Popular restaurant shuts down

A popular Perth restaurant closed its doors with immediate effect earlier this week.

The Bothy on Kinnoull Street has been shut to public by parent company and hospitality operator G1 Group due to “uncertainty” over their operations caused by COVID restrictions.

Rumours that the eatery would close first surfaced on Wednesday in an online post by local traders group, Perth Local.

They stated: “So news today is that G1 have closed down The Bothy in Perth with immediate effect.”

And yesterday morning a statement was released on The Bothy Perth Facebook page confirming the decision, in a blow to local punters.

“It’s been a very testing time for hospitality, and like everyone else, we are elated that things have started to return to normal - seeing so many of our neighbouring businesses open back up brings us real joy,” it read.

“That being said, the past several months have thrown many a curveball at us, and whilst so many restrictions and so much uncertainty remains, we have decided to put a pause on our operations.

“This is not a decision we take lightly, but we feel we need to take some time to re-access, and we are hopeful that during that time, we get all the more closer to the freedoms and lifestyle which we enjoyed before.

“Until then, please look after yourselves and each other.”

G1 Group, which also owns Perth Playhouse and City Cafe, initially laid off a large number of staff from the three outlets last March following “a catastrophic drop in sales” due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The decision followed the government’s order to close all theatres, cinemas, restaurants, pubs and clubs in the UK.

However, following chancellor Rishi Sunak’s announcement of the furlough scheme, the group performed a partial u-turn keeping on a number of staff.