The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Rethinking Rolex plan paid off with hotel deal
The new part-owner of The Townhouse Hotel in Arbroath called time on the idea of investing her life savings in a Rolex watch to buy into the business.
Sianhan Smith has taken a 20% share of the High Street hotel and bar bistro.
Ms Smith spent the last 12 years working her way up from part-time waitress to boss, alongside owner Graeme Gersok.
She began working in the business aged 18 as a waitress in charge of serving 10 tables on a Saturday.
Over the years her responsibilities grew and she is now at ease hosting more than 200 guests.
Mr Gersok first suggested that she invest in the business, which has 30 staff, before Covid.
The conversation started with a discussion about investing her money by buying a Rolex watch.
Ms Smith recalls: “I’d been speaking to Graeme about investments, as I’d saved up a bit of money.
“He came up with some smart suggestions over how I could make it work for me. First of all, he told me I should buy a Rolex as they always tend to go up in value.
“Then he said ‘if you don’t want a Rolex, then why not buy into the pub?’
“It took me a second to realise he was being serious, but I put it to the back of my mind.”
When the Covid pandemic hit, she proved her worth by pioneering The Townhouse’s takeaway operation.
“I took a lead on that and things began building back up from there,” she said.
“After that Graeme came back to me about the offer and told me how much I’d need to pay to make a deal.
“I asked for time to think about it and came back the week before Christmas to sign the papers.
“I’ve worked with Graeme a long time and I trust him implicitly as he’s become like my second dad to me. I’m really excited about what the future holds here.”
The Townhouse, which prides itself on its mantra of “good food, good people, good times” has 11 bedrooms, a restaurant and cocktail bar.
It will soon be launching a new menu and is trialling a new alcohol-free, plantbased cocktail range.
Ms Smith said other plans involve live entertainment and cocktail-making classes.
She added: “We piloted a couple of cocktails at Christmas and are hoping to go bigger on them this year.
“We’ve spoken about making upstairs a private dining area and doing cocktail-making classes.
“I’d love to see The Townhouse evolve. We have people coming for food but now we want them to stay on for drinks.
“It’s really exciting to see our staff buzzing because we’ve done well on a Saturday night.
“I’ve been here since my aunt Maureen got me a job at 18 – and that experience has helped me. I remember Saturday nights where 10 tables was considered busy.
“Now we can be serving 200 people from 4pm on a Saturday for dinner.
“We always strive to keep things current and fun for our customers by continually looking at ways to make The Townhouse even better.”