Glasgow 29 closed: Private members’ club said to have welcomed David Beckham and Sir Alex Ferguson closes down

Glasgow private members’ club, 29 , said to have welcomed celebrities including David Beckham and Sir Alex Ferguson has shut down.

The owners of the popular club in the city centre confirmed it would not be re-opening after closing during the pandemic.

29 occupied several floors of a 19th-century building on Royal Exchange Square - complete with an oyster bar, supper club and Moet & Chandon roof terrace bar.

The posh club was popular with footballers and celebrities. It was owned by Lynnet Leisure, the company overseen by Lynn Mortimer - the daughter of former nightclub tycoon James Mortimer - and was also a popular wedding venue.

In 2015, Times Out magazine described the venue, as having a yearly membership fee of £180. It said there was access to a ‘sumptuous city-centre complex with restaurant, oyster bar, roof terrace and more’.

It went on: “Although the venue sells itself as a space for business networking and events, it also suits those who like a degree of chic exclusivity with their evening prosecco.”

The company owns Merchant City venue Citation and Rogano, which has also been closed for more than two years.

A spokeswoman for the company said a planned refurbishment was still going ahead but could not say when the restaurant is likely to re-open.

Lynnet Leisure has also closed The Chippy Doon the Lane and Bread and Butter restaurants and One Up Glasgow.

Glasgow has another private member’s club based in Royal Exchange Square with a history that stretches back to 1825.

Memberships at the Western Club start at £378 for those aged over 26 and a new restaurant - Glaschu - was opened in July 2020.

Stephen Montgomery, of the Scottish Hospitality Group, said more closures in the sector were inevitable with the cost-of-living crisis.

He said: “I have no doubt there will be more to come. Rising utilities, rising supplier costs, back to full rates in Scotland, back to 20 per cent VAT, recruitment crisis, cost of living crisis.”

It comes after it was announced one of Glasgow’s longest-running family owned restaurants had been sold to a UK pub chain.

Ubiquitous Chip has been acquired by Metropolitan Pub Group, along with Stravaigin and Hanoi Bike Shop.

Mr Montgomery said the sale was a ‘wake-up call’ that smaller, independent businesses are at risk of ‘dwindling away’.