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Doors close at long-established Rothesay firm
Last-minute bargain hunters gather outside the Argyle Street premises of Rothesay furniture firm A. Robertson and Son on its last day of trading.
One of Bute’s oldest-established businesses closed for the last time on Friday afternoon.
The furniture business of A. Robertson & Son, in Rothesay’s Argyle Street, attracted a steady stream of customers looking for last-minute bargains before the doors were shut for the last time at 4pm.
The closure decision follows months of uncertainty about the future of the firm, which was jointly owned by brothers Graham and Ian Robertson, whose great-grandfather Angus founded the company in 1883.
Graham contacted The Buteman in February to say the business would close down “over the course of the next several months”, with the loss of four full-time jobs, due to a “legal stalemate” between the partners which he said was preventing the securing of the finance needed to take the business forward.
Three months later, however, Graham announced that he was “hopeful of a resolution to the partnership dispute” which would allow the business to continue.
Graham told The Buteman on Friday afternoon: “We had a resolution to the legal dispute, but unfortunately we were unable to meet the requirements of the financiers in order to take the business forward.
“We could have flogged away at it for another few months, but we didn’t feel there was any point.
“We’d like to thank all our customers over the many years the firm has been operating.
“We’ll miss them as much as they’ll miss us. We hope the fortunes of Rothesay come back up again at some point.”
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Weather for Rothesay
Tuesday 21 May 2013
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 7 C to 16 C
Wind Speed: 21 mph
Wind direction: North west
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: 4 C to 13 C
Wind Speed: 24 mph
Wind direction: North west
