Simon Cruickshank, the owner of the Ship Inn in Stonehaven for the last 20 years, is retiring and has put the historic Inn on the market.
He says, “Owning the Ship Inn has been a great experience and very rewarding but at 66 I think it’s time for my partner Irene and I to spend a bit more time together and to go travelling. I also have a brother in New Zealand who I’d like to visit. But whoever is fortunate enough to acquire The Ship Inn will find it hard work but also a truly enjoyable experience and I wish them great success.”
Stuart Johnston, a partner in the Aberdeen office of DM Hall, who is overseeing the sales process said, “This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to acquire what is widely regarded as a local institution as well as an excellent business in a prosperous, vibrant location, owned and traded very successfully by the same person, Simon, for the past twenty years.
“Scotland’s licensed trade certainly has its challenges but what Simon has done at The Ship Inn by investing heavily and consistently in refurbishment and high standards of maintenance and decoration is to create a fine property in walk-in condition with a first-class offering which is valued and appreciated by both the people of Stonehaven and its many visitors.”
The traditional public house with eleven letting bedrooms, and whose origins go back to 1771, has three distinct, interlinked sections in the original building including the lounge bar and six en-suite letting bedrooms. The new extension contains the highly rated Captain’s Table, a 38 cover restaurant which specialises in seafood, as well as a further five en-suite letting bedrooms.
