Derek Marshall places Gamba restaurant on the market after 25 years in city centre

Chef Derek Marshall has confirmed what has been talk of the town for the last three weeks in hospitality circles. Gamba is up for sale.

Agent Jonathan Clough of Smith and Clough business associates has contacted potential buyers with a confidential listing for “one of Glasgow’s finest restaurants, a long established and extremely reputable business with prominent city centre trading position”. The 60 cover restaurant with separate bar had a 2023 turnover of £883,196 net of VAT and adjusted net profit of circa £120,000. It is currently trading four days a week.

The leasehold is available for offers over £230,000.

Owner Derek Marshall , from the East End, left school with no qualifications and joined a youth training programme, the start of a culinary journey of discovery that would take him to the Channel Islands, the French Alps and Spain.

Inspired and motivated by his time working abroad; Derek returned home to Glasgow with a new appreciation of fresh, seasonal ingredients. He was head chef at Rogano and then Papingo in the early 1990s. Seafood had become the main focus in the kitchen. Gamba was the result, a restaurant that opened in October 1998.

After an event to celebrate 25 years of the business on Sunday, Derek has now confirmed Gamba is on the market with an interview that was published this evening.