John Black, owner of The Fort Hotel in Broughty Ferry has completed the purchase of The Royal Arch from Jonathan Stewart as reported in last month’s DRAM.
Jonathan who has run The Royal Arch for the past 25 years has decided to finally retire. John told DRAM, “I approached Jonathan a few years back and told him I was interested in the pub, but he wasn’t ready to sell at that point. He did promise me first refusal though! Late last year he got in touch and asked if I was still interested, and we took it from there.
“Initially we’ll just be running it as is. It’ll be the same staff, at least two of which have been there for over 20 years. We are going to give it a bit of TLC and get to know the regulars. We will also be keeping the real ales and a good selection of beers.
“The Royal Arch is an old school pub with a traditional bar which will remain. The main asset of The Arch is its prime location, it’s right beside the taxi ranks, train station, late night food shops etc. It’s also the sunniest pub in the area and they’ve got about 28 chairs outside!
“The trade has changed a lot over the years, and you’ve got to change with it. It’ll be a learning curve for me though as it’s a completely new premise for me.”