Family owners reveal ambitious reopening plans
THE family behind an historic Aberdeen hotel has revealed ambitious reopening plans designed to safeguard the business’s future.
The Northern Hotel, which dates from 1938 and has been owned and operated by the Finnie family since the early 1990s, is undergoing the final phase of a major internal refurbishment programme, including a “significant upgrade” of the remaining half of the property’s 32 bedrooms, along with some public areas. The family is also set to lease out the hotel’s restaurant space to a new operator.
Steven Finnie, son of the original owner, Colin Finnie, who passed away in 2019, said the hotel has been working with commercial property firm Drysdale & Co, on its plans for reopening the business in the wake of the COVID-19 lockdown.
“Contracting out the restaurant will give it a new lease of life, boosting profitability, and enable my team and I to concentrate on our hotel guests and events trade,” he said.
“Drysdale & Co are the experts in this field, and we are delighted to be working with them. Their advice and support have been invaluable at this time.”
“We’re still an independently owned and operated hotel, with a proud history in Aberdeen, and we intend to stay that way for some considerable time to come. We all must look to the future and do what we can to rebuild our economy, and our city.”
Alex McKie, director at Drysdale & Co, said Steven and the team at The Northern Hotel “are to be commended for showing resilience in very challenging times”.
“The F&B operation here is on a significant scale and will attract some very interesting business propositions to breathe even more new life into this fine establishment,” he said.
“We wish the business all the very best in the coming months.”
