A cunning plan for the Carrick Lodge New owners are hiring 50 staff
The collapsed Carrick Lodge Hotel has been saved and the building bought from the previous owner.
Ambitious young restaurateurs Alan Watson and Allan Low got the keys yesterday ( Tuesday) and will be open again by May after a £ 100,000 refit.
They reckon as many as 50 full and part- time jobs will be created and are recruiting now.
It will be renamed The Fox and Willow to inject some character into the dated dining experience.
There were fears the Carrick Road restaurant and hotel – it will still have six bedrooms – would be turned into flats.
But Alan, 37, who has just quit as general manager after 10 years at The Jefferson in Kilmarnock – said: “We are delighted to take possession and we can turn this into a thriving business.
“Allan and I believe we have the right formula to make it a big success. It will be traditional but with an edge. The Carrick Lodge was an institution in many ways.”
Allan, 39, is celebrating almost two years running his venture 22 in Beresford Terrace and wanted to expand. He’s in a 50- 50 partnership with Alan, who started off as a kitchen porter washing dirty dishes at the South Beach Hotel in his home town Troon.
At the time his mum Maria was a barmaid there and called him in when someone failed to turn up.
Both men learned much of their trade within the Costley & Costley empire.
Alan was restaurant manager at Brig o’ Doon, Lochgreen and the Cochrane Inn before Bouzy Rouge in Glasgow.
Allan, from Ayr, said: “I had managed to create something special at 22 so felt the time was right to go into business with Alan and create something new.
“This deal with the Carrick has actually been in the offing since September.
“I didn’t want to put all my eggs in the new venture so I needed somebody I could trust inside out to be in partnership with.
“The Fox and Willow will have a more contemporary feel. We are very excited and feel it would be a tragedy if the building disappeared.”
The separate rooms of the Carrick Lodge dining areas will be changed with holes cut into walls so diners can see the length of the building.
A traditional pub will also be created in the old function room and a little used beer garden – big enough to take a large marquee – could be developed.
The Carrick Lodge was put into administration by previous owner Tom Johnson in January. But he had created two separate companies and the property was not put in the hands of administrators.