For more than 40 years, travellers through the main entrance of Glasgow’s Central Station have been greeted by the aroma of fish and chips from the

Blue Lagoon, the flagship outlet of a family-owned chain today run by a third generation of brothers.

The eldest of the trio, Simone Varese, still makes his way out most weekends for a shift behind the counter at one of the shops. Like his brothers and fellow directors – Alessandro and Gianluca – he was raised in the art of frying.

“I was born in Glasgow and grew up in Greenock, but basically I really grew up in both, because this is where the shops are and we were in here as soon as we were able to do any sort of work,” Mr Varese recalls.

“When we were really young that mostly meant sitting around and eating the chips, but as soon as we were tall enough we were learning how to fry. That is one of my earliest memories – me and then my brothers standing on a crate to work over the fryer.”

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The Blue Lagoon at Central Station is one of seven outlets owned by the Varese family, with a further five operating as franchises. Most are in or around Glasgow, though others can be found further afield in Ayr, Largs, Stirling and Perth.

Originally opened in 1978, the restaurant at Central Station had its best festive trading season ever this past Christmas following a £500,000 overhaul and expansion.

Though seating had always been available, this was previously hidden away at the back of the shop, giving an impression through the front window of a takeaway-only service. But, after

taking over the lease of the former newsagent next door, the Blue Lagoon re-opened on November 23 with doubled seating capacity of 80 clearly visible to all passers-by.

“It was one of the things my father and grandfather used to talk about all the time – how great it would be if there were seats at the front where people on the street could see them,”

Mr Varese explains “The fit-out took two months, but the deal was over a year in the making. When the owner next door started talking about chucking it in, that’s when we started seriously looking at whether this was a realistic option.

“The hope was it would entice more people to come in a sit down, but it

was a major gamble because we’re doubling our rents and our rates, plus the £500,000 investment.”

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The gamble appears to have paid off, with trading up by 25%-30% since re-opening. It capped off a hectic year of expansion for the Blue Lagoon enterprise, whose Perth outlet began trading in April, followed by an opening within Glasgow’s St Enoch Centre in June.

The original Blue Lagoon was opened by Mr Varese’s grandfather, Ersilio, in Glasgow’s Sauchiehall Street in 1975. After a difficult first 12 months, the business then took off, leading to a second shop in Renfield Street in 1980.

That was when Mr Varese’s father, Angelo, joined the business aged 18. He remains involved today, though claims to have “taken a step back”, with his sons now firmly at the helm.

“I said to the boys when they were younger that if they wanted to do something else, that was fine,” he says. “But they always seemed settled on coming into the family business.

“They have all got their strong points – Simone is the calm one, while Alessandro has the eye for detail, checking the shops are clean, and the chips look right. Gianluca is the best fish fryer out of the lot, and he’s also very good with things like shop design.”

The brothers are on the verge of opening their eighth owned shop, with a provisional entry date later this month and trading expected to begin in mid-March. It will be their second within an indoor shopping centre, like the one at St Enoch which has proven successful despite initial concerns about relatively limited trading hours.

Blue Lagoon outlets in the city centre are open until 5am, which allows them to catch considerable trade from the

late-night economy. This compensates for slower trading during the day as the number of shoppers on the high street has been in decline.

“The hours are shorter – shopping centres generally close around 6pm – but at St Enoch we are busier during those shorter hours,” Mr Varese explains. “If the shopping centre is busy enough, we can close at 6pm no problem.”

Longer term, the Blue Lagoon’s owners would like to expand into Edinburgh, though only if “the location is right”.

This is where the high-street downturn has been beneficial, as more locations become available on more favourable lease terms. Mr Varese contrasts this with the three years from 2014 to 2016, when there were no new openings despite the family’s desire to expand.

Amid all this activity, the brothers are hoping to catch a breather after the hectic festive period, when they were required to fill in alongside the 160 staff working across the chain. In addition to going behind the counter every Saturday, all three are regularly on shopfront duty during the two-week run-up to Christmas, and during the summer tourist season when visitor numbers in Ayr and Largs surge.

“We were all stretched a wee bit this Christmas – in a good way, but we did feel it this year,” Mr Varese says. “We’re all looking to book some holidays now.”