“As a small business owner it’s really unsettling” - Award-winning Scottish restaurant forced to close due to flash floods

“In recent years, The Gannet and neighboring businesses have faced repeated flooding, causing significant damage and posing serious risks to public safety. The current drainage systems are blocked, poorly maintained, or simply not fit for purpose, failing to manage heavy rainfall.

“Despite our efforts to report these issues over the years the council has taken no visible action. As businesses that contribute significantly to the local economy through hefty business rates meant for infrastructure maintenance, it’s frustrating that such essential upkeep has been neglected, leading to preventable flooding.

“In an already challenging economic climate for the hospitality sector, the extra financial burden from yesterday’s flood is unsustainable—unless we fashion waders as part of our uniform.”

Speaking to The Scotsman, chef patron Peter McKenna said that the restaurant had “an awful doing” as did next door neighbour the Kelvingrove Cafe. Both venues share a courtyard that joins the buildings, and it ended up a “couple of feet underwater.” Mr McKenna also said that the restaurant toilets were “spewing out water downstairs”, which is why the picture he posted was an AI mock-up and the reality “wasn’t something you’d want to be putting on social media.” The Scotsman has seen video evidence of the flood.

This isn’t the first time that the Michelin recommended restaurant, located in the trendy Finnieston strip in the city’s west end, has been hit with flooding, which Mr McKenna puts down to the drains not being properly cleaned, as well as the inclement weather we’re seeing more of.

He said: “This is the third time this has happened and every time we complain we flag it up and nothing seems to get done. We shouldn’t have these issues. It always happens in the summer as well, usually August. It tends to happen when we've had really good weather and then we get downpours of rain, which happens more and more often. The drains are prone to block, but they (the council) still don't maintain them, they don't have people out there cleaning the excess leaves, and we're seeing that coming out of the toilets - that's how much there must be blocked in there.

“We're insured up to the eyeballs but I know from previous experience It's not really worth my while going to our insurers as they'll do everything in their power just to give us the minimum, and I'll spend hours and hours trying to claw something back. We'll not get anything for loss of earnings for being closed and the staff still need to get paid. That's the real expense and the cleanup. We’re in Glasgow, it rains a lot here. We want a bit of support and peace of mind.”

Mr McKenna added that his isn’t the only business affected by the floods, and that as a small business owner the lack of support from the council is a “bloody nightmare”. He said that neither the council or the water company “accept responsibility.”

He said: “It’s getting harder and harder to make a living in hospitality. We pay large salaries, and our team deserves them because they put in a lot of work and effort. But National Insurance has gone up, rates are incredibly high - and it’s the same for Kelvingrove Cafe next door, Porter and Rye, and Crabshakk across the road. It’s a bloody nightmare and we don’t seem to get any support. That’s why we’re seeing people hanging up their aprons and selling their businesses and moving away from hospitality. We’re paying an incredible amount in rates and you expect for your services to work correctly - to have that trust in the council but it just seems time and time again that you’re throwing money away and not getting anything from it.”

The restaurant will be open tonight (Thursday 17 July) as normal, after a large cleanup operation which included pumping the water out and extensive bleaching. While sand bags have been created as a short term solution, Mr McKenna is looking to replace toilets with ones with a locking system but that’s something that’ll “cost thousands.”

A spokesperson for Glasgow City Council said: “We are not aware of any direct reports being received from Kelvingrove Café or the Gannet this week in relation to flooding at their premises. We have received no reports of on-street flooding next to these premises this week. Based on the available information, which indicated that water was spewing out of downstairs toilets, we believe these premises might be affected by sewer flooding. We have been in touch with owners to advise they should report this matter to Scottish Water, which is responsible for the sewer network.”

A Scottish Water Spokesperson said: “We attended The Gannet this morning (18 July) following a report made yesterday regarding sewer flooding within the property. We carried out a CCTV survey and located a blockage in the sewer which has now been cleared. We are also aware of nearby localised sewer flooding reports and have referred these to our flooding investigation team for review.”