THE owners of a restaurant housed in an A-listed building in Glasgow’s Merchant City are considering a possible sale, five years after taking over the historic venue.

Rusk & Rusk who own a string of restaurants including The Spanish Butcher are understood to be exploring a potential sell-off of Hutcheson’s City Grill as part of a long-term growth strategy.

James and Louise Rusk took over ths National Trust building, on Ingram Street, in 2012, transforming the former hospital into a £1.4million continental-style cafe bar and brasserie over three floors. It had lain empty since 2008 and opened to the public in June 2014.

A year after opening, Hutcheson’s was voted Scotland’s most stylish restaurant.

A spokesman for Rusk & Rusk said “none of the businesses are currently up for sale.” 

However, it is understood the owners have explored the market value of the restaurant. 

A year after opening, scaffolding was erected around the front of the building after a crack was discovered in a pillar during a routine inspection and repairs were carried out by The National Trust for Scotland.

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The owners carried out a series of refurbishments to the building in 2017.

The couple opened Hutcheson’s two years after their first restaurant, The Butchershop & Grill in Finnieston.

Louise told how James had taken “some persuading” to take on the mammoth restoration project.

She told the Evening Times last year: “James said ‘No way’, so I had to do a bit of persuading. I love architecture and it’s such a famous building.

“It was a massive project, the building had suffered a lot of damage. That particular project tested us.

“We were either going to go down and never open another restaurant or we could handle anything. We were very excited to bring life back into it.”

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The Rusks opened their latest venture, the Californian themed, So LA! in Mitchell Street in November last year and have hinted at a possible expansion into home lifestyle products.

Hutchesons’ Hall was built in the early 1800s by David Hamilton and is named after the Hutcheson brothers, George and Thomas, whose statues adorn the front of the building.

Thomas Hutcheson, who was born in 1590, was a philanthropic lawyer whose older brother George had left money in his will to build Hutchesons’ Hospital as a hospice for poor old men.

Thomas provided cash for Hutchesons’ Grammar School for orphaned and under-privileged boys, which was originally housed in the hospital building.

The building was built to be used as a hospital but was also a public library, bank, school and shops.

The A- Listed building features an impressive clock tower in an unusual octagonal design.

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