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Business

Inside story of how Dundee Waterfront darling Brassica and restaurant owner’s £20k swindle unravelled

From fraud and theft to violent protests and Brexit, this is the full story of how a Dundee business collapsed.
Paul Malik
Dea McGill
Convicted fraudster Dea McGill, who was a co-founder of Dundee waterfront restaurant Brassica. Image: DC Thomson

Brassica was supposed to be part of Dundee’s great Waterfront regeneration, a symbol of the changing fortunes of the city.

Instead, it collapsed mere months after opening, with staff claiming wages were being withheld and vendors left out of pocket.

Now, Dea McGill, one of its founding directors, faces jail after being found guilty of stealing tens of thousands of pounds through fraud and embezzlement.

This comes more than three and a half years after she fronted a UK Government campaign on how businesses could benefit from the “success” of Brexit.

And the once-glamorous restaurant, tucked under the city’s iconic Caird Hall, sits empty — its bar, furniture and fixtures gathering dust behind stoor-caked windows.

Bright start for Brassica

The fanfare surrounding Brassica’s opening hit all the right notes.

The Courier reported excitedly in March 2018 how the empty space on Shore Terrace, which once housed the Caird Hall Arcade and Charlie the Wonderhorse, would be transformed into a “new social dining concept”.

It had started off as an idea between self-styled entrepreneur McGill and dentist Dr Rami Sarraf.

As a silent partner, Dr Sarraf said he invested an initial £50,000 in the project.

The concept was simple enough — they wanted to create a restaurant inspired by the informal atmosphere and the “dawn-to-after-dark dining of urban food courts” popular in cities like London and New York.

Brassica co-founder Dr Rami Sarraf at his White Pearl Dental Practice in Dundee. Image: Steve Brown/DC Thomson.

Recruiting top chef Scott Cameron, who held previous roles at Cromlix and Gleneagles, the food would be sourced from within a 50-mile radius.

And the staff were recruited through various Dundee City Council-linked work programmes, including Youth Employability Service

The company was even hailed for its commitment to paying the Living Wage and McGill talked about expanding the business in England.

“The way we dine now is very different to 15 years ago, but no one seemed to be taking note,” she told The Courier in 2018.

“I’d always loved the food markets of New York and Copenhagen – the choice, the informal nature and the flexibility of the space really appealed to me.

Staff hard at work on the bar at Brassica in 2018. Image: Kim Cessford/DC Thomson

“I had a clear vision from the outset and, when I saw the unit at Caird Hall, Brassica was born.

“It felt like the perfect canvas to bring the idea of informal fusion together, and we’re able to embrace the architecture with a stunning vintage industrial feel.

Brassica’s interior in 2018. Image: Kim Cessford/DC Thomson.

“Brassica is not your average restaurant. It’s a concept dining experience that caters for everyone from tourists to business users.”

Open in time for V&A

In July 2018, Brassica opened to rave-reviews and high expectation, just weeks before the V&A rolled-out the red carpet and ushered the world’s media through its doors.

V&A Dundee opening
Celebrations for the opening of V&A Dundee in September 2018.

However, 15 days after the design museum welcomed its first visitors, Brassica shut.

And its staff piled into The Courier’s Meadowside office, having walked out, claiming they had gone weeks without wages.

In October, Tayone Food, the company owned by McGill and Dr Sarraf used to run Brassica, filed for administration.

But the turmoil was only just beginning.

Brassica to Brasserie Ecosse

In the weeks after suddenly closing, McGill and Dr Sarraf started publicly blaming the other for what went down.

McGill repeatedly claimed she had been forced out. Dr Sarraf informed The Courier he had reported his former business partner to the police.

At the time, McGill said: “I went into this project wholeheartedly because I wanted to develop something nice for the waterfront. That was important to me.

“I worked very hard for quite a long time and did the best that I could – I think the space speaks for itself.

The interior of Brassica in 2018. Image: DC Thomson

“We started really well until June 14 when things started to change. It became clear he didn’t want me as a business partner.”

Dr Sarraf then responded: “I have set up a new company and I made a successful bid to purchase the business and I am currently in negotiations to try and get the restaurant opened as soon as possible and to offer jobs to all the ex-employees of Tayone Food Limited.

“I have reported the conduct of my fellow director, Dea McGill, to Police Scotland and they are investigating the issues I have raised with them.

“I cannot say any more about that for fear of jeopardising the investigation.”

Public and staff anger

Meanwhile, the staff who walked out became increasingly upset and vocal about how they had been treated.

Because Tayone Food had gone into administration, the obligation of fulfilling unpaid wages passed to the administrators, with Dr Sarraf declaring he had “no legal obligation” to pay up.

Then Dr Sarraf, using a new enterprise, purchased the Brassica business from the administrators.

The restaurant relaunched as Brasserie Ecosse.

A protestor being arrested at the city council licensing meeting. Image: Dougie Nicolson / DC Thomson.

He offered all staff at the now-defunct Brassica jobs at Brasserie Ecosse.

A PR firm was drafted in, organising meetings between local journalists, kitchen and front-of-house staff willing to work for the new company and Dr Sarraf.

And Unite union picketed the restaurant and council with ex-employees who refused the offer, culminating in one of their officials being arrested outside an angry licensing board meeting.

The protest at the city council meeting was sparked after councillors said their “hands were tied” on a decision to transfer the restaurant licence from administrator Peter Kubik to Dr Sarraf’s company.

This was because the licence was being transferred between entities, and not applied for as “new”.

Described as a “legal loophole”, one board member, SNP councillor Ken Lynn, declared “the law is an ass” as he made his objections known.

Unite forced to apologise

Unite later made an “unreserved apology” for allegations it made on its website, and to Glasgow entrepreneur Oli Norman, about Dr Sarraf.

The union wrote: “On January 17 2019, we posted in relation to Dr Rami Sarraf further to our campaign to recover money on behalf of former employees of the Brassica Restaurant, Dundee.

Former Brassica staff and Unite Union protesting outside the restaurant. Image: Supplied.

“In that post, and in a subsequent email to Oli Norman of Itison on January 24 2019, we asserted that Dr Sarraf was under a legal obligation to make such payments and was in breach of that obligation.

“We are happy to clarify that Dr Sarraf is not under any such legal obligation and confirm that failure to make such payments does not therefore amount in law to improper conduct.

“Rather, the efforts by Unite to secure payment for our members proceed on the basis of what we consider to be a moral and not a legal duty on Dr Sarraf.”

The union also had to say sorry for making false claims the dentist had occupied the premises illegally.

Ad star McGill charged and convicted

Almost a year to the day after opening, McGill was charged for alleged fraud and embezzlement in July 2019.

The pandemic then took grip of the country, meaning she did not appear before a sheriff to deny those allegations until March 2021.

She continued to maintain her innocence and in the meantime went about setting up a new company, Aqua and Rock, under a new name, Dea Baker.

Five days after first appearing in court, she appeared front and centre of a UK Government advert campaign in national newspapers including The Metro.

A screenshot of Brexit advertising featuring Dea Baker, AKA Dea McGill,  as it appeared on The Metro website

In them, she described how her new business “adapted and survived” by adhering to new rules on EU trade.

The adverts were raised in parliament at the time by former SNP MP Stewart Hosie, who questioned whether they flouted advertising regulations.

This was because, Mr Hosie claimed, the UK Government had failed to declare itself the advertiser behind the campaign.

Blame game

McGill finally went before a sheriff and jury in November 2024.

On trial, she tried to pin the blame on Dr Sarraf, who gave evidence at Dunfermline Sheriff Court.

Her defence lawyer put to Dr Sarraf that he had “used” McGill to set up a restaurant and when it was up and ready to go, he cut her out when she was no longer needed.

He denied this and when Mr Templeton suggested he stole the company from McGill, Dr Sarraf said: “I took the company from a person who is running criminal activity who is not helping.”

Dea McGill
Brassica boss Dea McGill at Dunfermline Sheriff Court. Image: DC Thomson.

McGill had in fact swindled £20,000 from a finance lender by pretending the funds were for bespoke furniture and spent a “sum of money” from the company account while on skiing holidays and fashion sprees.

She was found guilty of pretending to employees at Armada Asset Finance that a joiner, Danijel Vrbas, was “engaged to supply bespoke furniture” to the business and, knowing this to be false, applied for finance through leasing agreements to pay for it.

Court papers say the offence took place between February 1 and May 4, 2018.

McGill, due to be sentenced next month, was also convicted of embezzling a “sum of money” while director of Brassica, between December 4, 2017, and October 8, 2018.

Dr Sarraf was approached for comment.

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