A new business opening in a vacant city centre unit has been awarded the first enhanced grant under the Union Street Empty Shops Scheme.
Following the review panel meeting on 6 July, Mezzo Aberdeen Ltd, led by local restaurateur Kevin Dalgleish, has been awarded £70K and plans to convert the former Chopstix unit at 155 Union Street into a new deli, wine bar and restaurant.
The proposal is expected to create up to 23 jobs, provide seven-day activity from daytime into the evening, and support the wider regeneration of the upper end of Union Street Central as it reopens.
Councillor Alex McLellan, Convener of the Finance and Resources Committee, said: “I am delighted Aberdeen City Council has awarded the first application for the enhanced Empty Shops Grant. This additional funding will support more businesses occupy vacant units, create new job opportunities and support the continued regeneration of our city centre.”
Kevin Dalgleish, owner of Mezzo Aberdeen Ltd said: “Thanks to the Trinity Centre and Aberdeen City Council, a unit that had been lying empty is reopening with one of the most spectacular views in Aberdeen — over the refurbished gardens and along Union Street. We're proud to be the first through the door on this.”
Councillor Alex McLellan (left) and Kevin Dalgleish (right).
An additional £500,000 investment was added to the existing £1 million fund enabling the launch of an enhanced award for eligible premises, to help bring larger and long-term vacant city centre units back into use.
The Union Street Empty Shops Grant Scheme, first launched in 2023, offers awards of up to 50% of project costs towards eligible internal works for vacant shops on Union Street to help new businesses and tenants get started. The Scheme has supported 23 applications to date.
The core objectives of the Union Street Empty Shops Grant Scheme are to:
- Reduce the number of vacant shops on Union Street through supporting eligible physical works required for internal reconfiguration for new uses – be that retail, cultural, hospitality or office space.
- Leverage private investment in vacant shops on Union Street to bring them back into use.
- Support new business start-ups and entrepreneurs, and create new employment opportunities, through enabling the provision of suitable premises on Union Street.
- The enhanced award seeks to incentivise occupation of long-term or larger unoccupied units on Union Street and the wider city centre, of which initial costs to reoccupy are more significant and present a barrier to entry.
The enhanced award is available as a pilot initiative in 2026/27 for units larger than 3,000 sq ft, or that have been unoccupied for more than three years, where increased renovation costs and alignment with scheme strategy can be demonstrated.
Interested applicants can download an application form here https://www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/Council-Services/business-and-investment/union-street-empty-shops-grant-scheme
Applicants for the enhanced award must meet all of the standard scheme criteria and follow the same application process.