Rogano on Glasgow’s Royal Exchange Square has been closed since March 2020, but moves are underway to settle the fate of the city’s oldest restaurant.

A date has been set for the next stage of the protracted legal tussle involving Forthwell Ltd, the owners of Rogano restaurant in Glasgow city centre, and Pontegadea, owned by Zara clothing chain founder Amancio Ortega, estimated to be worth £90billion. The case will be heard at the Supreme Court on 20th May during a period when the UK’s highest court will sit in Glasgow, at City Chambers, for the first time.

In 1935, as the Queen Mary took shape on the Clyde, Rogano restaurant was fitted out in the same Art Deco style as the great Cunard liner and a classic of Glasgow hospitality was created. On Friday 20th March 2020, 84 years of uninterrupted trading came to an end when the restaurant closed alongside other hospitality venues in the city for what was anticipated to be a pause, in line with government guidance at the time. It never reopened.

Lynn and James Mortimer have operated Rogano since 2006 when they bought the restaurant for £6 million through Forthwell Ltd. Scotland’s highest civil court heard last year that “substantial damage” was caused to the restaurant due to flooding on three different occasions between December 9 2020 and January 10 2021.

The legal wrangle that is scheduled to reach the UK Supreme Court is over loss of income. When that matter is settled, further legal hearings in Scotland will settle the matter of who is responsible for reinstating the restaurant in a fit condition to reopen.

Forthwell Ltd raised an action last year in the Court of Session, arguing that landlord Pontegadea UK Ltd has breached its obligation to maintain Rogano and allow it to trade. Forthwell Ltd now wants the Supreme Court to rule that Pontegadea should provide repairs at the premises to allow it to re-open while paying £789,000 to cover loss of profits.

The reason this case has made its way to the highest court in the land is due to competing narratives about contract law. Enter into the arena, Lynnet Leisure, the Mortimer family company that operated venues including Rogano, 29 Private Members Club, One up and Citation.

Rogano restaurant was operated by Lynnet Leisure on a licence agreement for a fee of £1 a year. Pontegradea argue that, as their tenant is Forthwell Ltd, then losses incurred by the company would be a pound a year. The landlord will argue in court that it has no direct contractual arrangements with Lynnet Leisure.

Once there is a ruling on any compensation, the legal tussle will then revert back to the courts in Scotland where the responsibility for reinstating the restaurant can be settled once and for all.

In November last year we reported that the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom would sit in Glasgow for a special week of appeal hearings from 18–21 May 2026.

For the duration of the visit, the Court will operate from City Chambers on George Square. The move highlights the Court’s role as the highest court of appeal for the entire UK and follows previous regional sittings, including a week in Manchester in March 2023 and earlier visits to the UK’s capital cities. The Court expressed gratitude to Glasgow City Council for granting access to the landmark building, which has long served as a focal point for civic life.

Vicky Fox, Chief Executive of the Supreme Court, emphasised the importance of the Court’s outreach beyond London: “I’m delighted that the Court will be sitting in Glasgow. The Supreme Court exists to serve the whole of the UK and we are committed to being as transparent and accessible as possible… We hope that as many people as possible in Scotland will take the opportunity to watch the hearings in person and that students will join the range of educational programmes that we will be offering. It is going to be a great week.”

Reviving Rogano Restaurant

The Rogano’s heyday was arguably from the 1980s through to the early 2000s yet the restaurant remained a valued part of the local hospitality scene until its abrupt closure. A restaurant that continued to maintain a following and a mystique. Anthony Bourdain visited for lobster with Janey Godley for an episode of his Parts Unknown series in 2012.

Rogano was considered the oldest surviving restaurant in Glasgow. The Buttery can trace its hospitality story back to 1870 but was originally a bar, Shandon Belles, before becoming a restaurant in the 1970s. Sloans, which dates back to 1797 was a coffee house before it became a bar in more modern times. Rogano was Bodega Spanish Wine Cellars before opening as an Art Deco restaurant in the 1930s, later to attract celebrities including Frank Sinatra, Elizabeth Taylor, Rod Stewart, Mick Jagger and Sir Alex Ferguson. Not all on the one night.

My last visit was on 5 March 2020 when I had lunch at Rogano with my parents: “It’s an immersive experience, placing yourself in a room that stands at a particular point of time while still embracing modern Glasgow hospitality. Henry Kissinger, Elizabeth Taylor, Bob Dylan and Rod Stewart are among the luminaries who have dined here. Not all at the same time. Had they arrived en masse, there would have been a serious discussion about who would sit at the prized table 16.

“This is considered the best table at Rogano as you have a sweeping view of the restaurant, and with the aid of mirrors you can see what’s going on behind you at the door. Should you, a visiting celebrity or a tired shopper, wish to avoid anyone at the entrance, there’s convenient access to the back door nearby. As we begin lunch, there’s an elevated sense of presentation, a spirit of innovation rather than a definitive pivot in a particular direction. More to come, we sense. For the moment we are suitably impressed.”

Two weeks later it was all stop for this nautical-inspired treasure. The hearing by the Supreme Court in Glasgow will be the first step in establishing if the restaurant can set sail again.

The Supreme Court states the facts of the case in crisp. legal language: “The Appellant is the tenant and the Respondent the landlord of premises in Glasgow which have traded as a restaurant, the Rogano, since 1935. The current lease was entered into in 1996, then assigned to the Appellant on 20 August 2013. Since that date, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Appellant has traded from the premises as the Rogano under a licence to occupy from the Appellant.

“On three occasions in late 2020 and early 2021, the premises were damaged by flooding and water ingress. An electrical fire rendered the electrics unsafe and the premises were left without heating. The Rogano, which had closed at the height of the Covid-19 restrictions, was not able to reopen.

“The lease requires the Respondent to maintain insurance for the premises and to rebuild any part of the premises which is damaged by an “insured risk”, including flooding. The Appellant argues that the Respondent is required to repair the premises or to pay damages for the cost of repairs, as well as damages for loss of profit in relation to the Rogano.

“The Respondent argues that the Appellant is not entitled to recover for loss of profit sustained by a third party, the Appellant’s subsidiary (the “Transferred Loss Issue”). The Outer House rejected the Respondent’s arguments and allowed the case to proceed to a proof before answer. The Inner House (Lord Malcolm dissenting) allowed the Respondent’s appeal in respect of the Transferred Loss Issue. The Appellant now appeals to the Supreme Court.”

The hearing will take place on 20 May before Lord Reed, Lord Burrows, Lord Stephens and Lady Simler.