefs and to keep up with demand.

"The chef market at the moment is absolutely insane," he said. "Chefs have been on furlough for a year and experienced real life - Saturday night off, spending time with the kids, not being in a hot, sweaty box for 50 hours a week.

"There's been this massive increase in online deliveries, loads of jobs going for drivers, supermarkets have boomed during lockdown and they pay good wages.

"It's almost a perfect storm of Brexit, people leaving and not being able to come back again and Covid."

Many restaurateurs in Scotland are also struggling with the effects of customers failing to show up for bookings as they try to save their businesses.

Mr Nairn is no exception, and he said on one "horrendous" night he had 58 no-shows across three venues.

"I calculated that was our profit for the evening," he said. "It's got slightly better for us since then and the last thing we want to do is go down the route of taking deposits.

"We just don't have the admin for a start - it costs a lot of money to do that and I hate the fact that you're doubting people.

"It has eased a bit but I'm speaking to other people who are saying 'no, it's just as bad and you've just been lucky'.

"It is the most bonkers time to be in hospitality, I've been at this for 36 years and I cannot remember anything like this."