Chef blames downturn for school closure

● Nairn says his north-east cook school is no longer ‘commercially sustainable’

Chef Nick Nairn has decided to close his cook school in Aberdeen, blaming the downturn in the North-east economy.

Aberdeen Cook School will close on 30 June as it is “no longer commercially sustainable”.

The five staff who work directly for the school were told on Wednesday and a redundancy consultation process is under way.

The TV chef launched the school in 2012 after success with his initial cook school in Port of Menteith, near Stirling.

More than 60,000 customers are said to have taken part in the classes in Aberdeen since it opened. Nairn said: “Expanding into Aberdeen had been a longterm passion of mine as we had a huge number of loyal customers regularly travelling from the North-east to our Cook School in Port of Menteith.

“We enjoyed a great run of custom for a number of years but like many other businesses in Aberdeen and the surrounding areas, we are not immune to the downturn in the North-east economy.

“Our corporate custom suffered in particular for understandable reasons and we have worked exceptionally hard for the last 18 months to diversify our offering, but we have now reached a point where the Cook School is no longer commercially sustainable.”

He now plans to focus on expanding his pizza restaurant on the same site at Back Wynd in the city centre, and is looking into “further opportunities” for the restaurant in Edinburgh and Glasgow.

In December the chef suffered facial injuries when he was assaulted in Aberdeen city centre in the early hours of the morning.

Scott Smith was traced after

0 Nick Nairn will focus on his pizza restaurant Nairn and police appealed for witnesses.

The 35-year-old admitted assault in January at Aberdeen Sheriff Court, where he was fined £900.

After the case Nairn said: “I am sure it has been a painful experience for everybody involved and I am keen to put it behind me.

“All credit to everybody who helped at the time.”

He added: “It does not dim my enthusiasm for Aberdeen.”