School friends Garreth Wood of Signature Pubs and Amicus Apple owner Calum Mackinnon have formed Amicus Ventures with the opening of the £1m Nox nightclub in Aberdeen. The high end club is on Justice Mill Lane, on the site of the former Bad Apple. The opulant club is situated over two floors with amphitheatre style seating around the dance floor and chandeliers. The first floor boasts circular booths and there is table service throughout.
The business partners also operate Amicus Apple in both Aberdeen and Edinburgh.
Garreth told DRAM, “I have invested in the business to form Amicus Ventures with Calum, although Calum is still very much the face of the business.
He already had the freehold for Amicus Apple in Edinburgh, and we purchased the two Aberdeen freeholds from G1 in a separate deal. We have also lodged planning permission for a roof terrace for Nox, and Amicus Apple Edinburgh will be refurbished early 2013, with Amicus Apple Aberdeen following in the spring.”
The friends-turned-business-partners have further plans for all three concerns, and see their working relationship as complimentary, as Calum explains, “I’ve always liked what Garreth has done and now that he’s come on board we have the back of house and operational support to further grow the business. It’s an exciting prospect.”
On the lead up to the opening of the club, Calum and Garreth went on a fact-finding mission to London which involved visiting 15 of London’s finest clubs in just one night – with Rose in Marylebone standing out as the most impressive – as they wanted to bring ‘luxurious clubbing’ to Aberdeen. Says Calum,
“We were keen to go bring some of London to the city and go as high end as possible. There are lots of people with a high disposable income in Aberdeen, but a lot of the clubs in the city have been lacking in any significant investment in the last five years or so.”
Before Garreth’s investment, Calum had tried to run the club as Bad Apple, but it was unsuccessful. He explains, “I tried to run as an American dive bar but we couldn’t shake off people’s negative perceptions of its former incarnation, and I didn’t
have the investment to do anything about this at the time, which is a total contrast to the reception Nox has received. It’s been great.”
Photography by Sam Brill