Gastro Taverns has signed a deal with Dundee-based SHK Property and Investment to expand its bar and restaurant estate in Scotland.

Under the deal SHK and Gastro will identify future bar and restaurant purchases with SHK procuring the property and leasing it back to Gastro who will run the site and transfer across all existing staff.

Tony Hussain, managing director of SHK, said: “Although both restaurants are already commercially successful operations, I am convinced that Gastro Taverns will add significant value to them through the introduction of its own unique bar/restaurant concept.

“This deal is significant for SHK since, whilst we are already active in the licensed sector through the ownership of a pub in Stonehaven and a hotel in the north of Scotland, our partnership agreement with Gastro Taverns effectively marks our introduction to the bar/restaurant sector.”

Gastro Taverns was founded by managing director Julian Mobbs in August 2007 and has four sites across Scotland, including the Sun and Mamma’s in Cupar, Fife.

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By Christopher Walton

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