Celebrity TV chef forced to close beloved restaurant after ‘bitter row with landlord’ in ‘perfect storm’ of events
A CELEBRITY TV chef has been forced to close his beloved restaurant after a "bitter row" with the landlord "over cash".
Owned by a prominent Scottish hospitality couple, they have described the row as a "perfect storm" of events.
The restaurant has seen Nick and Julia Nairn hand back the keys to Douglas Wood.
Nick, a well-known celebrity chef, was the youngest Scot to win a Michelin Star in the early 1990s.
Last year, Nick saw the doors of his restaurant Nairn's on Henderson Street close its doors for the final time.
The pair have since revealed that a management contract with Wood had become "onerous", reports .
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Describing how they previously agreed to operate , they detailed how the global pandemic hit the hospitality sector.
The restaurant was rebranded in February in 2020 and was also struck by a fire in August 2021.
Its revival as Nairn's took place in July 2023 and the high-profile couple have claimed their attempts to renegotiate the deal with Wood were rejected.
Wood has rejected these claims and has instead suggested that he was among many in the hospitality sector who were forced to change the way they traded out of the pandemic.
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He has also suggested the restaurant's closure has left him £100,000 out of pocket.
After a petition by the former landlord and owner of local mine merchant, WoodWinters, Stirling Sheriff Court granted a winding-up order.
This was issued to N&N Realisations, the company responsible for the restaurant at the time.
Wood's request was part of his attempts to seek outstanding rent that was owed to him under the 10-year management contract terms with the Nairns in 2019.
Despite the Nairn's agreeing to terms where they would need to pay a percentage of turnover to Wood every quarter, the couple claim the contract was unviable after a change in trading conditions.
Julia Nairn told The Herald how the "world has changed" by the time the restaurant reopened, noting the cost-of-living crisis.
She said: "We had very little to fall back on. The cost of living crisis had kicked in [and] we opened with the wrong offer.
"We did a small plates offer in Bridge of Allan [but it] turned out nobody wants small plates on a Wednesday afternoon in Bridge of Allan.
"Saturday night was great, but Wednesday lunchtime was not."
Explaining how they went to open after two years of closure, they suddenly faced a maximum point of percentage turnover to Wood.
Nick Nairn also described how "repeated requests, either directly or through the landlord, to sit down and renegotiate this management agreement" were rejected by Wood.
The former landlord dismisses these claims, and instead declared how the couple had "consistently" broken payment terms.
N&N Realisations, which is solely directed by Julia Nairns, has been declared as liquidated, according to its company page on the government website.
According to official documents show how N&N Realisations, formerly Nairn & Nairn Limited, owe a shortfall to creditors of more than £300,000, The Herald reports.
Julia has since suggested the creditors' reports were a "snapshot taken in August" with suppliers who "were paid a long time ago".
Referring to the inter-company debt, Mrs Nairn told The Herald: "That was the number that was taken at the time [liquidators were appointed]. We have worked with the accountant and the administrator [liquidator].
"That number has been reduced some and there is a plan to pay back what is owed. There will be money going into that pot from us personally."
Reviews of the restaurant from before it closed suggest many enjoyed their stay.
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With most noting it as excellent on Tripadvisor, previous customers did not seem to struggle to praise the food and service.
The Sun has approached Douglas Wood for comment.
