Ambitious plans for a cafe, restaurant and nightclub located within a historic Glasgow building have been shelved with owners admitting 'we failed'.
We first broke news of plans to bring the Beresford Lounge to Sauchiehall Street's iconic Beresford Hotel in April 2020.
The exciting move was expected to deliver a beautiful 1920s and 30s-style cafe, cocktail bar, restaurant and nightclub to the city centre, with images shared on social media teasing the look and feel of the venue.
Owner Daniel Halasz had told Glasgow Live they planned on opening in August or September of that year, but that this was subject to change given the uncertainty around covid.
An opening date of May 1, 2021 was latterly announced.
READ MORE: New Sauchiehall Street restaurant and bar asking public to help pick the name and menu
Explaining the plans in April 2020, Daniel said: "We want to create the kind of nightclub where people don't have to spend all night queuing at the bar so we're looking to create a self-service area which hasn't been done here before.
"We're planning on having different club nights and a networking event and talent show.
"We're really excited about opening on Sauchiehall Street and hope that it will bring other young business owners to the the area.
"We want to create the kind of nightclub where people don't have to spend all night queuing at the bar so we're looking to create a self-service area which hasn't been done here before."
However, in a lengthy Instagram post, captioned 'we failed', Beresford Lounge owners Daniel and Matt announced 'their time was up'.
It reads: "We regret to announce that our time is up and sadly our start-up, Beresford Lounge, has failed. We would like to apologise for letting everyone down, most especially those who supported the dream of making Beresford Lounge a reality.
"We've tried everything we could to secure the resources needed for opening but sadly failed to do so. We have no one/nothing to blame but ourselves. Despite making a lot of mistakes we've continually remained overly optimistic about our prospects of opening, however regrettably we have run out of time."
Meanwhile, the post states they want to 'make things right for those we let down financially', with people having paid for memberships to help with the funding of the project.
Furthermore, the owners add they still believe in the concept of Beresford Lounge, despite the issues they faced including covid, staff shortages and the cost of living crisis, as well as decreasing footfall on Sauchiehall Street.
Adding they'd be willing to help out parties looking to take the project on, the post says: "we'd be happy to hand over plans, branding, social media etc. You'll have to negotiate your own deal with The Scotsman Group to purchase or lease the venue."
Social media followers have reacted with sadness to the news. One person commented: "Not a failure just bad timing! It’s been a hellish few years.", while another added: "Such a pity guys. I was looking forward to becoming a member. A great concept and something that definitely had appeal to myself and my circle. I wish you well in the future."
To see the post in full and for a look at what the Beresford Lounge plans entailed, you can follow them on Instagram here.
