The owners of the Fife Arms hotel in Braemar have been awarded with an honorary degree from Robert Gordon University today. Entrepreneurial art gallery founders Iwan and Manuela Wirth transformed the iconic Fife Arms into five-star boutique hotel, which reopened at the end of 2018 after the couple purchased it in 2016. They are presidents and co-founders of , a leading international art gallery that was founded by the couple alongside Ursula Hauser in 1992 and remain a family business.
Iwan and Manuela Wirth collect degrees Mr and Mrs Wirth also run Artfarm, an independent hospitality and development firm which owns several venues across the world, including the Fife Arms, whose unique interior draws inspiration from local people and places. They also support several museums, international art projects and regularly contribute to charities, including ones in the north-east. The Wirths have partially funded the ongoing restoration of St Margaret’s Church in Braemar and also contribute towards the River Dee Trust.
Mr Wirth was awarded with a Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) and his wife was granted with a Doctor of Letters (DLitt) at a graduation ceremony at P&J Live in Aberdeen. Wirths find Deeside people fascinating Speaking to The P&J after they received became graduates of the university, the couple said they were “over the moon” to receive the “huge honour and privilege” in their “second home”. Discussing what they love so much about the area, Mr Wirth.
