The owner and chef of Gamba, in Glasgow city centre, has confirmed that the restaurant is up for sale.
As reported in GlasgowWorld, agent Jonathan Clough of Smith and Clough business associates has contacted potential buyers with a confidential listing for “one of Glasgow’s finest restaurants, a long established and extremely reputable business with prominent city centre trading position”.
The 60 cover restaurant with separate bar had a 2023 turnover of £883,196 net of VAT and adjusted net profit of circa £120,000. It is currently trading four days a week.
The leasehold is available for offers over £230,000.
Owner Derek Marshall , from the East End of Glasgow, left school with no qualifications and joined a youth training programme, the start of a culinary journey of discovery that would take him to the Channel Islands, the French Alps and Spain.
Inspired and motivated by his time working abroad; Derek returned home to Glasgow with a new appreciation of fresh, seasonal ingredients.
He was head chef at Rogano and then Papingo in the early 1990s. Seafood had become the main focus in the kitchen. Gamba was the result, a restaurant that opened in October 1998.
After an event to celebrate 25 years of the business on Sunday Marshall confirmed the restaurant is on the market.
Speaking to freelance journalist, Cate Devine, Marshall explained his decision to sell Gamba, saying: “I feel I’ve done my time.
"Gamba is a great, consistent and sustainable business with no debts, but it needs new blood. This is a brilliant opportunity for someone to take it on, make it their own and take it forward with their own narrative.
“I’ve been coming to this decision for about a year. I used to do seven days a week but when you get a bit older it’s not as easy as it once was, even on four days.
"However, I’m not giving up; I need a new challenge and I want to keep cooking, but on my own terms.”
